Germans celebrate Carnival season kick-off

Thousands of Germans in the country's Rhineland region started partying on Sunday as Carnival season officially kicked off at precisely 11:11 am (1011 GMT) on November 11 - the 11th day of the 11th month.

In Cologne, the start of the Carnival season was celebrated under grey skies - but without any rain.

In Dusseldorf, the trickster "Hoppeditz" was - in accordance with tradition - awoken from the dead after he had been carried to his grave on Ash Wednesday, the final day of Carnival, which was on February 14 this year.

Events celebrating Carnival will now take place until March 2019 in the run-up to Lent, when Christians are called upon to fast and repent for their sins for 40 days before Easter.

Once again, Cologne was filled with tourists visiting for the Carnival celebrations.

Last year, residents complained of excessive drinking and subsequent problems caused by people urinating wherever they pleased. As a result, Cologne has increased the number of public toilets for this year's event and extended the area where glass bottles are banned.

According to a spokeswoman for the city, everyone is in a good mood and so far, there haven't been any problems.