The German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation – a powerful community since 1861
„Sport shooters are against any kind of extremism. They are tolerant and engaged and do their best help those less fortunate. That is a century-old virtue of shooters. Particularly important for shooting clubs is that they give a home, even to those who are not their members.� German Federal President Johannes Rau, March 2001
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Crossbow, about 1500 A.C., German Shooting Sport Museum Coburg near Nuremberg
Rise Shooting sport, and its traditions, is one of the few cultural and social phenomenons that has continuously developed over many centuries and been conserved through to the present day. The shooting sport clubs and associations have their roots in the medieval defence of towns. In the course of history they developed a far more comprehensive idea of protection and defence, reflected in charitable, cultural and social activities. The members of these clubs and associations saw it as their task to engage on behalf of their local community and to take responsibility for their fellow citizens. The old shooting associations played a comparable role while forming early civic partnerships like Craftsmen’s and Merchants’ Guilds. By displacing the exclusive aristocratic knight’s joust, the meetings of shooters became the foundation of the local festival culture in Germany. The German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation still has nearly 800 shooting associations in its membership, which were founded prior to 1700. The oldest amongst them is the Karlsschützengilde in the city of Aachen, founded before 1198, which is actually the oldest sports club in the world.
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4| Foundation of the German Shooting Sport Federation on July 11th 1861 in Gotha
Archery ‌
‌ during the Olympic Games 1908 in London
Foundation Together with the gymnasts, the students and the singers, the shooters were the core of the German national movement in the 19th century. Unity, freedom and sovereignty of the people were their dictums, literally written on the black-red-gold flags of the shooting associations and vigilante groups on the eve of the 1848 German Revolution (Vormärz).
First Federal Shoot (Bundesschießen) 1862
After the failed liberal revolution of 1848 and the Parliament of Frankfurt’s Paul’s Church the advancement of unity was the central aim of the foundation of the German Shooting Sport Federation on 11.07.1861 in Gotha. It is Germany’s oldest sports federation. The German Federal Shoots (Bundes schießen) – organised at regular intervals since the Federation’s foundation – formed a unique liberal and democratic continuity from the era of German particularism and the German Empire to the Weimar Republic until the beginnings of the Third Reich. The German Shooting Sport Federation, founded in 1861, is one of the pioneers of the modern parliamentary democracy in our country.
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Archery World Championship, Leipzig 2007
Shooting Sport today „The future needs background“ is often said. The German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation has both: With its foundation in 1861 it is not only the oldest German sport federation, but with 15.000 clubs and about 1.5 million members in Germany it is also one of the biggest Olympic sport federations in the Federal Republic of Germany. There is no doubt that the 20 regional federations play an important role in their relevant part of Germany and continuously influence daily life there. The most important event in the whole German Shooting Sport Federation calendar is the annual German Championship at the Olympic Shooting Range in Munich-Hochbrueck with several thousand starters. In addition separate Federal Leagues for air rifle, air pistol and archery exist.
International Competition in Suhl
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Youth Shooters – tomorrow’s champions About 300.000 children and young people – all members of the German Shooting Youth – are trained by specially qualified, voluntary sport coaches. Air rifle shooting or archery are excellent ways in which to increase the power of concentration, coordination and a sense of responsibility. So shooting sport is an ideal antidote to school stress, that has been scientifically verified. Alongside the different kinds of shooting sport activities the youth sportsmen take part in international exchange programmes, sporting weekend events or meetings with members of other sport federations – as well as keeping in touch with each other via the internet or other social media such as Twitter, Facebook and www.dsj-dsb.de.
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Shooter’s support: social and corporative engagement The German word Schützenhilfe (shooter’s support) is very famous – members of the German Shooting Sport Federation have been doing exactly this for 150 years. Whether it is social or charitable projects, support for local events or holiday childcare – sport shooters know where help is needed. With their voluntary engagement they make a contribution to the common welfare in Germany, far beyond sport shooting. The German Shooting Magazine declared the year 2010 as the „year of the shooter’s support“ and every month a specially engaged shooting sport club is presented in the magazine.
Hilde Feldmann, member of the shooting association of Bremen (Bremer Schützengilde), handing over a donation to the representatives of the children‘s hospice in Bremen
The members of the shooting association of Bremen (Bremer Schützengilde) managed to become the first engaged shooting club of the year 2010. Their engagement with the children’s hospice in Bremen and its mobile hospice services was truly outstanding. The President of the German Shooting Sport Federation, Mr Josef Ambacher, awarded this club the title “engaged shooting club of the year 2010”. Further information on this project can be found online at www.schuetzenhilfe.net
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(Š FITA 2008)
Mario Oehme, Rainer Schemait and Klaus Lindau, Chairman of the German Archery Committee, during a training session
International Competition at the Olympic Shooting Range Munich
The German Para-archer Mario Oehme during the Paralympic Games Beijing 2008
Disabled sportsmen – fully integrated! For the German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation the integration of disabled persons is not only an ambitious aim but already reality: In the meantime handicapped shooters (SH1) can start on level terms in the leagues of the German Federation together with their non-disabled counterparts.
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Manuela Schmermund, successful rifle shooter and Paralympics winner
Christine Wenzel, Olympic Bronze 足medallist in Beijing and Skeet-Worldchampion
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The German Sport Shooters Ralf Schumann and Christian Reitz win the silver and bronze medal with the Olympic Rapid Fire Pistol in Beijing 2008.
Gold medals, Olympic Games 1968 and 1988
Top performance – broad-based The German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation is one of the most successful sport federations in Germany. From their beginnings in 1896 the first Olympic Games of the modern age included shooting sport as one of its disciplines. Up to the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008, German shooters have won 15 gold, 21 silver and 15 bronze medals at Olympic Games as well as hundreds of World and European Championships awards. This success story was written without doping problems and other scandals, sporting or otherwise. Next to the well-known rifle, pistol and archery disciplines, shooting sport in the German Shooting Sport Federation covers summer biathlon, cross bow and muzzle loader shooting. Shooting is a sport for men and women of all ages, whether disabled or non-disabled. The German Championships with more than 10.000 participants are Germany’s biggest sport for all event.
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Banner of the G erman Shooting Sport Federation, 1909
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President‘s Chain of Office
Culture and tradition The artful decoration of old weapons, the art of target paintings, the needlework on flags and the production of traditional costumes as well as the creativity of jewellers and goldsmiths have enriched civic art and folk art in Germany since the time of the Middle Ages. The shooting clubs and associations do their utmost to conserve these past references and to make them available for the public. The transfer and the support of traditions are an enormously important input of the shooting clubs for the conservation of our cultural heritage and the interconnection of the different generations. The German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation as governing body plays a major role in this work by providing a central archive and a Shooting Museum.
Documents of the re-foundation 1951
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International Competition
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Archery World Championship, Leipzig 2007
International network International competitions, World Cups and finally the World Championship or Olympic Games – shooting sport knows no bounds! The German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation has an extended, international network and stays in contact with more than 100 nations worldwide via the European Shooting Confederation, the International Shooting Sport Federation and the International Archery Federation. The German Shooting Sport Federation is a leading member of two international sport federations. The sport shooters impressively show what international understanding means. Many shooting clubs are in close contact with partner clubs all across Europe, participating at meetings and in competitions – truly a powerful community.
Sport in the olympic programme
Sport au programme olympique
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Victory ceremony during the 50th ISSF World Shooting Championship 2010, medals presented by Josef Ambacher, President of the German Shooting Sport Federation
The World Shooting Championship 2010 – festival of the international shooting sport The 50th ISSF World Shooting Championship 2010 at the Munich Olympic Shooting Range was not only a sporting highlight but also an organisational one: 2.500 participants from more than 100 nations, thousands of excited visitors and a media-attention never before seen made this World Championship an unforgettable event for all persons involved.
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Thomas Bach (DOSB President), Olegario V. Raña (ISSF President) and Jacques Rogge (IOC President) during the WCH Opening Ceremony
Medal placa and grand stand on the Olympic Shooting Range Munich during the World Shooting Championship
The special issue stamp of the German Shooting Sport Federation
Special issue stamps with shooting sport themes have already been presented at several international events. For the first time in the history of the German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation its 150th anniversary provided a good reason for the German Ministry of Finance to create a special issue stamp for our Federation.
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The stamp is square (3.5 cm x 3.5 cm) with a face value of 1.45 Euros. The initial allocation date is 07.07.2011. The stamp was designed by the famous designer Johannes Graf from Dortmund. The special issue stamp shows a group of four shooting targets representing the different shooting and archery disciplines as well as the tradition of the German Shooting Sport Federation: air rifle /cross bow target (10m), archery target, air pistol target, wooden target “shooting festival Gotha 1861� (oil on panel, Foundation Castle Friedenstein Gotha).
Special issue stamp 150 Years German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation
Deutscher SchützenBund e.v.
Imprint © German Shooting Sport and Archery Federation Wiesbaden 2011 Deutscher Schützenbund e.V. Lahnstraße 120 65195 Wiesbaden Germany Tel.: +49 611 - 46807- 0 www.dsb.de info@dsb.de English proofreading and Paralympic expertise: Dr. Ian Brittain, Coventry University (UK) produced by Dinges & Frick, Wiesbaden / Germany