Member associations of Region 1
Central/Northern Europe
Germany (north of the Main River)
These 6 associations represent 1,779 clubs:
Bund der Historischen Deutschen Schützenbruderschaften e.V.
- Founded in 1928 as the Archconfraternity of Saint Sebastian.
- Banned in 1936 by the National Socialists.
- Re-established in 1948 as the Central Association of Historic German Shooting Clubs.
- Renamed in 1960 to the Federation of Historic German Shooting Clubs (BHDS).
A non-profit umbrella organisation for the entire shooting community with around 400,000 members in around 1,250 member brotherhoods, guilds and societies, which have joined together in the spirit of ecumenism to form an association within the Catholic Church in the dioceses of Aachen, Essen, Cologne, Münster, Paderborn and Trier.
The BHDS is committed to the Christian faith in word and deed. It supports church aid organisations, is dedicated to religious education and promotes ecumenical initiatives in particular. In addition to its general social, cultural and societal commitment, its main concerns are the preservation of traditional customs such as the king’s game, flag waving and brass band music, the promotion of shooting sports and youth work. Its motto is ‘For faith, tradition and homeland’.
Three large national shooting competitions are an expression of its social power:
- National Queen’s Day (every May)
- National Festival (in September)
- National Young Shooters’ Day (in October)
Kreisschützenbund Büren 1958 e.V.
The Kreisschützenbund Büren 1958 e.V. currently has 50 member clubs with around 25,500 shooters.
In 1958, a board meeting of the Bleiwäsche Heritage Society discussed the idea of holding a district shooting festival for all interested shooting clubs, heritage societies and shooting fraternities.
This idea was presented to the district administration in Büren at the time, and after two weeks, the green light was given for the first district shooting festival to be held in Bleiwäsche on 28 September 1958. The foundations for the further development of the idea were then laid at a meeting in Niederntudorf on 30 November 1958. This led to the unanimous founding of the district shooting association, which sees itself as a community of interest for shooting clubs, shooting fraternities and heritage societies in the former district of Büren.
It is certainly unique that the next district shooting festival is always organised by the society from which the new district shooting king comes, giving them exactly one year to prepare. Around 6,500 participants take part in the large parade on Sunday each year.
The district shooting festival is celebrated annually on the first weekend in September. In addition to the district shooting festival, the shooting festival season also comes to a close each year on the fourth Saturday in October with an autumn ball (also known as the district queen’s ball). Any society can apply to host this event.
The district shooting association maintains good contacts with neighbouring district shooting associations and has been a member of the EGS since 2005.
Kreisschützenverband Peine e.V.
The Kreisschützenverband Peine was founded on 21 February 1954. Today, 60 societies with 5,060 members belong to the association. Activities and events promote camaraderie. Young people are introduced to sport shooting by experienced shooting instructors. Many German champions in rifle, pistol and archery shooting have emerged from the association. Jörg Meyer took part in the Olympics in Tokyo. The societies also include music groups, which are trained and supported! German champions have also been produced here in various disciplines.
Most of the festivals in the town or villages are organised by the shooters, which is a great opportunity to make friends. Social highlights of the society’s life include events such as the society’s shooting festival, the district king’s ball in the association or the ‘Peiner Freischießen’ (Peine free shooting).
The Peine District Shooting Association is a member of the Lower Saxony Sports Shooting Association (NSSV), the German Shooting Federation (DSB), the Lower Saxony State Sports Federation (LSB) and the European Community of Historic Guilds (EGS).
Oberbergischer Schützenbund 1924 e.V.
The Oberbergische Schützenbund 1924 e.V. (OSB) is an association of currently 32 shooting clubs with more than 10,000 members. The OSB sees itself as a representative and point of contact for all shooters in its area of influence, regardless of their association membership. The OSB is non-denominational and politically neutral.
An important goal of the OSB is to achieve good and friendly cooperation between all shooters in the region and good contact with the population, to promote shooting as a sport, to preserve shooting traditions and to present shooting in a positive light to the public. The OSB has a special integrative function here, as there are shooting clubs of various types and organisations in its area: shooting clubs, brotherhoods, guilds and social clubs. To achieve this goal, the OSB has been documenting its history for the public since 2014 with important accessories and exhibits in the local history museum in Bergneustadt.
Sauerländer Schützenbund e.V.
The Sauerländer Schützenbund e.V. (SSB) is an association of 346 shooting clubs, fraternities and societies, which in turn are organised into 7 district shooting associations (Arnsberg, Brilon, Iserlohn, Lippstadt, Meschede, Olpe and Soest).
It is a registered, non-profit society with approx. 172,000 members and is based in Meschede. The Sauerland Shooting Association (Sauerländer Schützenbund e.V.) was founded in 1929 in Eslohe-Wenholthausen.
The Sauerland Shooting Association is committed to Christian values as the basis of its association life and promotes the traditional customs of shooting and traditional shooting sports. Its motto is ‘Faith, Tradition, Homeland’.
Since 1956, the Sauerland Shooting Association has celebrated its national shooting festival every three years with thousands of shooters from all over the Sauerland regio
Schützenkreis Gütersloh von 1956 im WSB e.V.
The Schützenkreis Gütersloh von 1956 im WSB e.V. is an association of 41 societies with 6,000 members in the district of Gütersloh.
Since 2008, the Gütersloh Shooting Association has been a member of the EGS.
The purpose of the shooting association is, in particular, to promote shooting as a competitive and popular sport according to uniform rules, as well as to maintain traditions and customs.
In addition to its general sporting, social, cultural and community involvement, its main focus is on maintaining traditional customs with the annual district shooting competition for schoolchildren, young people, women and men.
The sporting highlights for every sport shooter in the sporting year are:
the round competitions, the league competitions, the district, regional and German championships, the European and World Championships, and the Olympic Games.
The Executive Board of Region 1
Regional SecretaryWolfram Schmitz (2nd from left)
Speakers for customs and media
Sven Wottrich (1st from right)
Karl-Heinz Bursmeier (1st from left)
region1@e-g-s.eu
dated 24 February 1996, as amended by the resolutions dated 18 January 2014
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- Region 1