A Schützenverein (German for "marksmen's club") is a local

voluntary association A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to a ...

found in German-speaking countries revolving around

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

as a sport, often target shooting to Olympic rules or with historic weapons. Although originating as a town

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, a Schützenverein has no military aspects and in many cases often has a more social than sporting purpose.

Origins

These associations originated in late medieval autonomous towns as a form of citizens'

principally to defend the town.

Germany

Germany has over 15,000 ''Schützenvereine'', with most of them affiliated to the "

Deutscher Schützenbund The German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation (, DSB) is the largest umbrella organization for sport shooters in Germany. It was founded in 1861 in Gotha and re-founded in 1951 in Frankfurt / Main. DSB was Germany's fourth-largest sports ass ...

" (German Marksmen's Federation, DSB) umbrella organization. The DSB was founded in 1861 in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

and revived in 1951 in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The DSB's 1,500,000 members makes it the third largest sports organisation in Germany. Other organisations for sport shooting in Germany include the Bund Deutscher Sportschützen, "Bund der Militär- und Polizeischützen" and the "Deutsche Schießsport Union". These focus more on the sport and offer a wider variety of shooting styles and competition types than the DSB, particularly in the field of large-bore firearms. Each Schützenverein organizes shooting events, including at the very least an annual

Schützenfest A Schützenfest (, '' marksmen's festival'') is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on thei ...

. Weapons used may include

air rifles An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contr ...

, air pistols, small bore weapons and

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...

Rest of Europe

The concept of the ''Schützenverein'' is not unique to Germany. Many other European countries have similar traditions, such as

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In these countries, the organisations are also known as ''Shooting Guilds''.

United States

''Schuetzenvereins'' were founded in the United States by

German-Americans German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

and acted as a social club for their communities. Each club had a range for target shooting and often also a bar.Schuetzenpark
/ref> Larger clubs could have extensive facilities such as 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

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

restricted the activities of German-Americans and led to the prohibition of the public speaking of the

German language in the United States Over 50 million Americans claim German ancestry, which made them the largest single claimed ancestry group in the United States until 2020. Around 1.06 million people in the United States speak the German language at home. It is the second m ...

. Many businesses and organizations translated 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. Schuetzen Park in

North Bergen, New Jersey North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 63,361, an increase of 2,588 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 60,773, ...

and Schuetzen Park in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

recall the tradition. The former ''Deutsch-Amerikanische Schützen Gesellschaft'' building stands at 12 St. Mark's Place in New York City's East Village, and has been a designated landmark since 2001.

Australia

German settlers in Australia also formed Schützenvereine, notably in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

where Australian German associations run the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Sources

External links

Deutsch-Amerikanischer Schützenverein
(United States)
Königlischer Schützenbund Malmedy - Sankt Vith
(East Cantons - Belgium)
European Federation of Historic Shooting Guilds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schutzenverein Cultural organisations based in Germany Shooting sports organizations