Kühbach Raises 28-Meter Maypole in Bavarian Tradition

In the small Bavarian village of Kühbach, residents and visitors gathered Friday to erect a new 28-meter maypole in the market square, upholding a centuries-old tradition symbolizing community, spring, and fertility.

The event drew crowds from across Bavaria and beyond to the community of about 4,500 people. Young men from the Kühbacher Burschen, a local club with 240 members, led the effort on the public holiday of May 1. Dressed in traditional lederhosen and light-blue dirndls, participants retrieved the pole from a former sawmill early that morning after weeks of around-the-clock guarding to prevent theft, another longstanding Bavarian custom.

Preparation for the maypole, replaced every three years, began last winter. Club members selected a spruce from a nearby forest, stripped its branches and bark, dried it, and painted it three times in Bavaria's white-and-blue state colors. They affixed metal signs bearing village guild emblems to its sides.

Two sturdy horses from the local brewery pulled the horizontal pole on wooden carts through the village in a procession, with children perched in a row atop it. A brass band played Bavarian tunes as the group passed the church and...