When and why?
The tradition is performed on the night of November 10th to 11th (the eve of St. Martin's Day) or sometimes on the night of October 31st to November 1st (All Saints' Day/All Souls' Day).
It is a kind of folk-oriented or mocking ritual in which a bachelor who waits too long to marry (usually a man over 25–30 who still lives at home) is publicly ridiculed for "staying single for too long."
How does it work?
Friends, neighbors, or the village youth gather secretly at night.
They take a tree (usually a birch, willow, or spruce) from the forest or field.
The tree is completely stripped bare (all leaves and branches are removed, sometimes only the crown remains), and sometimes it is also peeled.
The bare tree is then erected in the middle of the night: in the front garden of the bachelor's house, or in front of his bedroom window,
or even on the roof or in the chimney.
Decorations are often hung around it: old pots, bottles, shoes, a doll in a wedding dress, satirical verses, or signs with texts like "An old bachelor lives here" or "For sale: 1 bachelor, slightly damaged."
The next morning, the bachelor (and the entire neighborhood) discovers the "stoetbom" (stomach bomb).
In short: a funny, folksy way to tease bachelors who "wait too long" by planting a bare tree in front of their door at night.
One of the nicest surviving traditions in Limburg!
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