If you didn’t grow up with it, you might find it strange that women are still auctioned off in the Jülich region to this day. This takes place every year in a new town and is called “May customs”. May customs are still practiced in the villages in particular.
The highest bidding bachelor wins. Whoever bids the most money “buys” the right to lead the over-16s to the dance and hang them a “Mai”. How did this rather antiquated tradition come about? A scientific study entitled “May customs in the Rhineland” provides the answer. Editor Simon Matzerath summarizes. “If you want to reduce it to one sentence, it was once about keeping the land in the village”.
Today, May customs still have an important social function. It holds village life together and the young men, who form the core and board of the May Day clubs, learn and take on responsibility. “It is a crucial experience when you are in your twenties or even younger and organize a festive event of this magnitude for the village and thus become part of society – and this is also rewarded with recognition. That is an important life experience.”
The oldest May club in the Jülich region is the Broicher, which dates back to 1744.
