Today is May 1st, which is Labor Day here in Germany and much of the rest of the world, North America aside. It’s a holiday here, and just about everything is closed.

In Munich, as in other Germanic cities, the tradition is to decorate and dance around a large pole. I.e., a Maypole. There’s a huge one that sits in the middle of the Viktualienmarkt in Munich, but we’ve never managed to be there at the right time of year to see the festivities associated with it. During the rest of the year, it’s surrounded by a daily outdoor market with fruits, vegetables, stands to get wurst and other prepared foods, etc.

When we were there last month, I snapped a couple of photos to offer a sense of the pole and its normal surroundings. Click here to read an article in Wikipedia with a photo of what it looks like when it’s decorated. But what you see below is the way it’s always looked to us when we’ve been in Munich.

If you’re in a country where Labor Day is celebrated on May 1st, enjoy the day off. If you’re in another country, well, I hope you can at least enjoy your labors today.

The rest of us will be celebrating them for you. 😉