May Day in Germany

Old Nov 23rd, 2004, 03:39 PM
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May Day in Germany

I will be in Germany on May 1. Wonder if anyone can recommend a small town with a nice May Pole festival?

I hear that lately May Day has turned into a protest day in the bigger cities. Is this true?
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Old Nov 24th, 2004, 07:24 AM
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So you are looking into which area?
While Germany is smaller than the United States it is big enough to feature some all-day-driving distances.

Regarding protests: May 1st has always been a day for demonstrations. That's its origin (a holiday introduced by the Nazis for the working class, which surprisingly has been kept- I suppose spare time does not care for ideology...). So yes, there might be demonstrations in the bigger cities, but they have diminsihed dramatically in size since the economy isn't doing that well any more. Thus, they won't be an obstruction for you. In fact, you might not even notice them.
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Old Nov 24th, 2004, 08:33 AM
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Oh, yeah, sorry , knowing about where I will be would be a help!

I'll be in/near Munich/Bavaria region.
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Old Nov 24th, 2004, 11:39 PM
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Sorry, I am not that much of a Bavaria expert, as I am based much further North.
However, I do have some travelling experience regarding Munich and I do like the villages around Tegernsee Lake. It is not far a drive from the city to the South, it's pretty scenic and they might have some celebrations going on (probably in Rottach Egern or in Tegernsee), but I cannot guarantee it. A May Pole should be visible in all of them.
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Old Nov 25th, 2004, 12:42 AM
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hi there,

sorry hsv,
two times wrong. 1th May wasnt set by the Nazis. In 1886 it war the day for demonstation of workers fighting in Chicago for their rights (working only 8 hours a day.
1889 the Kommunists claimed the the 1th May as "day of workers" . In 1919 it was fixed as public holiday in Germany.
Second is: There are violant demonstration each year during the night of the 1th May. Berlin, Frankfurt, Straßburg ... are the hot spots which one should not visit (except You like street fighting against the cops).
anyway
have fun

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Old Nov 25th, 2004, 06:37 AM
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Hi gargamel!

I stated the history of May 1st from memory and your comment made me verify my knowledge - and I am relieved to say that I was not wrong.

I do not doubt that the history of May 1st as a worker's holiday started in Chicago. You are correct, too, that the German communists declared it their day in 1889.
However, while there was a first lawmaking initiative from the Weimar Government of Germany in 1919 after the 1918 revolution. However, May 1st was declared a holiday only in very few portions of Germany: In the cities of Hamburg and Luebeck, in Saxony and in Schaumburg/Lippe.

Like it or not- the Nazis (who had strong roots with the working class) were the ones to declare it an official national holiday in April 1933.

Regarding the demonstrations I can oly refer to personal experience. I do live in one of Germany's biggest cities (and don't take any joy from fighting with the police). While there used to be massive demonstrations far into the nineties, nowadays it does not pose much of a problem anymore. I am not saying, there aren't any fights particularly in some districts of Berlin, but usually one is not too likely to get into these fights, if one doesn't look for them.
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Old Nov 25th, 2004, 11:16 AM
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Thanks for the interesting history lesson, hsv. Did the Nazis really have strong links with the working class, though, or did it just look that way? Arguably they successfully adopted the images and terminology of the labour movement (including the word "socialist") while drawing the great bulk of their support from the middle class and, more surreptitiously, the wealthy. I've heard it claimed that the great bulk of German workers, while they could still vote, continued to support socialist parties.
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Old Nov 25th, 2004, 11:35 AM
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Neil_Oz,

tough question- and a delicate one. As you mention it - their party name incorporated the term socialist, and in parts I believe that was their approach to the economy. Given the bad economic situation, I guess the movement originated not from the wealthy elite. But it appears that jumped the wagon seeing an opportunity. I will leave it at that, because my expertise is not qualified enough and because there have been long debates among historians and politicians which have caused a lot of stir but not a clear result.
What is safe to say regarding their followers: Sadly it appears that in their days they had more followers within all parts of the population than would later admit to it.
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 05:37 AM
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For anyone interested in history of May Day:

In Perigord, France, the May Pole or May Tree was declared a 'tree of liberty' and symbol of the French Revolution by the local revolutionary tribunal. So the concept of taking this spring festival and co-opting it for political purposes seems to have begun neither in late nineteenth century Chicago nor early twentieth century Germany but late eighteenth century France.
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 09:46 AM
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I was fortunate enough to see a May Day celebration in Salzburg, complete with the erection of a 60-70 foot Maypole. The festivity occurred in a park on the outskirts of Salzburg. Quite an interesting and entertaining event.

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover
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Old Nov 26th, 2004, 11:29 AM
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I had the impression that the English maypole at least had a phallic connotation, originally a centrepiece of ancient fertility rites.
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