Mountain riflemen

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Mountain rifle company Jachenau during the parade

Special traditional Bavarian rifle associations ( companies ) in Upper Bavaria , especially in the six Upper Bavarian districts along the Alpine chain, refer to themselves as mountain riflemen .

history

Their history goes back to the Middle Ages . In 1492 samples of men fit for national defense were carried out throughout Upper Bavaria and a national defense system was set up. This also proved itself in the defense of the Oberland against Swedish troops from 1632 to 1648 . In 1705 the Landesdefension , the forerunner of the mountain riflemen, took part in the uprising against the Archduchy of Austria . In the Sendlinger murder Christmas this uprising collapsed. In 1742, during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Isarwinkler riflemen drove out the Trenck 's Pandours . 1791 in Reichenhall and Traunstein own "Salinencorps" were set up. In 1805 the "Organization of a Corps of Baierischer Gebirgsschützen" was set up to protect the Bavarian southern border and was renewed in 1809 during the Tyrolean uprising under Andreas Hofer . In 1848 the “Mountain Rifle Regulations of Upper Bavaria” were issued. In 1869 the mountain rifles were dissolved as a state organization and the active units were transferred to the Bavarian Army , but companies such as those of Benediktbeuern , Gaißach , Gmund am Tegernsee , Lenggries , Schliersee and Wackersberg continued to exist as associations under private law. In 1949 , on the Day of Alpine Folkhood in Rottach-Egern, the first meeting of the historic mountain rifle companies after the end of the Second World War took place. In 1951 the Association of Bavarian Mountain Rifle Companies was founded in Reichersbeuern .

Franz Josef Strauss awards the Federal Cross of Merit to mountain riflemen

Mountain riflemen today

The more than 12,000 mountain riflemen in Bavaria are organized in companies . The colorful uniforms of the mountain riflemen are called Montur . Each of the 47 Bavarian companies has its own outfit. It is based on the traditional local costume handed down in the respective hometown of the company . Common features of the outfits are the leather trousers , white-blue armbands and cockades . The standard armament used by mountain riflemen is the K 98 k / G 98 carbine , while single-shot small -bore rifles are used for company competitions .

The mountain rifle companies are grouped together in the Federation of Bavarian Mountain Rifle Companies, which was founded in 1951 . This is divided into the five battalions or districts: Inn-Chiemgau, Isargau, Loisachgau, Mangfall-Leitzachgau and Werdenfels. At its head is the governor , currently Martin Haberfellner from Kochel am See . The patron is always the incumbent Bavarian Prime Minister , Markus Söder since 2018 .

The mountain riflemen in Bavaria show their commitment to the Christian faith through parade services and honorary accompaniment of the Holy of Holies in Corpus Christi processions or in other local processions, by organizing rifle pilgrimages and by taking part in Leonhardi (wall) trips . The main festival of the Federation is Patronage Day . This takes place on the first Sunday of May in honor of its patroness, her patroness, the Patrona Bavariae , the Mother of God. It also adorns the national flag of the mountain riflemen. It was Elector Maximilian I who made Maria the heavenly patroness of Bavaria.

The central archive of the Bavarian mountain rifles is located in Miesbach .

goals and tasks

Mountain rifle meeting on Patronage Day in Bayrischzell (2001)
  • The mountain riflemen describe themselves as guardians and defenders of Bavarian folk culture. In their understanding, the historical weapons carried should signal the readiness to defend the goods of Bavarian folk culture.
  • The Free State of Bavaria occasionally asks the Bavarian mountain riflemen to represent them on official occasions, also to demonstrate Bavarian statehood in this way. For example, they provide a form of honor during official visits by heads of state to Bavaria . They also take part in the annual Oktoberfest parade.
  • The mountain riflemen regularly practice sport shooting in order to keep practicing while using the rifle and to measure themselves against competition. Shooting skills used to be a prerequisite for use in national defense and still stand today for the defensive ability of mountain riflemen.
  • Wearing the outfit should contribute to the maintenance and care of the costume in the respective hometowns of the companies.
  • The mountain riflemen support the maintenance of the alpine folk song through their annual Advent singing and in particular through the Kiem-Pauli -Stiftung, established in 1953, which supports the work of singers , musicians and patrons in the service of alpine folk music with the Kiem-Pauli-Medal appreciates.
  • The mountain riflemen make a contribution to the preservation of monuments by helping to maintain structures such as field crosses and chapels through manual and tensioning services.

Honorary members

Similar shooting associations outside of today's Bavaria

The rifle companies in Tyrol, including the South Tyrolean shooting association in South Tyrol and the Welschtiroler shooting association in Trentino, are comparable to the Bavarian mountain riflemen . Furthermore, there are two groups of riflemen related to traditional mountain riflemen in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, the mountain hunters Verberg and the archers Linn.

Similar traditional groups are the Moradores in East Timor .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Seehofer receives the Bavarian mountain riflemen. March 30, 2009, archived from the original on September 9, 2012 ; accessed on February 3, 2018 (ddp): "The garb of the mountain riflemen is not called uniform and also not costume, but gear"
  2. ↑ Gun ownership card. Miesbach district, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on February 3, 2018 .
  3. ^ Beckstein at the patronage day of the Bavarian mountain rifle. Free State of Bavaria, May 4, 2008, archived from the original on October 6, 2014 ; accessed on February 3, 2018 (press release).
  4. ↑ Defensive customs: 7,000 mountain riflemen meet. In: tz online. March 2009, accessed on February 3, 2018 (dpa).
  5. ^ Karl Glaser: Patrona Bavariae. (PDF; 116 kB) Diocese of Linz, 2011, archived from the original on July 15, 2014 ; accessed on February 3, 2018 .

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