Taking the tree hostage is a much a tradition and some towns are extremely proud of their reputation in this domain. No matter how heavy or how long, this year's hostage tree tops it all off. Not to mention carrying 3 tons across fences and rail tracks and driving the monster through Munich's city freeways. The stolen Maibaum arrived in Unterbrunn at 5am, no signs of fatigue, on the contrary, the members of the local marching band grab all available brass and wake everyone in town to the tune of a successfull job. Diplomacy starts now.
Bidding starts with half a pint of the golden brew for all tree pirates.
But the abductors from Unterbrunn have a long and successful tradition, making a deal is tough. Finally everyone agrees to one pint of beer and a hot bavarian snack for all pirates and their wives. People were very proud to use it as their Maibaum and to preserve it instead of turning such a majestic pine into some paper base. This made everyone feel much better around here. The tree was handed over back to their legal owners and a huge fest was given when it came back and was raised by the village community.