Dieter Wenger has been building the carnival floats for the Mainz street carnival for almost 60 years.
It takes several months before the float can roll through the city center on Shrove Monday. A wide variety of work is involved. Metal, wood, painting and sculpture work. We accompanied Dieter Wenger as he built the float for the Mainz 05 soccer club.
The figures on the wagon represent fans of the soccer club and are carved out of styrofoam. An important tool for processing Styrofoam is the glow wire. Since Dieter Wenger discovered the material for himself in 1967, he makes all figures and carvings from it. The painterly design of the figures, however, needs the artistic hand of a theatrical painter who knows how to give the figures the right plastic effect. The design of light and shadow is crucial for this. A few black spots in the right place and the eyes take on expression. As with a stage set, it is important to focus on the long-distance effect and to be bold in the painting.
The figures as well as the whole body come on a stable base made of cross braces, which is mounted on the turnstile and axle of an old trailer. Even though the car will later travel through the streets only at very low speed, and at most twice a year, everything must be worked very precisely and, above all, sturdily. A colored film is applied to the bolted-on outer wall of the wagon. Dieter Wenger had it made. Cost factor: 60 euros per square meter. It takes a lot of experience to stick it to the substrate without bubbles.
At every stage of the work, Dieter Wenger checks that everything is installed in the right place. The safety aspect of all his cars is particularly important to him. The TÜV always comes by, checks and is responsible for the final acceptance. The tires have been filled with foam so that there is no chance of a flat tire and the car breaking down in the middle of a train. For many years, the Mainz 05 float will roll along the streets of Mainz on Shrove Monday - but unfortunately not in 2021.