Carnival merrymaking hits high gear on a Thursday in Baden-Württemberg. It launches an avalanche of parades, fools' courts and fatty foods. Even the name of the Thursday in question, "schmotzig," means fatty in local dialect. Try the crullers. While the Rhineland's comparable Weiberfastnacht emerged in the 19th century, the Baden-Württemberg tradition goes all the way back to medieval times.