How Hoffenheim celebrate carnival

A family celebration

“I spent the whole weekend in Cologne and met a lot of my family and friends there. I still know a lot of people there from my time at Bayer Leverkusen”, said the 30-year-old. Joining Starke in fancy dress, as is the tradition, was his wife. “She was dressed as a police chief, and I went as a cowboy with a red nose. “We also drank a few beers, but not too much!” he said laughingly.

Like father, like son

Starke's children shared their father's enthusiasm for the festival season. Carnival is always a huge highlight for them. In fact, my daughter was born on November 11th, the day that the carnival season begins. This year she went as a princess, and my son as Count Dracula”, joked Starke. On the contrary to Starke, his Hoffenheim teammate Marvin Compper avoided the festivities, despite the fact that he previously spent time at Borussia Mönchengladbach and lived in Düsseldorf. “The place gets flooded with people during carnival. I tend to just escape!” confessed the defender.