May 1, 2025: What's the holiday all about? Meaning and origin explained
May Day, Walpurgis Night, Labor Day, or simply May Day – there are many different traditions surrounding May Day. On the one hand, protests and demonstrations take place on Labor Day. Occasionally, there are also riots and clashes between left-wing autonomous groups and the police. On the other hand, in many places, "May Day" parties are held, maypoles are erected, bonfires are lit, and May kings and queens are elected. What is this multifaceted May Day celebration all about?
As a labor movement holiday, May Day is a public holiday not only in Germany. Labor Day originated in the USA . On May 1, 1886 , large protests erupted when North American workers demonstrated to enforce the eight-hour workday. Three years later, May 1 was proclaimed the "Day of Struggle of the Labor Movement," and in 1890, mass protests and demonstrations took place on May 1 for the first time in other countries.
In Germany, Labor Day was first established as a public holiday after the First World War, during the Weimar Republic – but only for 1919. The National Socialists declared May 1st "National Labor Day" in 1933. On May 2nd, 1933, Adolf Hitler banned all labor organizations and unions. One year later, the day was renamed "National Holiday of the German People." The day no longer bore any resemblance to its original concept; instead, it served as a propaganda tool for the Nazi Party.
It wasn't until after the Second World War that May Day regained its original meaning. The Control Council of the Allied Powers confirmed May Day as Labor Day on May 1, 1946. Since the end of the war, it has been celebrated by the German Trade Union Confederation.
The red carnation is considered a symbol of the working class. Since May Day demonstrations were often violently suppressed and the carrying of flags and placards was prohibited, protesters pinned red carnations in their buttonholes. This made it easy to identify like-minded people.
Since May 1st is officially a public holiday throughout Germany, shops in every German state are generally closed.
What do protests and demonstrations for workers' rights have to do with parties? That's right, nothing. In fact, the May Day dance is rooted in much older customs than those of the labor movement of 1886. Long before that, May Day had already been a day of traditional spring celebrations .
The erection or setting up of a maypole has symbolic significance and represents life and strength. Another tradition, depending on the region, is the Maypole theft , in which people attempt to steal the maypole of a neighboring village. The coronation of May Kings and Queens is also still part of May customs in some regions.
The May Dance is a celebration with parties, concerts, and other events from April 30th into May. The May Dance likely originates from the medieval Walpurgis Night. At that time, the pagan fertility rituals of the Celts were probably demonized by the Christian church as a witches' sabbath. This may have given rise to the myth of witches meeting on the Brocken in the Harz Mountains.
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