Every few years each Bavarian town and village raises its own maypole, or Maibaum. The hoistings are staggered, so that in any given year, there's a nearby Maibaum Fest. This year we were lucky enough that our very own village of Mietraching was putting up a new pole. We invited a few friends from Munich, and then walked down the road to where the festivities were beginning.

MK

In the morning, it was lightly raining. Nothing in Bavaria is called off for rain. If they were, nothing would ever happen. Here, a future Maibaum-raiser helps set up by brushing water off of a fest table.

BH

Our new Maibaum is taller than the old one. It's 23 meters tall and can be seen from all over the area.

MK

The party-goers included this group of girls who would later be dancing.

MK

Fest food as usual: one Mass beer (a liter) and a plate of radish and sausage.

BH

Steffi, Margaret, and Sandra watching the pole go up.

MK

There was the requisite music and dancing.

MK

So, what's the deal with the raising of the pole? you ask. Well, there's a reason there's a fest surrounding the event: it takes several hours to put the pole up -- by hand. (Sorry, the jokes about "it taking twenty men four hours to get it up" has already been used.)

MK

A pair of tractors were used to get the pole off the ground. Just this high. And from here, it was all muscle-power and leverage.

BH

The way it works is that a series of smaller poles are used to support the Maibaum. Pairs of them are tied together near the top with a length of rope. When the bottom of the poles are moved outwards, the top of the poles and the rope grip the Maibaum tight and prop it up. Then, on a call from the head pole-raiser, the pole-sets are shimmied forward, raising the Maibaum up a slight degree. At some point these poles get too long to manage effectively and secondary poles with metal spikes on the end are used to help guide the tops of the poles with the ropes in order to move the Maibaum. Got that? Here you can see the set-up. A pair of the secondary poles lies on the ground.

MK

Each pole has its own group of men responsible for it. Between jesting with each other and drinking beer, they studiously study the pole, its position, its relation to the Maibaum, the grain of its wood, and a host of innumerable important other factors.

BH

And up it goes...