Schützenfest
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A Schützenfest (German "marksmen's festival") is an annual traditional festival celebrated in the Northwest regions of Germany as well as in Bavaria. It is a kind of local fair featuring a shooting match among members of the local marksmen's association and usually takes place in summer.
At a Schützenfest, contestants compete their shooting abilities, for example by shooting at a wooden representation of an eagle. The winner of the competition becomes the 'Schützenkönig' ("king of marksmen") until the next year's competition.
The commercially organized Schützenfest of Hanover, Germany, is the largest marksmen's Fun Fair in the world with more than 5,000 marksmen, 260 rides and inns, 5 large beer-tends and the "Marksmen's Parade". The parade with more than 12,000 participants from Germany and all over the world and more than 100 bands is 12 kilometres long. It is the longest parade in the world. The landmark of the funfair is the highest transportable Ferris wheel in the world. It is 60 metres high and can transport 420 people in 42 cabins.
Schützenfest Medals
Shooting competitions are a way of life in the Germanic regions of Europe, especially in Switzerland. The initial Swiss Federal Shooting Festival (Eidgenössisches Schützenfest) was held in 1824. Federal contests along with cantonal, city, and club competitions have continued through to the present day.
Various awards for marksmanship have been won by the competitors. Shooting medals and shooting cups are the most common forms of award. Books illustrating and listing these awards have been published in Switzerland.
Swiss shooting medals were struck in a variety of metals including gold, silver, bronze, white metal and aluminum, with silver being the most common. Mintages are very low with the average mintage of the 45mm silver being 700-800 pieces. The scarcity of medals has increased over the years due to the awards being melted for bullion, being lost, and general attrition. The size of most medals range form 23 millimeters to 62 millimeters with 45 mm being the most prevalent.
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[edit] Australia
[edit] Brazil
[edit] Germany
- Lähden, Niedersachsen
- Bad Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Biberach an der Riß, Baden-Württemberg
- Hannover, Lower Saxony
- Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Hövelhof, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Oestinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Rietberg, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Salzkotten, North Rhine-Westphalia
- Balve, North Rhine-Westphalia (In a cave!)
[edit] Switzerland
Schützenfest played a central role in the Old Swiss Confederacy, during the 15th century, participants shooting the crossbow, contributing significantly to the coherence between the individual cantons. The Schützenfest of 1849 in Aarau figures prominently in Gottfried Kellers Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten, where Keller portrays the shooting clubs as vital for the preservation of direct democracy in the young Swiss federal state.
Eidgenössische (federal) Schützenfest are organized by the Schweizerischer Schützenverein since 1824.
- 1824 Aarau
- 1827 Basel
- 1828 Geneve
- 1829 Fribourg
- 1830 Bern
- 1832 Luzern
- 1834 Zurich
- 1838 St. Gallen
- 1842 Chur
- 1849 Aarau
- 1861 Stans
- 1867 Schwyz
- 1869 Zug
- 1872 Zurich
- 1874 St. Gallen
- 1876 Lausanne
- 1879 Basel
- 1881 Fribourg
- 1883 Lugano
- 1885 Berne
- 1890 Frauenfeld
- 1892 Glarus
- 1895 Winterthur
- 1898 Neuchatel
- 1901 Luzern
- 1904 St. Gallen
- 1907 Zurich
- 1910 Bern
- 1924 Aarau
- 1929 Bellinzona
- 1934 Fribourg
- 1939 Luzern
- 1949 Chur
- 1954 Lausanne
- 1958 Biel
- 1963 Zurich
- 1969 Thun
- 1972 Biel
- 1977 Zurich
- 1985 Chur
- 1990 Winterthur
- 1995 Thun
- 2000 Bière
- 2005 Frauenfeld