Germany's largest Rose Monday parade set off in Cologne on Monday morning, in a climax to the Carnival season.
In keeping with tradition the Carnival parade features several colourful satirical floats, which this year includes one depicting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a sloth in a hammock and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock as an elephant in a china shop.
On one float, a figure with its trousers down stretches its bare buttocks towards a few arms stretched out in a Hitler salute, one of which is emblazoned with the logo of the far right AfD party.
"This float actually says it all - they can kiss our arse," said singer Wolfgang Niedecken on WDR television on Monday.
North Rhine-Westphalia's premier Hendrik Wüst, from the conservative CDU, also took part in the parade. "The times aren't mega-easy, so it's good to just have a bit of fun", he said, and praised the carnival event as a celebration of diversity.
