Schützenverein

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Though still somewhat active in their German homeland, Schützenvereine or, in the Americanised spelling, schutzenvereins (translated "Shooting Associations") were also quite popular for generations of German-Americans. These social facilities were the German community's version of a country club, featuring guns instead of golf clubs, and where a hole-in-one had a very different meaning. Some facilities resembled little more than a neighborhood bar, while others were strikingly similar to a modern day amusement park (http://www.schuetzenpark.info).

Each of these facilities featured at least one target range for rifle marksmanship. In addition to the shooting and target houses, they sometimes included an inn, dance hall, music pavilion, zoo, bowling alley, roller coaster, refreshment stands, athletic field, picnic grounds, and other amusements. It was common for tens of thousands of people to attend a major event.

The popularity of these facilities began to decline in America around 1917, when the anti-German sentiment from World War I restricted the activities of German-Americans and led to the prohibition of the use of the German language in public. Many businesses and organizations changed their German names or dissolved. The American Schützenvereine were dealt another serious blow in 1919 when the "Prohibition Act" outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, the consumption of which was casually mixed with shooting activities.