Do you know this tradition?: Aalborg has gotten its first pole for cinnamon

If you live in or move around Aalborg, you’ve probably seen it.

Big brown cinnamon trails around lamp posts, bike racks, and walkways.

The North Jutland tradition of tying unmarried 25-year-olds to a lamp post and showering them with cinnamon is charming, but it also leaves behind a massive clean-up job.

Especially around the student housing at Eternitten, the problem has been very noticeable.

But now Himmerland Housing Association has found a solution that keeps the tradition alive while protecting the surroundings.

A real, permanent Cinnamon Pole.

A basketball hoop became the solution

The association owns 240 youth apartments on Ditlev Bergs Vej, and there they have transformed an old basketball hoop into a sturdy metal pole painted in cinnamon colors.

They have fittingly named it the Cinnamon Pole.

Janitor Kim Bech, who looks after the area daily, has already seen the effect.

He told DR:

“It’s young people living here, so it gets used often. There’s always cinnamon lying around,” he says, pleased that the cinnamon is now kept in one place.

“We were really challenged by them using the lamp posts in the area. So we thought: ‘Why not use the pole for something useful?’”

The Cinnamon Pole has, in other words, become a gathering point for celebrations and a solution to the otherwise familiar mess.

Better than lamp posts

The young residents living next to the new installation are also enthusiastic.

The tradition is still alive, but now there’s a place dedicated to it.

They hope that more places in the city will follow.

“I wish people would use a cinnamon pole instead of lamp posts around town,” one young resident says.

Himmerland Housing Association is happy to offer a place where the tradition can continue without affecting the neighborhood.

According to the association, the tradition still means a lot to many:

“The Cinnamon Pole on Ditlev Bergs Vej is used a lot, and we’re happy to help keep a fun and cozy tradition alive among our residents.”

More cinnamon poles on the way?

Himmerland Housing Association plans for other departments and areas in Aalborg to adopt the idea, so that shoes, dog paws, and lamp posts can be spared from the worst cinnamon mess.

The issue has repeatedly been brought up with the City and Landscape Administration.

Nearly every weekend, you’ll see large cinnamon messes around the city center.

But the municipality does not clean it up.

According to the municipality, it’s a matter of resources, and since cinnamon poses no health risk, cleaning it up is not a high priority.

Aalborg Municipality emphasizes that those responsible for the festivities must clean up afterward and urges people to take responsibility and remove the cinnamon themselves.

Now, it may be that a “Cinnamon Pole” suddenly lands on a new agenda in the municipality.