Rifle march in Hanover
The rifle march in Hanover is the annual parade of the shooting clubs in the city of Hanover and the highlight of the Hanoverian shooting festival . The rifle march traditionally takes place on the first Sunday of the shooting festival , usually on the first Sunday in July. Around 10,000 to 12,000 people take part in the procession, which is up to 12 kilometers long, including around 5,000 shooters from various clubs, as well as music bands, marching bands and other groups. It starts at the New Town Hall and moves over 3.5 kilometers through the city center to the end point on Schützenplatz . According to the organizers, around 100,000 spectators visit the train. It is the longest rifle parade in the world.
history
Duke Erich I of Calenberg-Göttingen founded the Hanover rifle festival when he allowed the citizens to hold an annual rifle festival in 1529. However, a rifle march did not take place from the beginning, but only developed after a new rifle regulation was issued in 1837. It allowed the riflemen to appear - uniformly dressed in sections.
Until 1874, citizens of Hanover were obliged to participate in the rifle march for up to three years after acquiring citizenship . After the Second World War there was an allied ban on sport shooting, so that the shooting festival was replaced by a folk and local festival. The first, still semi-official rifle march after the war took place in 1950. The day of the week and the time of the march have differed several times since then. Until 1958 it took place on Monday morning and was postponed to Saturday afternoon due to the reduced participation. Between 1971 and 1973 the march took place again on Monday and since 1974 it has taken place on Sunday morning.
procedure
The rifle march in Hanover takes place every year on the morning of the first Sunday of the shooting festival. This is usually from June 30th to July 6th. It is hosted by the Hannoversches Schützenfest eV , to which the city and the Association of Hannoverscher Schützenvereine belong. The planning, organization and implementation of the shooting festival was transferred to the "event management" of the city of Hanover in 2017.
The rifle march starts from Trammplatz in front of the New Town Hall after the first march played together. At 10 o'clock the rifle and music groups set off on the traditional command “Im double step, march”. The word "doubling step" was taken from Hanoverian military history . Further groups of participants and cars line up along the route. On the 3.5 kilometer long route, the train moves once through the city center to the approximately 10 hectare large Schützenplatz , on which the marquees and fairground shops of the Schützenfest are set up. Because the train is much longer than the distance, many participants have already reached their destination, while others have not yet left.
The spectators surround the parade at the edge of the route, where the spectator stands are set up on the Opernplatz , Ballhof and Bruchmeisterallee . The NDR has been broadcasting the rifle march live on television for some time. Until the 1990s, the news programs heute (ZDF) and Tagesschau (ARD) always brought short reports about the march.
Participating groups
The majority of the rifle march is made up of the riflemen, who march in blocks in clubs. Often several clubs form a common block, for example visiting clubs that have traveled or invited together. A block of riflemen is accompanied by one of the approximately 100 participating music trains. Rifle club and Musikzug usually find each other in advance. Predominant style is for North Germany typical marching band , as well as general brass bands, fanfare corps and modern marching bands are represented numerous. Special shawm , bagpipe , hunting horn and samba groups also take part.
The overall picture is increasingly influenced by cheerleaders and carnival-like sparklers . Other regular participants are the Schreberjugend and the Hanoverian allotment gardeners with their parade of oversized banners. The other foot groups include traditional costume groups, miners 'associations from southern Lower Saxony, folk dance circles, hunters' associations and flag throwers and folklore groups. Some parade participants appear in historical military uniforms (for example from the Historischen Freischießen Wennigsen ), in historical courtly fashion (for example from the traditional Hanover Corps ) and in medieval clothing. In addition, the walk Expo 2000 -Gedenkverein including mascot Twipsy and a drag queen with.
Around 50 floats break up the order. The Gilde Brewery's ornate carriage pulled by four draft horses symbolically transports the beer to the festival, followed by a 19th century tram from the Hanoverian transport company Üstra .
The vehicles on the train are mostly old-timers, including commercial vehicles, some of which are manufactured in Hanover, such as those made by Hanomag or vehicles from the Volkswagen plant in Hanover . The Herrenhäuser Brewery , the Lindener Spezial beer brand and the Brauhaus Ernst August restaurant will be presented in the historic vehicles . There are also historical fire engines from the fire brigade.
Furthermore, numerous tractors take part in the rifle march, pulling the wagons of various institutions. Professional associations, aid organizations, local companies, local institutions, sports clubs and the Evangelical Church also participate. Sweets and other small items are thrown under the audience from the car.
A special feature of the rifle march is the Lower Saxony pack , a group of hunting dogs and horses from the Lüneburg Heath . Riders who have been trained to ride a hunt lead around 20 hunting dogs together over the route.
Origin of the participant groups
Most of the shooters from Hanover and the surrounding area take part in the rifle march , of which about 5000 are organized in the Association of Hanover Rifle Clubs. The renowned shooting clubs include, for example, the Uniformed Rifle Society 1837 , the Association for Freehand Shooting 1862 , the Hannoversche Jagdklub 1878 , the Shooting Society of the Cellerstraßen Districts 1897 and the Lauenrode 09 shooting society .
Rifle clubs and music trains from Lower Saxony as well as from Germany and abroad also take part. The Schützengilde Clenze (Wendland) always brings a trophy, which was donated in 1851 by the Hanoverian King Ernst August .
Train line-up
The rifle march is divided into five sections with one priority and four additional platoons. The rifle president , the lord mayor, the rifle president as well as the rifle senator and the Lower Saxon prime minister behind a chain of mounted police from the Hanover cavalry squadron and the guild cavalry squadron belong to the privilege . Behind it is an actor in the costume of the Schützenfest mascot Ballerkalle , followed by the Hanover Army Music Corps . Following this, the standards of the Hannoverscher Schützenvereine and the Lower Saxony Sport Schützenverband will be worn. This is followed by the guests of honor from the shooting scene and politics, such as the Hanoverian Lord Mayor . You will walk or be driven in a double-decker carriage. For preference also includes the Collegium former foreman of the wood parrots as historical targets be carried.
Each of the four trains is led by one of the four break masters who were sworn in on the opening Friday . The 1st train carries a white standard in advance, the 2nd train a red, the 3rd train a yellow and the 4th train a green standard. The trains are reminiscent of the four city districts mentioned for the first time in 1303 (Osterstrasse, Marktstrasse, Köbelinger Strasse, Leinstrasse). The color scheme of the standards is based on the historical city colors of Hanover red-yellow-green and from 1613 additionally white.
Appearance of the rifle march
In contrast to, for example, the Neuss rifle parade, male and female riflemen march in Hanover. They wear jackets in green or gray tones with black pants / skirts. The Linden women's shooting club wears differently curry-colored jackets.
The jackets of many shooters are hung with medals and plaques, some with sashes. Feathers, chamois beards or oak leaves adorn the hats. Standards of the rifle clubs as well as the marching band and their lyre carillons are shown. Frequently used symbols are shamrocks (from the coat of arms of Hanover), the Sachsenross and targets.
Relatives often present the shooter with bouquets of flowers during the move. In contrast to rifle lifts in other places, the riflemen do not march in lockstep . Fake weapons are rarely carried.
The acoustics of the event are determined by the music being played, in particular by the sound of the marching band, which results from cross whistles, marching drums and lyre chimes. The songs include, for example, (Prussian) marches, hits and current hits. Often the native songs are presented to your funny Hanoverian , Auf der Lüneburg Heath and the Lower Saxony song.
literature
- Helmut Zimmermann: Marching out on Sunday morning since 1974 In: Das Grosse Hannoversche Schützenbuch. The history of the Hanoverian archery from the beginnings in the Middle Ages to the present. , 1981, ISBN 3-87706-1850 , pp. 157-161
Web links
- Schützenausmarsch defied the downpour for the Schützenausmarsch 2016 with photo gallery in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from July 3, 2016
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Schützenausmarsch Hannover: In a class of its own at hannover.de.
- ↑ a b Facts about the Schützenfest: Schützenausmarsch. at hannover.de.
- ^ Hannoversches Schützenfest eV (Hrsg.): Schützenhoff 1601 In: 450 years Schützenfest Hannover 1529 to 1979. June 29 to July 8, 1979. Festschrift and program.
- ^ A b Schützenwesen: Schützenausmarsch In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (Ed.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , p. 554.
- ^ Rifle march at: Berenbostel shooting club
- ^ Riflemen march in Hanover. Live from the largest rifle march in the world. NDR television from July 3, 2016
- ^ "Today" news on ZDF on July 1, 1990; from 10:38 pm
- ↑ Schützenwesen: Schützenausmarsch In: Stadtlexikon Hannover , p. 554 and Stadtfarben In: Stadtlexikon Hannover , p. 586