Tradition and excitement: St. Hubertus Brotherhood shooting festival 2025

Tradition and excitement: St. Hubertus Brotherhood shooting festival 2025

Next weekend, more precisely on June 10th and 11th, 2025, the St. Hubertus Schützenbruderschaft will celebrate its traditional annual festival. This shooting festival is one of the many festive events that are deeply rooted in German culture. Such festivals bring together shooting brotherhoods and clubs and determine the best shooter, who bears the title of shooting king or queen. The competitions that lead to this honor can be diverse, including wrestling, bird shooting and target shooting, as Wikipedia reports.

The celebrations not only honor the art of shooting, but also the tradition of shooting clubs, which goes back to the Middle Ages. At that time, vigilante groups were founded to protect cities from looters. However, the military significance of these clubs has changed over the centuries, while the customs have remained.

A look at the history of the St. Hubertus Brotherhood

The upcoming shooting festival also offers the opportunity to look back on previous celebrations of the St. Hubertus shooting brotherhood. 50 years ago, in 1975, the royal couple Bernhard and Rita Schallenkamp ruled. Ten years later, in 1985, Hagen Debat and Regina Vickermann were kings. A historical Marcus in the brotherhood is the fact that Hildegard Kloppenburg is the only female member listed by name in a group photo of the Old Guard in 1985. In 2000, the Brotherhood also experienced an outstanding celebration, as the Guard celebrated its 75th anniversary and the Brotherhood celebrated its 100th anniversary, with Ludwig Vickermann being crowned District King. Looking back at these celebrations strengthens the sense of community and awareness of tradition, as scheidingen.de summarizes.

Shooting festivals in Germany and beyond

Shooting festivals are particularly widespread in regions such as Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Westphalia. They usually last from one to several days and often take place in festival tents or inns. The shooting festival in Hanover is considered the largest in the world, with around 200 showmen and up to 10,000 participants in the shooting parade. In 2023, it attracted 160,000 people, highlighting the immense popularity of this tradition. The Neuss Citizens' Shooting Festival is also one of the largest organized by a single club, with over 7,700 participants. These shooting festivals not only promote cohesion within the clubs, but also a sense of community in the regions.

The importance and popularity of shooting festivals is also reflected in the Federal Shooting Festival in Switzerland, which is considered the largest shooting festival in the world. In addition to the competitions and celebrations, the cohesion of the different language regions plays a central role.

Overall, the shooting festival is not only a celebration of shooting sports, but also an expression of regional identity and an opportunity to maintain traditions that are passed down through generations.