Mindener free shooting
The Mindener Freischießen is a festival of the East Westphalian city of Minden that takes place over several days in the summer. It has a long tradition and is based on mandatory target practice by the citizens. The name comes from the fact that a single citizen, if he met exactly, could shoot himself free from the tax.
The history of the Minden citizen battalion
The history of the Minden Citizens' Battalion is linked to that of the city of Minden. Minden's history is determined by its location on the Weser and the former ford there .
When the bishopric, founded around 800 by Charlemagne , later developed into a city, the city wall, along with the market and its own council authority, was the most important characteristic of this urban community. However, this also meant that certain services were required from the citizens. Especially when it was time to take part in a war or feud, or to repel enemy armies from the city. This gave the citizens' offer its military character and political significance.
Little is known about the beginnings of the organization of the military contingent. At first, the guilds and guilds played an important role in civil military service . Every young master who wanted to be accepted into a guild had to be provided with a spear, shield and crossbow. In addition to this “ foot folk ” (later also called philistines ), which was provided by the guilds , the city also had a cavalry. It was mainly recruited from business people.
In the course of history, the armed forces were no longer broken down into guilds and guilds, but the citizenship was divided into quarters or quarters. The Thirty Years' War , with the occupation by the "imperial" under Tilly in 1625 and 1634 by the Swedes, took the Minden people out of their independence, but for the first time the city was divided into six districts for other public tasks such as guard, bulwark and fire-fighting services :
- The Marienthorsche,
- Weserthorsche,
- Hallerthorsche and
- Kuhthorsche Quartier,
- the market quarter and the
- Fishing town.
Even today, the citizen battalion is traditionally divided into six companies , corresponding to the city districts, supplemented by the squadron and the citizen drum corps .
Now the term "city officer" , an officer from the citizenry, was born. Up until this point, before the start of the Thirty Years' War, the captains and lieutenants were professional soldiers. But now citizens have taken over the leadership of the citizens' group for guards, bulwark and fire fighting service themselves as officers . The designation "city officer" can be found for the first time in the fire regulations of 1639.
As early as 1679, the term "town major" is common. Here a former Brandenburg fortress officer is still called that, but this designation will prevail later. The city officers still form a college of lieutenants and ensigns chaired by a director who was himself a lieutenant. Transferred to the present day, the director is the town major and the college is the town officers who meet regularly in the town hall. The city officers are introduced to their office by the mayor according to old tradition.
The companies have the following ranks:
- Non-commissioned officer, sergeant, vice sergeant, sergeant (only represented once as a company sergeant).
- Also the lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain.
- The company chief usually has the rank of a captain.
- The squadron and the drum corps have their own ranks.
The original tasks of the citizen battalion in the guard, military and bulwark service and, to a large extent, in the fire-fighting service were handed over to the volunteer fire brigade in 1919 .
The free shooting
history
It was first mentioned in 1682. Already at the beginning of the 17th century it was made compulsory for the citizens to carry out target practice. Around the year 1680 the council thought about integrating these target practice into the framework of a big festival. In 1682 the city council decided to celebrate this festival in summer - if possible before the harvest. The best marksman was exempt from tax for one year. Hence the name "free shooting".
Result from 1682
Amtmeister Stolte did the best shot back then. This brought Johann Stolte, as a certainly wealthy man, a tax saving of 13 thalers. At that time a sheep was paid for with one and a horse with seven talers. The tax exemption was extended by a decree by the Great Elector in 1685 to include a shooting bonus of 50 thalers, which was a huge improvement, especially for the less well-off.
Current festival in Minden
The free shooting is celebrated in July according to the traditional statutes and rules. For some time now, however, every two years, from 2017 always at the odd year numbers. But two kings are expelled for this. These kings still receive the shooting bonus today, which is suspended by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as the legal successor and usually brought personally by the district president in Detmold .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Mindener Bürgerbataillon eV: History of the Mindener Bürgerbataillon
- ↑ Mindener Bürgerbataillon eV: Detailed history of the Mindener Bürgerbataillon ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Mindener Bürgerbataillon eV: ranks and uniforms
- ↑ Mindener Bürgerbataillon eV: History table ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ [1]
Coordinates: 52 ° 17 ′ 0.1 ″ N , 8 ° 54 ′ 38.3 ″ E