When things got out of hand, the custom was forbidden, for a while anyway. Even Empress Maria Theresia (1717-1780) decreed at one point that masks would no longer be allowed in the streets; whereupon the revelry was moved indoors. 

This was the beginning of the splendid balls, for which Vienna has become so famous. The splendor of Vienna's masked balls had an influence on the innumerable balls that, at this time of the year, take place in other parts of the world. The rising middle class in the cities had begun to follow the example of the courts and staged masquerades, where one tries to disguise oneself, costume balls, where the imaginative costume is the main thing, and masked balls, where formal attire is complemented with an artistic or exotic mask or halfmask.

More than 300 balls are staged during the Viennese Fasching. The kick-off is with the Emperor's Ball in the Hofburg (royal castle), where livered lackeys greet the guests and where a sumptuous dinner is served in beautifully decorated surroundings. Missing are the shouts of "helau" and "alaaf" one hears in Cologne. The guests in traditional Fasching spirit, born of the more southerly lightheartedness of the region, waltz into the night.

This year Bitburger Club celebrated this wonderful carnival and the response from our guest was overwhelming. The carnival was a huge success.