Maypoles

I interrupt the Bayern hike posts to note that we've been in Freiburg im Breisgau (in Baden-Wuerttemburg) since May 1--the date towns all over Bavaria raise their Maibäume (maypoles). For many towns, this was the first maypole-raising since the pandemic began. We timed our Freiburg roadtrip to catch some of the celebrations, starting with tiny Zankenhausen. When we arrived, half an hour late, they were deep in festive noshing but hadn't started lifting the pole yet. 

The fabulously named Hühnerbach Musikanten (Chicken Creek Musicians) set the mood: 

Merkur.de published photos of maypoles being raised around Fürstenfeldbruck; here's an action shot showing what we missed in Zankenhausen:

An hour after we left Zankenhausen, we randomly pulled off the Autobahn in Markt Erkheim in the hopes that they'd still be hefting their Maibaum. They had also started at 11am but were clearly more task-oriented than Zankenhausen; by 12:30pm, the pole was up and the crowds gone. (Online photos also indicate they had assistance from a crane.) Markt Erkheim's is the first maypole I've seen that's been decorated by carving the bark; usually the poles are painted Bavarian blue and white.

Maypole thievery is a longstanding tradition; stolen under cover of dark, they're usually ransomed back in exchange for beer in time for the May 1 hefting. On April 25, Merkur reported that talented ruffians in Inning had already stolen three maypoles: one from a Munich suburb, one from the Herrsching Brauhaus, and a 30m long, 3-ton pole from Dießen's St. Georgen district. Way to go, Inning!