Schützenverein

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A Schützenverein is in German language countries a voluntary association featuring sport-shooting either on Olympic levels or historic weapons.

The first part of the word, "Schützen" (plural, singular: "Schütze"), has two different meanings, first it means the members of this voluntary association who practice their sport, second it means "to protect", originating in the founding of these kinds of clubs after the 18th century, when armed people were hired to protect urbanized areas.

In Europe today these kinds of clubs are present with this name in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The members practice a shooting-sport on strict rules, mostly according to Olympic rules without attaching any military importance, and the most used weapons are air-rifles, air-pistols, small bore weapons and crossbow.

The head organisation in Germany for a "Schützenverein" is the "Deutscher Schützenbund", originally founded in 1861 in Gotha and refounded after WWII in 1951 in Frankfurt (Main). It has about 15.000 clubs with about 1.500.000 members (Schützen) and by this is the third largest sports-organisation in Germany.

[edit] Non European appearance

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 ^[1].

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.

[edit] Sources

^ Schuetzenpark

The traditions of the Schuetzen Verein continue in America at the Deutsch-Amerikanischer Schuetzen Verein in Auburn Hills, Michigan. http://www.dasv.org