Mayfest 2007

Our 7th Annual Mayfest and our second year of picture documentation. The weather was perfect even though we had a Friday evening shower that temporarily packed the tents to an extreme. The music, food(leberkäse, potatosalad, sauerkraut, weisse wurst) and Beer was outstanding. We thank Alderman Gene Schulter for helping with the event.

Co-Chairman Matt Lodge and Joe Matuschka (Überstein). Head of the Mayfest Committee.

Prinz Reinhold addressing the crowd.

Helmut Mueller and Gustaf Hopp manning the protein bank. There is a whole new meaning in "flipping the leberkäse".

Reinhard and Eleanor staffing the food tent.

Outdoor stage featuring Local Rock Bands to the neighborhood.

Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce booth.

GAPA Beer tent, with Gerhardt Stadler in full Bavarian Colors.

Anna Reiter and Eleanor manning the food tent.

Erich Himmel in action.

Alderman Gene Schulter and Treasurer Maria Pappas starting the festivities.

Oh Zapf! So spannend, excitement, as Gene Schulter is tapping the first barrel of Bier from Munich.

May Fest 2006

Mayfest Co. Chairman, Joe Matuschka and Matt Lodge

Mayfest dignitaries in VIP tent; Joe, Alderman Gene Schulter with Ambassador from Germany

Food servers; Heidi, Kathy Wolf, Darlene Fuchs (Walter Boehm in the background)

The Fiedler (Fred and John) brothers manning the Rheinischer Verein Bar

Lincoln Chamber of Commerce tent.

RV food preparations

Beer keg tapping ceremony

Brother and Sister (Matt Lodge and Susie Matuschka) enjoying a beer together.

German ambassador with Mayfest organizers

Mayfest Königin Karina Freiberger,  with Mother Dagmar.

Kirmes at Mayfest.

Massive crowds

Erich, Ron and Irene Rotter

More massive crowds

Ein Prosit

May Fest and the Maibaum (Maypole)

The Celebration and Spirit of New Life

f forests are to Germans what the sea is to the English, the significance of the Maibaum  (Maypole), like the Tannenbaum (Christmas tree), resides deep in the hearts and souls of Germans wherever they gather. A forest people, the ancient, pagan Germans worshipped their gods in what they considered sacred trees. The veneration of these sacred trees included appeals to a supernatural world that all people from time immemorial have always sensed existed and attempted to harness and explain in their own way and on their own terms. Sacrifices made to these sacred trees at religious festivals were seasonally designated in accordance with fertility worship and the cult of the sun.

In fact, the primary challenge for Christian missionaries attempting to convert the pagan Germans in the Dark Ages was to reorient their understanding of the spiritual world. It was no coincidence that in 724 St. Boniface, Apostle to the Germans, resolved to do this by striking at the very roots of the most powerful symbol of German pagan spirituality, the sacred oak of Thor, which stood on the summit of Mount Gudenberg near Fritzlar. Publicly announcing in advance that he would demonstrate the powerlessness of their pagan gods, Boniface approached the giant oak with axe in hand and began hacking away. He had only begun to cut into the trunk when the tree crashed to the ground into four parts, in the shape of a cross. Thus did our pagan ancestors come to know that Jesus, the son of the Christian God, allowed Himself to be hung on a tree in order to redeem for humanity the promise of not only a new spiritual life but eternal life as well.

As the May Fest has come down through the ages to signify the arrival of Spring, it is celebrated with a Maibaum. The Maibaum, with its close connections to the pagan and Christian tree of life, is the May Fest’s symbol of fertility and rebirth. Traditionally, the bark of a tall fir or pine tree is removed except for a few feet of treetop. Legend has it that this is done to rid the tree of evil spirits who roam the deep, dark forests of the German hinterlands but hide under the bark of trees in winter. The Maibaum is then garnished with a wreath of fir or pine branches and flowers which is perched just under the treetop. Long, multi colored ribbons stream down from the wreath and around the Maibaum itself, and painted woodcuts depicting the main crafts and local culture of the village are hung as branches down along its sides. Some villages hold a contest to see who can climb the Maibaum, barefoot, the fastest. The prize, pretzels or sausages, is hidden inside the wreath. Though the Maibaum is set up in the village square, it has to be guarded carefully less it is stolen and held for ransom (typically a barrel of beer) by the men of a neighboring village.

Of course, if Spring is in the air, the May Fest also holds the promise of romance as dances around the Maibaum entice those so inclined into the spirit of the season.

Join us, then, around “our town’s” one and only Maibaum to break some bread and quaff the Gemuetlichkeit at the 3^rd Annual May Fest in the heart of the Northside’s German Quarter as we celebrate this centuries old Teutonic Rite of Spring -- Chicago style -- an experience you May not want to miss!                                                        

Ein Prosit!  Mike Haas

4Link to the Mayfest Chicago Web Site