May custom (Rhineland)
The May custom in the Rhineland , like many local customs , is very special and in large parts even differs from village to village. The groups that organize this custom consist mostly of male adolescents and often have historical names, e.g. B. Maigeloog, May club, May party , bachelor club , row or boys game .
Events
Sale / auction of May brides
The sale of May brides is more of a symbolic nature. In most cases, the bidder is the only one who has the right to take part in the May tradition together with his or her May bride (e.g. May festival, attaching May hearts / trees). At the auction, unmarried girls aged 16 and over are auctioned off among the bachelors in a village. The master of ceremonies, also called "Zeres" or "Ceremony", gives piece by piece information about the ladies against bids. This can be age, name or information about the appearance. The highest bidder wins the bid. The proceeds from the auction are mainly used to organize the corn season.
May night
The night from April 30th to May 1st is called May Night. During this night, the May boys traditionally express their interest in their maiden ladies by hanging jewelry in the form of maypoles, May hearts or May pictures on their houses. In a village, a so-called proclamation is often used to indicate which maid-girl has officially "auctioned" which maiden.
May Festival
The May Festival is organized by different groups and organizations. It is often celebrated in honor of the May Queen and the May King. A May Festival usually follows a traditional routine and rituals, with some communities lasting an entire weekend. Common elements include a May fair, a ball in a hall or tent, and a magnificent pageant through the village. The May festival is not necessarily the weekend of May night. In regions where May custom is strongly represented, the events would compete with each other. Therefore, the celebrations often start in April and in some cases end in June.
May King / May Queen
Many Maigesellschaften or club determine a in the form of an auction May King . This appoints his chosen one to be Queen of May. The determination of how a May King is determined also differs from village to village. The May King title is either auctioned separately (at the beginning or at the end of the auction) or awarded to the person who bought the most expensive May woman. In some places the May King is democratically elected by a simple majority. As a rule, someone is May-King until a new king is appointed next year. In some villages, however, the May King is determined at the end of last May. The village tree is alternately shod with an ax until the tree falls. Next year's May King is the May boy who brought the tree down. In a similar form, a may queen is in the foreground in other places.
Mairemmel / Maipolizei / Dörpremmel
In some villages there is a May Police - also called Mairemmel or Dörpremmel. She monitors compliance with the respective May tradition (for example, May boys only attach corn jewelery to women who they have bought) and may even collect fines for an offense in many cases. The May Police can consist of several people and take on other special tasks within the May tradition, for example carrying a maypole during the parade.
Special forms
May custom is practiced very differently from region to region. Here are some special features:
Maigraf
In many auctions, other items are also determined, such as B. the 1st and 2nd Maigraf with Countess. These are those who have bought the second and third most expensive woman.
Rötzchensvater
In some areas there is still the Rötzchensvater , who is appointed to the person who has bought the most Milanese marriages . As a rule, the Rötzchen bought the cheapest women who are not so popular, hence the name Rötzchen (= snot, rest). The Rötzchenvater then places the village tree on the village square in honor of the Mail marriages that were not auctioned.
Maischmuck
A main part of the May tradition is to show affection for one's adored May-wife through a jewelry on her house.
The maize jewelry is attached to the house of the May woman on the night of May 1st. Often the objects are guarded by the respective bachelor so that they are not stolen by competitors. A theft after May night is considered cowardly and devious.
According to tradition, only the bachelor is allowed to hang jewelry on a girl who has bought it at the May auction.
The mash jewelery is not broken off or taken down before the end of May.
Dorfmai
Often on May night a large, elaborately decorated maypole is set up in the center of the village. The maypoles are popular trophies for the neighboring villages by being sawed off or stolen.
maypole
Bachelors “stick” a more or less large “may” to their loved ones, that is, they decorate a tree (usually a birch or a spruce) or at least a birch twig or twig and attach it to the house or window of the chosen one. This tree is decorated with ribbons or tufts (so-called plumes) or roses made of colored crepe or tissue paper .
Thistle branch
In addition to birch trees, there is also a custom in some regions of using thistle branches to express a “prickly” love. Thistle trees are often also set up by friends to wish a couple luck.
May hearts / May pictures
In parts of North Rhine-Westphalia there is an expanded custom of setting the maypole. Here, a so-called "May" in the form of a self-made May heart or picture is attached to the window of the loved one.
May hearts or pictures are pictures made of colored crepe paper or colored rice (so-called rice hearts). The material is sprinkled on a styrofoam plate or cardboard base. For May pictures, small florets are turned out of crepe paper and these are put together like a mosaic in styrofoam or cardboard or glued on with special glue. The motifs used are mostly May custom, animal or village motifs. The size, shape and design vary greatly from village to village. In some cases several 10,000 paper florets are used for such May pictures.
May hearts usually contain the girl's name or initial, May pictures often show entire sentences and / or figures.
Birch with plush
Branch of a birch tree decorated with crepe paper
Corn bouquet decorated with fir green made from almost 10,000 fine paper roses, put on styrofoam (Jülich-Barmen, 2011)
May heart made from 1500 crepe paper florets
May heart of a Wikipedia user for his girlfriend 2006. Dimensions: 1.70 mx 1.60 m (Heinsberg)
May heart from Granterath (district of Heinsberg)
May heart "Caro" 70x100 on a lantern at night (Heinsberg-Waldenrath)
Birch tree decorated with a May heart in Bonn-Beuel
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Schandbaum
In addition to "jewelry made of love" there are also unsightly specimens. A tree or May heart decorated with toilet paper or other obscene objects is viewed as a sign of dislike or insult. Using black plush is also a sign of a tree of shame.
Leap year
A few years ago, it was still regionally limited, but in recent years the custom for girls to dress their boys with maize jewelry has become more and more widespread. In leap years girls can put up mash jewelry for their friends, according to the motto: "In the leap year there is a custom - in the leap year the girls do it too!"
criticism
Societies that cultivate May custom are not infrequently subject to public criticism. In some villages, the May tradition is more likely to be abused as an occasion for alcohol consumption or rioting. Already in 1732 Johann Philipp Eugenius, Reichsgraf von und zu Merode, wrote in an ordinance for the pub area "... all good misuse in Dantzen, and otherwise irresponsible exces introduced in May times, primarily the improper nocturnal treasure-proclamation etc. pp. …" forbidden.
In other villages, the May custom takes place on a very serious basis. It is not uncommon for the May festivals to be organized by teenagers and young adults alone. May societies have a good reputation in many villages and often receive honors or prizes for their youth work.