Long before it became known as an International Workers Day Tag der Arbeit, or a 'Socialist Bank Holiday', May 1st, May Day was a folk tradition, a Celtic festival of fire, for the Romans a time of worship for Flora, the goddess of flowers, and in Germany part of Beltane the pagan festivities devoted to life, fertility and new beginnings.
The revelry still begins on May Day Eve in many areas of
the country with Walpurgisnacht, when celebrating witches were believed to gather on the Brocken, the highest of north central Germany's Harz Mountains, to have fun and enjoy themselves, whatever that involved for witches, while waiting for dawn to break and bring with it the beginning of the summer.Some areas now focus their Walpurgisnacht celebrations around the burning of large communal bonfires, however in others, especially in south and southwest Germany, the night before May Day, Freinacht as it is called in Bavaria, is filled with both making mischief and as much noise as possible.
Vehicles are sprayed with shaving foam, anything small and mobile enough to be moved is liable to find itself somewhere completely different from where it started, so hiding things beforehand is optional but sensible, graffiti is sprayed on doors and walls, paper streamers of all types are hung from or around trees, or in fact anything tall. And it is really not a good idea to leave a car outside on Walpurgisnacht, as they seem to attract shaving foam and lipstick paint jobs.
Witchlike celebrations? Probably. It is mostly young people who take part, and is all usually innocent and easily rectified exuberance, nevertheless occasionally there are more serious consequences.
Along with sore heads in some sections of the community the morning brings a public holiday, May Day, and the Maibaum, May Tree, celebrations in Germany.
Especially in Bavaria Maibaum, or Maypoles, are a strong and continuing part of German tradition which, as they are replaced every three or five years depending on the condition of the original wooden pole, means dependably regular May Day spring festivities in the various towns and villages.
A tall and perfectly straight pine or birch tree is chosen from the forest, felled, finished and painted. However the custom is for men from neighbouring towns and villages to try to steal the completed pole to ransom it for large amounts of beer and food, known as Brotzeit a 'snack', so for the time leading up to the May Day celebrations the Maypole must be protected 24 hours a day.
Nevertheless despite this vigilance, and the fact that by tradition each pole has to be at least 30 metres, or almost 100 feet, long, so is certainly neither light nor easily maneuverable, the thieves sometimes succeed in taking it past the cut off point, the village signpost. After which, if the ransom is not paid, then the Maypole can be chopped up for firewood or, in order to embarrass the original owners as much as possible, erected next to the one belonging to the kidnappers with a plaque giving its origins.
Unlike other regions of Germany where a Maibaum is painted red
to symbolise the creation of life and white for new beginnings, in Bavaria the stripes are Bavarian sky blue and white, and once they are erected many will be hung with beautifully carved and painted shields. These represent the symbols of the local trades and guilds, the butcher, plumber, dairy farmer, brewery, fireman, lawyer, carpenter etc., as one of the original purposes of a maypole was to show visitors the services offered by the town or village.Almost the entire population in the smaller towns and villages, in Bavaria many of them including young children wearing Tracht the traditional costume of dirndls, gathered skirts, and lederhosen, leather shorts or trousers as well as outsiders from neighbouring villages or visitors passing through, begin May Day's celebrations by accompanying the Maibaum as it is pulled along by tractor to the town centre or market place in a procession led by the local brass band.
Surrounded by the festivities, music, singing, dancing, food, especially local specialties which always include the ubiquitous Brezeln and Wuerste, pretzels and sausages, and beer, for at least some of the townspeople several hours of hard labour now lie ahead with ropes and pulleys, and at times even cranes, before the Maypole is successfully erected.
Maibaumkraxeln Maypole climbing is a popular, difficult but 'fun to watch' May Day sport, because it takes place on maypoles that have been made as slippy as possible for the purpose, and all the potential climbers have their favourite, sometimes bizarre, techniques to try to get to the top without falling off. Then of course there is also the how many climbers can be on the Maypole at one time game, when it ends up looking like a giant kebab, and at the moment the world record for that is 34.
More often than not it is beautiful May spring weather, but it would make no difference if it was in the midst of a sudden cold spell, pouring rain, snow or a thunderstorm, as soon as the mission has been accomplished and that Maypole is in place, everyone crowds into a tent if necessary and the serious partying begins.
Celebrations and gemuetlichkeit continue far into the night because, whatever the weather and whenever it is that summertime is believed to officially start, it is with May Day that summer is considered to have arrived in this small part of the world.
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