May” is by no means just a month in the Jülich region – the ‘May’ is a picture made of crepe paper roses that is hung on the wall of the house of the lady of the heart on the night of May 1st.
The procedure is a labor-intensive one: once the motif has been chosen and the base sketched out, the colors have to be selected. Often, the whole family is kept busy twisting so-called florets out of colorful crepe paper. The individual florets are later joined together to create the right picture.
In fact, the picture is supposed to be hung in complete secrecy – if only because in earlier times the consequences of paternal supervision over the virtue of the ladies were to be feared if the admirer was surprised at what he was doing. Since a certain amount of courage was required for the project, secrecy was not always the order of the day.
A trip through the village of Broich is particularly impressive every year. The custom is still widespread here.
Nowadays, a “Mai” is often put up in other places: This is a small birch trunk whose branches are decorated with colorful crepe ribbons.
Embarrassing side game: A “Mai” with toilet paper ribbons is placed in front of the door for unpleasant ladies.
