I fancied a Schnitzel, some fries and a coffee. Maybe not the healthiest of meals, but it was fast and filling. There were the usual rickety high tables on the pavement where you could flavour your food with mayo, ketchup and stuff. A few drivers were already there, drinking coffee and smoking. I joined one of them at a table. He was from outside Halle, near Leipzig, I learned, as we struck up a conversation. His English was much better than my German. We were a good six-hour drive from his home and he was lamenting the fact that he would not be with his family tonight, of all nights. I asked why, was it a birthday or anniversary or something?

‘Tonight is the night we ‘Tanz in den Mai', he told me.

Of all the many pagan, pre-Christian festivals, the Maytime celebration is probably the one that has best survived down the centuries.  With all the seeds sown by the month of May, many flowers starting to bloom and fruit trees blossoming, the main theme is a farewell to the dark and stagnant winter and a welcome to the bright and fertile summer. And, today, its traditions seem stronger in Germany than any other country in modern Europe.

 Flowers in Badenweiler, Germany

Mostly a community-driven festival, where large trees or posts --maypoles--are erected in the town square, adorned with garlands of flowers and colourful ribbons and young people dance around these poles. Customs differ slightly from region to region, but usually it consists of plenty of eating, drinking and dancing, with the maypole as the centrepiece.

The German driver said that he lived in a small rural hamlet. He explained that one of their traditions was to gather in a neighbour's house on May Eve, the 30^th of April.  Each of them would bring some food, wine and flowers. They would eat and chat and then, before midnight, there would be music and they would ‘Dance into May.' I could tell, from how fondly he spoke of it, that he really wanted to be there. I, in return, explained how in Ireland we had similar traditions many centuries ago, but the feast of May-- Bealtaine in our language --had been Christianized into a celebration of the Virgin Mary, with processions and the reciting of endless rosaries.   I told him that his ‘Dancing into May' definitely sounded like much more fun.

Irish truck driver and freelance writer Frank Cox has driven extensively in Western Europe, and Germany in particular. Although he isn't technically an 'expat' his job has taught him a lot about the people and traditions of the countries he rides through.

Photo credit: Flickr © nlnnet; Frank Cox