Rifle Brotherhood St. Sebastianus and Fabian Werl

The St. Sebastianus Schützenbruderschaft Werl was mentioned in a document in 1494, among other things, it was responsible for the defense of the fortified city of Werl .

history

Every citizen was obliged to defend the city and to perform guard duty. The Burgmannen were involved in this until the 15th century . The organization of urban defense is not known. In a document issued by the city in 1494, it confirms that the task of city defense had grown into a cooperative association that was active in the religious and social field . At the head of the riflemen, of which women could also be members, stood Schäffer. The riflemen donated the rifle altar in the provost church of St. Walburga and thus constituted themselves as a religious brotherhood. The annual shooting and gun control, which gradually turned into a shooting festival, reminded of the origins of the Schützenbruderschaft. An exact founding date of the brotherhood does not emerge from the document from 1494; It is probably connected with the departure of the castle men from the city defense, at the latest by the middle of the 15th century.

swell

Amalie Rohrer / Hans Jürgen Zacher (eds.): Werl. History of a Westphalian city. Volume 1, Bonifatius Druck Buch Verlag 1994. ISBN 3-87088-844-X