A Maypole Mountain Mystery

Erecting a Maypole has been a Bavarian tradition for centuries and the operators of the Zugspitze's gondola and rack railway system proudly refer to their specimen as "the world's highest Maypole": Painted in Bavaria's national colors of white and blue, the 20 meter (65.6 feet) pole usually stands at an altitude of 2,600 meters (8,520 feet) and weighs almost a ton.

That didn't keep a quartet of Maypole-nappers from figuring out a way to get the colossus back down the mountain: They enlisted a team from Franco-German public broadcaster ARTE, rented a helicopter and dug up the pole from its secret hiding place.

Stealing a neighboring village's Maypole is also an old Bavarian custom and the thieves usually demand a hearty snack and barrel of beer in exchange for the pole.

However, news reports diverge as far as the Zugspitze bandits are concerned. "We're asking for four season tickets and four meals plus beer," Munich's Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted a spokeswoman for the group as saying. Zugspitze officials on the other hand told German news agency dpa that they'd received a ransom demand of 10 season tickets and free meals throughout the winter.

The rightful Maypole owners have apparently rejected the deal, but the pole-lifters aren't planning on giving up that quickly. "The abduction presented a considerable risk to our personal health," the group's spokeswoman said. She added that her team was used to tough ransom negotiations with the folks at Zugspitze since they had already stolen the pole eight years ago. "Back then they threatened us with a lawyer, but that didn't help them," she said. "In the end, they had to pay anyway."

Negotiations are expected to continue until Saturday.