Blue sheep promote 'tolerance and solidarity'

Wales is quite famous for having a lot of sheep - and I mean LOTS OF THEM - but these ones? Last Saturday a herd of blue sheep could be seen in front of the Old Town Hall in Bonn. So what's it all about?

The herd of blue plastic sheep were created by German artists Rainer Bond and Berta-Maria Reetz. They have reportedly been seen in more than 50 cities all across the Europe over the past three years and promote the message 'All are equal - everyone is important'. Depending on the available space the herd contains of 50-100 identical blue sheep on green grass and stays at each location for one day.

As a thank you a single blue sheep is left behind in each visited city's town hall, remaining there as a peace ambassador. So far the sheep have been in Venice, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Strasbourg, Linz, Bad Ischl and Bolzano just to name a few.

The blue sheep in front of the Old Town Hall in Bonn

Photography by G Parzer

 For more information visit www.blaue-schafe.de

Ever heard of a 'Maibaum'? - A German tradition on 1st May

There is a very particular tradition for young, unmarried men in the Rhineland, where I come from, which is erecting a maypole (well, it's more a 'may tree') outside the house of their loved one.

Used is a birch tree and you can buy them like Christmas trees or go into the forest and cut it yourself in areas that have been approved for this by the forest rangers. A good size and nice crown of the tree is essential and it is then decorated with coloured crepe paper and a so-called 'Maiherz', a heart-shaped name plate made of wood or strong cardboard on which the name of the beloved one is written.

In the night to/early morning of 1st May the young men and their mates go around and erect the trees outside the houses.

The tree will stand for a month, until 1st June. It is then picked up by the young man who put it up and as a reward he will get a crate of beer from the young woman's father.

Here is an example of a 'Maibaum'. As you can see they are usually quite big.

Timber framed house with 'Maibaum' in Königswinter.
Photography by Kleuske