No other maypole in the city was photographed so often. It stood not on a festival ground but in the middle of trade, between fruit stalls and platters of cold cuts, and in six groups of figures it told you what Munich lives on: commerce, beer, music and the appetite for a celebration. The next one will do the same.
Facts and figures
- First maypole
- 1962, donated by the Munich breweries
- Last tree
- the 14th since 1962, 1 May 2022 to September 2026, around 34 metres
- Next tree
- planned for 9 May 2027
- Groups of figures
- six, designed in 1992 by Paul Ernst Rattelmüller, painted by Arno von Lossow
- Renewal
- at intervals of several years
What the figures show
Six groups hung on the last trunk, and together they added up to a portrait of the city: the patron saints of the brewers, Florian and Bonifatius, the market women and the beer-hall waitresses, musicians and dancers, the Schäffler with their coopers' dance, a carousel and a beer tent, and the brewery teams with their horses. One plaque recalled Duke Albrecht IV and the Munich purity law of 1487, the decree that fixed what could go into beer.
Why a new one every few years
A maypole lives outdoors, and the weather outlasts the wood. So the trunk at the Viktualienmarkt is replaced at intervals of several years. The last one lasted a good four years, and then TÜV, the German technical inspection body, settled the matter: in September 2026 it had to come down. Everything about the coming season is on the page Munich Maypole 2027.
Going there
The market lies between Marienplatz and the Gärtnerplatz quarter, a few minutes on foot from Marienplatz station. Until 9 May 2027 all that stands there is the empty socket. To see the tree, come afterwards, best of all in May, when the sun stands over the stalls. How the custom fits into the history of the market is described by our sister project (in German), Brauchtum München.
Sources
- muenchen.de, offizielles Stadtportal: 1. Mai in München 2027: Maifeste, Maibäume und weitere Traditionen.
- muenchen.de, offizielles Stadtportal: Viktualienmarkt München: Öffnungszeiten und Biergarten.
- Verein Münchener Brauereien e.V.: Münchner Maibaum - Die Motive.
- Abendzeitung München, 01.05.2022: München: Der Maibaum auf dem Viktualienmarkt ist wieder da!
Retrieved on 7 October 2026. The sources are in German. They document the facts given on this page; the bodies named remain the authority.