In many Catholic towns in the Southwestern part of Germany, in the area comprising the Black Forest and Schwabia, there is a particularly vigorous carnival tradition, known locally as Fasnet, that involves the use of a wide variety of wooden masks. German maskers belong to fools' guilds, and the use of mask designs is highly proscribed, with each town and guild having its own specific set. Fasnet music, customs, and calendars are also very specific to localities, and these cultural copywrites are zealously protected. In many ways, the masks and the activities that surround them provide a sort of self-portrait of the town's hidden identity. The masks in this collection come from Elzach, a small town in the Black Forest, and Rottweil, a much larger town to the East. In both places, the Fasnet tradition extends at least back to the early 16th century (1502 in Rottweil) and has had to stave off attempts to shut it down or reign in its exhuberance. In both places, Fasnet attracts wide and enthusastic participation; but the tone is quite different. While the ceremonies and masks of Elzach are characterized by raucous and rough fun in a medieval mode–batting bystanders on the head with pigs bladders and grabbing men and women in the lecherous embrace of a leering devil. The processions of Rottweil have a sense of Renaissance majesty, pomp and elegance with thousands of maskers participating. Recently, some traditinally Protestant town have also started their own Carnival mask tradions, as Fasnet has become a focus of regional pride and identity. Masks are made by a few master craftsmen and the appropriate costumes are frequently hand painted and very elaborate.