Raising the May Pole

OK...Before I get started I just want to clarify something...There is NOTHING phallic about the May Pole. It is simply a very large, straight, wooden pole which is erected...I mean raised...in the center of villages throughout Bavaria Why do they place these poles in their towns? They are a symbol of the vitality of the village. At the raising of the pole, people gather, roast meat and drink beer. Given the size and weight of the pole, there is much performance anxiety over the ability of the male villagers to actually raise the pole and keep it up. Now what is phallic about that? So please no comments!

So May day, or Maitag, is the traditional day for raising the May Pole, or Maibaum in the towns of Bavaria. They must be erected at least once every five years unless there is concern about the general status of the pole. To ensure they remain in good repair, they are inspected every six months to ensure the wood is solid (for example, the pole in the Viktualenmarkt was removed early this year due to being rotten and until it was raised on May Day, the market looked, well, impotent!). Since this is an important Bavarian rite, Matt, William and I decided to attend a Maibaum raising in an area of Munich known as Harlaching. We arrived a little early to find that the festivities were well under way. An oxen was being roasted and beer was being served. The Maibaum was laying on the ground awaiting the raising. The Maibaum is made by selecting the tallest, straightest tree in the forest, stripping the bark, painting it the Bavarian colors of white and blue and adding symbols of the village as extensions off of the pole. When finally raised, it is rewarded, I mean topped, with a wreath and usually a cap that symbolizes the town...for example a fish for a fishing village etc. We were looking forward to participating in the event so we grabbed a beer and an ox meat sandwich (DELICIOUS!) and settled in. Soon the Bavarian band started, and the speeches began. My German continues to be abysmal so I settled back to the words of "BLAHBLAHBLAH" which is what everything sounds like to me anyway. Then the fun began! In Munich, the tradition of manual raising has been replaced with the erection by crane. All I can say is there must have been some serious accidents because typically Germans will choose tradition over safety any day. So up rolled the Fire crane and the raising began. This particular Maibaum was quite long and there was significant engineering and consulting going on about how to properly raise it, inspection of the brackets etc. After about 45 minutes of raising, lowering and readjustment accompanied by the OOHs and AAHs of the crowd...Harlaching had her Maibaum. The engineer then rode the crane to the top to proudly screw in the Cross. Feeling full of beer and meat, we started on our way home only to be engaged in conversation by a nice German man who after we praised the day's event proudly declared "Yes it was nice but it took an awfully long time! I am a helicopter pilot and I raised a 1300 Kilo radio tower on the top of the Zugspitze mountain and it only took me 10 minutes!" I guess he wins! Again, I reiterate, there is nothing phallic about the raising of the Maibaum! Enjoy the video of the event below!