{"id":11662,"date":"2020-04-30T20:41:21","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T20:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=11662"},"modified":"2020-04-30T20:41:21","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T20:41:21","slug":"maypoles-a-summery-german-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/maypoles-a-summery-german-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Maypoles: A Summery German Tradition!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow is a big day in the German-speaking world. On May 1, it is time to put up a Maibaum\u00a0<\/em>(May tree, or maypoles). But what is a Maibaum<\/em>, and why are they\u00a0aufgestellt\u00a0<\/em>(put up)? And what will this tradition look like with the Coronavirus going around?<\/p>\n

What is a Maibaum<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A Maibaum<\/em>. This specific one is from the Czech Republic, but it is very similar to the German ones (Image by by Jan Kop\u0159iva at Unsplash.com).<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0Maibaum\u00a0<\/em>is a pole or a\u00a0Baumstamm\u00a0<\/em>(tree trunk) that is decorated with wreaths and ribbons. The trunk is completely entastet <\/em>(debranched) and often peeled. If it is painted, it is either pale white or a spiral of white and blue. This so-called\u00a0richtig geschn\u00fcrter\u00a0<\/em>(properly strung) tree is a tradition of Bavarian origin. And a look at the\u00a0Wappen\u00a0<\/em>(crest) of Bavaria immediately explains that color combination!<\/p>\n

The trees can get pretty tall. In northern Germany, they usually reach about 20-25 meters (66-82 feet). In Bavaria, there are some fixed\u00a0Maib\u00e4ume<\/em>, where only the Kranz\u00a0<\/em>(garland) is changed year after year, which get up to 56 meters (184 feet)!!<\/p>\n

The Maibaum <\/em>is usually aufgestellt\u00a0<\/em>on May 1st, in some places even tonight, already! In some other regions, it is only placed on\u00a0Pfingsten\u00a0<\/em>(Pentecoste). The tradition goes beyond the German-speaking world. It appears in the Czech Republic and Scandinavia, too, for example.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Austellen\u00a0<\/em>(placement) is normally preceded by a\u00a0Prozession\u00a0<\/em>(procession), in which the\u00a0Maibaum\u00a0<\/em>is carried through the town. That somehow reminds me of the Swiss tradition of the\u00a0Bloch <\/em>– minus the smoking kids.<\/a> The\u00a0Prozession <\/em>often ends at the Dorfplatz <\/em>(town square) or another central place, where it is then\u00a0aufgestellt <\/em>in the evening.<\/p>\n

The tree then stays there until the end of the month or all the way until\u00a0Herbst\u00a0<\/em>(autumn)!<\/p>\n

Liebesmaien<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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A Liebesmaie<\/em> for Bj\u00f6rn. In the Schaltjahren (leap years), the roles are reversed, and the women give the men a Liebesmaie (Image by Sir James at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY 4.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

Besides the large trees, there are also the\u00a0Liebesmaien\u00a0<\/em>(love Maypoles). These smaller trees are set up by the unmarried men in front of the houses of unmarried women in town. In some places, this only happens for the girlfriend or Angebetete <\/em>(beloved).<\/p>\n

After a month, the tree is picked up. The person that put up the Liebesmaie <\/em>is then thanked with a dinner invitation or a Kasten Bier\u00a0<\/em>(crate of beer).<\/p>\n

But why do we do this whole Maibaum<\/em>-thing?<\/p>\n

Germanic Gods<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The exact origin of this tradition is not really clear. Most likely, it is a mixture of Germanic and Christian traditions, like the\u00a0Weihnachtsbaum\u00a0<\/em>(Christmas tree). It is believed that originally, Germanic tribes would place a\u00a0Maibaum\u00a0<\/em>to honor their Gods. How exactly the Christian use was integrated also does not seem very clear, but that this happened is clear in how some regions only put up the\u00a0Maibaum\u00a0<\/em>around\u00a0Pfingsten<\/em>. Sometimes, the\u00a0Maibaum\u00a0<\/em>is even referred to as a\u00a0Pfingstbaum<\/em> (Pentecoste tree). So that clearly shows Christian involvement.<\/p>\n

Besides that, May simply is a month that is seen as the start of the warm time of the year. This is also celebrated with tonight’s\u00a0Walpurgisnacht\u00a0<\/em>(Walpurgis Night)<\/a>, which is these days also known as the Tanz in den Mai\u00a0<\/em>(Dance into May).<\/p>\n

Maibaumklau<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n