Schützenfest - A fest like no other

As promised in the crowns and tiaras article, I am back with another article about the Schützenfest, the whole reason I took a break from travelling. It has been a very confusing five days, but I live to tell the story. It is best to read the previous article to understand this one better.

This Schützenfest I visited was not too different from the ones described in many articles I have read and from the many things I have heard from Schützenfest fans. I mean when your boyfriend is actively involved in these things and is even the Zugkönig (see the other article for a proper explanation) there is no going around it.

Much to my surprise Schützenfest started earlier than I could have imagined. Two weeks before the official Schützenfest there were small events on the Saturdays leading up to Schützenfest for all the marksmen where small assemblies and awards ceremonies are held where they are given medals for their achievements.

But since only the marksmen could attend, I didn’t quite know what happened there. All I know is after the speeches and the awards, they had a small parade where they walked through the city streets in a suit and ties.

When Schützenfest starts varies from town to town and city to city so there is no official date when Schützenfest is taking place but it is always in the summer months with the earliest start in May and the latest in September with every town somewhere in between.

Schützenfest can start on different weekdays as well while some can start on Fridays some start on Saturdays so as mentioned above it varies vastly. The Schützenfest I attended started on a Friday when I was not quite present.

On the first day, I was not even in Germany to witness the start of this year’s Schützenfest and since I have the dates mixed up this article got published before the other one which might not make any sense but long story short I was in Edinburgh for the military tattoo.

Since I was one time zone away, I couldn’t make it in time to the opening of this year´s Schützenfest but I can´t I regret missing it because the military tattoo was spectacular, and it certainly beats the start of the Schützenfest carnival.

There was nothing too special about the start of the carnival because there were not any parades going on. So on that Friday, I missed the opening but had experienced a magnificent military parade in exchange, so I slept just fine…

Well, I slept fine but not long since I had an early flight on Schützenfest Saturday so I can be back in time for the evening parade which has been praised to be the best parades of the Schützenfest days. So I got on a plane back to Germany.

When I arrived the marksmen without the families (so I didn´t need to be there anyway) finished visiting the graves of their loved ones because there was some kind of remembrance of the ones who had passed.

Then I got onto a train and rushed back so I could spend some time with my boyfriend before he had to leave for the next event. In the meantime, a children´s parade was taking place. Not a parade for children but a parade entirely consisting of children.

Since my boyfriend left for the final preparations, I strolled through the carnival place. I wanted to see how this funfair differed from the others I have been to and from my observations I can´t say there is a difference between the Schützenfest fair and the other funfairs. Same attractions, same refreshments booths and the same food.

While my boyfriend was getting ready for the evening´s parade there were marching bands walking the streets and playing march music because during that time the march of the marching bands took place.

I can´t say I am a big fan of marching music so Schützenfest filled with marching music was already not so fun since I have sensitive ears and marching music was meant to be played aloud. After those Schützenfest days, I certainly couldn’t listen to another second of marching music.

Before the evening parade took place, there was time to grab dinner with my boyfriend. The floats for the evening parades all lined up on a street in front of the city and it was fun seeing all the different floats there. Some told a story, and some were built for the entertainment of children.

When the parade started, some family and friends of the members of the marksmen club gathered to watch the parade together so I went there to the streetside to watch the parade with the rest of the people. They drank, talked and awaited the parade with joy.

The first police car drove in front of all the floats and we knew that they were close. Then we heard the music, and I knew I had to put in some earplugs before my ears hurt and my head started to pound. Then the first light of the first floats became visible and a collective feeling of joy passed.

Together we watched the floats parade in the dark of the evening. I somehow compared it to lantern festivals in Asia but these floats with the lights were not made by professionals but instead by the club members themselves, so it is quite impressive.

But not as impressive as what professional artists could do. For the fact that each club member has occupations far removed from the creative occupations, it is quite impressive how their occupational skills can translate into creative expressions.

Since humans are imperfect, the parade quite frequently came to stops and very coincidentally and lucky for me, the float of my boyfriend´s club stopped right in front of us so they could have a chat and drink with us before they started marching again. That was quite nice.

The whole fackelzug (as it is known; literally translates into torchlight parade) lasted well into the middle of the night. Due to the lack of taxis, we only made it home at one o´clock in the morning. It was an exhausting but worthwhile spectacle.

Suddenly 6:30 in the morning the alarm rang again. It was time for Sunday breakfast and boy was I pissed when the alarm rang. The day prior a late military tattoo and an early flight led to four hours of sleep. That day was no different. A late parade and an early breakfast make for a short sleep period.

With my eyes willing to fall any second, we went and got ready with my mind still drowsy. Then we got to breakfast, and everyone enjoyed themselves over a cup of coffee and some bread. The musicians started playing a marching song in the enclosed room (I was surprised that everyone came out with okay hearing).

When the time came and the parade became impending to start, the men left to make it in time for the start of the parade. This parade was to honour this year´s Schützenkönig. While they were away, some of the women gathered to prepare lunch for when the men came back.

Since this year´s host was quite well prepared there wasn´t much to prepare on that Sunday so instead we just sat around the television and watched the parade together. I can see the excitement in their eyes when their family and friends are on TV marching.

However, since I was so exhausted from my eight hours of sleep split evenly between two days, I fell asleep on the sofa (I wasn´t too surprised I could fall asleep so easily since I was drained). Everyone was surprised I could sleep on the sofa with the marching music in the background but as it turns out I could.

Around two hours after the parade started, it ended, not much to the surprise of anyone. The men came, ate and laughed together. I wasn’t too surprised that they would come back sweating since the uniform´s fabric was rather thick.

After two hours or so they also left again for the next parade which was more of a celebratory parade. Most of them rather unwillingly put on their uniform again with all its accessories (including a fake rifle with some acorn leaves at the top, a horn, a hat, and a belt) which come along with it.

Soon after one lunch was finished, a dinner was about to be prepared. So, after the lunch, some went to the next location to help prepare dinner. The host for dinner only needed to serve everything up so I helped set up and then waited for the arrival of the men.

When the men came, they were much to anyone´s surprise exhausted from all the marching, so they immediately dug into the dinner which was prepared for them and the festivities went on well into the evening.

We made it back at around midnight but luckily for me, I could sleep in since there was nowhere, I needed to be tomorrow, at least in the morning. In the morning, there was a breakfast but only for the marchers so no women or children. Followed by two parades back to back so no time for a visit.

In the evening there was a ball. Not the fancy balls with extravagant ballgowns and dashing tuxedos but instead it was a party in a party tent which got the honour of being called a ball, a title not quite deserved in my opinion, but it is just that my opinion.

There was a formal part of the party where speeches were held and the Schützenking walked in and was celebrated. But when the formal part ended and the party started, the party really started. The beer started flowing more freely, the people talked more openly, and the music got much louder.

When the music got louder, my head started pounding more until the music became unbearable. So I had to take a few breaks outside the party tent and soon after we went home since I couldn’t quite take it much longer. We made it home around midnight again.

On the last day of the official Schützenfest, there was a family breakfast since the first parade starts at around two in the afternoon so until then the drinks flowed and people talked over a lovely breakfast prepared by the hosts.

The first parade was for the Schützenkönig as it was the last day he was allowed to be called Schützenkönig. When the parade ended, the new king was decided which meant a lot of waiting while some men tried to shoot down a wooden bird.

In order to be considered as a potential candidate for Schützenkönig, one must have a certain amount freely available in one´s bank account because anyone who knows the responsibility of the Schützenkönig knows that it won´t be cheap. And you have to be lucky enough of a marksman to shoot down a wooden bird.

Since not all could watch the shooting in person, everyone excitedly waited at the carnival. But one knows when there is a new Schützenkönig because really loud canons would be fired to celebrate the new Schützenkönig.

When the canons fired, it was a signal to all the men who would be marching to prepare themselves since the next parade celebrating the new Schützenkönig was about to begin. This parade was rather informal by comparison to all which came on the days before since people could dress up and have a little fun with it.

After the parade celebrating the new Schützenkönig was a performance on the marketplace where a marching band played a few songs and some important people said some words. The whole thing lasted until midnight when everyone knew this year´s Schützenfest was over.

However, since it was tradition for the club my boyfriend was in to shoot their new Zugkönig on the day following the last day of Schützenfest, that is exactly what happened. There were three birds made for this shooting event.

The first bird was the trophy bird for the men. When you shoot down a part, you get a trophy. The second bird was the trophy bird for the women. Same principle as the bird before. The last bird was for the knights and Zugkönig. When you shoot down a part, you become knight/ Zugkönig accordingly.

Since I was highly encouraged to take a shot, quite literally, I tried shooting at a wooden bird 10 meters away from me for the first time. I can´t say that I liked the shooting at all since all I got at the end was blurred vision and a strong distaste for shooting.

Carnival game shooting is alright in my opinion since it is somewhat fun, and the distance isn’t too far to cause blurred vision. But shooting at a wooden bird 10 meters away made my eyesight blurred and somehow gave me PTSD because each shot just sounded so life-threatening.

It felt as if one misshot could leave someone badly injured if not dead. In reality, that would be improbable but that didn´t stop the anxiety. And I didn´t like that sound repeating itself for 4 full hours. Since I was petrified and bored, I played cards with some others which was a relief so that I wouldn’t be overly focused on the sounds in the background.

And the whole shooting took too long so the last two bits of the tradition were left out. Since I don’t quite know what was left out, I can´t quite say anything really. However, I can say that I got flowers because my boyfriend and I were the former majesties so to speak.

When we got back, I finally had time to process everything that happened over the weekend. I believe that I can confidently say that it was an experience which I won´t wish to fully take part in again. I want to be there for some of the things but some others I would avoid for the sake of my own sanity.

As for the results, I am not too happy with the outcome of the new Zugkönig since I was rooting for the underdog but I am happy for the new majesties. However, then I became depressed because I wasn’t there for the whole thing when my boyfriend became Zugkönig last year and it feels as if I missed out on something worth celebrating and that just makes me sad and also somewhat envious.

Nevertheless, there is no point in dwelling on the past. Next year would be the coronation for the new Zugkönig and then Schützenfest will happen again. Since even now I am not sure how to feel about Schützenfest, I will leave it future me to decide what she wants to attend in the future.

What I can say though is that for my boyfriend´s sake, I will try to be there to support him but I don’t quite wish to upset the people who are set in their ways so I will also try to stay out of it. Long story short, I try to find the perfect balance that works for me and not anyone else.

Maybe I will come back to revisit this article next year or I will not, I am not sure if there is more to be said about Schützenfest which happens every year with the same procedures. We will see but until that day comes when I decide for or against another article about this topic I will write about other topics.