Maibaum

May 1st is the day of Maypole raising in Germany. Towns take turns and raise a new maypole every 4-5 years. There is always at least one day of party and some times it continues throughout the weekend. Some poles are raised by cranes and some are still done by men with poles, which are really fairly good sized trees.

The Maibaum is prepared over a month before May Day. During the preparation process it is guarded because it is a thing to try and steal a neighboring town's maypole. If successful they "sell" the maypole back. So Maypoles are guarded around the clock. And guess what is setup next to the pole for the guards? A bar of course!

Look how deep the hole is for the base of the pole!

In progress

May 1st is a national holiday which means school is closed, work is closed and all the stores are closed, it is a party day.

Our friends are always ready for fun!

Prost!

We met some friends in Aying for the raising of the tallest maypole in Bavaria. Aying is an idyllic German village, so a wonderful place to spend May day. Even better than that the pole is still raised the old fashioned way, much more authentic. We got there around 9am and they had started a little after 8. They finally had the pole up a little after 12:30! We watched for awhile in the morning and then had a late breakfast/early lunch, then went back outside to see it be put into place.

Cute little boys watching the process!

Idyllic

There were plenty of people in their trachten (traditional dress) there to celebrate and watch the entire process. It was a great way to spend our holiday day.

And it's up!