When the Maibaum Falls — 40% German https://40percentgerman.com/home/2024/5/3/when-the-maibaum-falls

For almost 90 years, my home town spent the annual May Day public holiday transporting and carefully setting up the same maypole. Three generations essentially watched an identical process play out, as Lederhosen-clad men hoisted the roughly 38 meter pole into its mooring, secured it in place, and then celebrated the achievement with copious amounts of beer and, more often than not, Wurst. Although the traditional Maibaum has a finite life cycle, ours could easily have lasted decades longer, its sturdiness never in question, even when it gave the occasional disconcerting wobble when the wind caught it. Sadly, all good things do eventually come to an end, and it was with no little sadness that in 2021, locals awoke to find the pole lying on the road, in two very broken pieces.

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