St. Sebastianus Rifle Club Olpe

St. Sebastianus Rifle Club Olpe
purpose	Preservation and cultivation of genuine native style and customs, as well as bringing about a public festival among the inhabitants of all classes and rapprochement through the unification of the inhabitants, to awaken brotherly affection and unity and thereby to animate and consolidate the common sense, in general as well as in Private life.
Chair:	"Major" Peter Liese
Establishment date:	1311 (re-established in 1828)
Number of members:	approx. 5500
Seat :	Olpe
Website:	http://www.schuetzenverein-olpe.de/

The St. Sebastianus Schützenverein Olpe emerged from the rifle brotherhood founded in 1311 for the purpose of city defense. The main task is to organize and carry out the Olper -schützenfest, which according to the statutes and traditionally takes place on the third Sunday in July (it is officially celebrated from Saturday to Monday). The club colors are green and white. Only men can become members.

history

The first documentary mention of a shooting society comes from the year 1525. The reason was a fallen "Fogelsbaum" (bird tree). No older documents have survived the city fires. Nevertheless, one can assume that the shooting society is much older. The main purpose, in addition to common feasts, was regular weapon games. The defense was the responsibility of all citizens of the city of Olpe. The shooting society was an elite association with few members because of the expensive equipment. In the 18th century the shooting society was divided into two companies: bachelors and married people. The bachelor company was dissolved due to riots in 1750 and 1751. Due to their elitist position within the Olper Stadtgesellschaft, membership dwindled, at times there were only 32 members. In the 1820s there were efforts to dissolve the Schützenbruderschaft. In 1828 there was a "revolutionary" new beginning. Now "citizens of all classes" and "regardless of class" could become members of the shooting club. In the same year, today's rifle festival area was bought. The annual Schützenfest became a folk festival where the Olper population and guests from near and far celebrated and still celebrate today. In 1858 new statutes and statutes were issued, where, among other things, it was stipulated that the annual shooting festival is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in July. Since then, free beer has also been served at the Schützenfest. In 1862 there was the first and last attempt to change the somewhat Spartan pageant, which had hitherto only been designed by men, by letting a court go along with it. In 1906/1907 the first shooting hall and in 1908 the dance floor were built. In 1912 the club and the urban area were divided into eight corporal groups. During the Second World War and in the first years afterwards (1939–1947) there were no shooting festivals. The bandstand was built in 1961 and completely rebuilt from 2001 to 2003. In 1971 the concrete rifle house was built and the 9th corporal body was founded. In the 1990s, attempts were made to give the Schützenplatz the look of a bygone era. In 2011 the 700th anniversary shooting festival took place.

Corporations

The shooting club is divided into nine corporations, each of which covers a specific area or streets. Outwardly one can distinguish the members of the respective corporal groups during the parades by the respective flower decorations in the wooden gun. The guard or corporal office serves as a meeting point before the parades or for the corporal assembly.

List of floral arrangements and guard house

1. Corporations: Eichenlaub / Hotel Hetzel
2. Corporate body: Buchengrün / Cafe Lüning
3. Corporations: Tannengrün / Gasthaus Tillmann
4. Corporal body: Rote Rosen / Cosmo Lounge
5. Corporal body: Fern with thimble / town hall
6. Corporations: Wicken / Stadthalle
7. Corporal body: White Carnation / Kolping House
8. Corporations: Daisies / Altes Olpe
9. Corporations: White Spiders / Myth

The corporations are headed by the corporal leaders elected in the corporations or their deputies.

Board

As in the military, board members are designated with ranks. The major is in the chair . His deputy is the captain . The remaining board positions are divided into four commissions . They are each headed by a lieutenant . The commission members have the rank of lieutenant . The standard bearer is the ensign . As a rule, the board of directors consists of 25 men. The major is also the first chairman, the captain the second chairman. The remaining board members are all assessors, so that all officers belong to the executive board. The board of directors wears uniform.

The following commissions exist:

Finance Commission
Economic Commission
Building commission
Organization and train commission

Election of the board

When electing the board of directors, many special features must be taken into account. The corporations first elect those members of the association who can participate in the election of the board. There are two members of each corporal body, one of which must be 24 and the other 35. Both are not allowed to be board members. The rest of the electoral committee consists of the mayor of the city of Olpe (he is also chairman of the committee), the respective shooting king and eleven members of the city council of the city of Olpe based in Olpe in the territorial limits of May 31, 1968, who are also members of the shooting club, together. The board elections take place every three years; one is elected for nine years. After the nine-year period of service, the members of the Board of Management can stand for re-election for the first time. The re-election takes place for an indefinite period of time, but no longer than until the board member has to stand for re-election in accordance with the following or resigns at his own request. In the election, the departing board members are to be replaced. The number is to be increased to a maximum of eight by members who have to stand for re-election. These are those who were elected the furthest in the past, with the exception of the Executive Board members whose nine-year service has not yet expired. If eight board members stand for re-election, two new candidates must be nominated to the chairman of the election committee. The right of nomination is incumbent on the major. The list of proposals alone forms the basis for the election of the new board. The reigning major is not affected by this procedure. If a board member resigns for a valid reason by the next election of the board, the board can be made complete by the major submitting a list of candidates to the mayor of Olpe for his approval. After the mayor has given his approval, the board elects the successor from the list of candidates. After nine years, the board members elected in this way remain in office until the next ordinary board election.

Shooting festival

The shooting festival is celebrated on the Schützenplatz on the Imberg. It is popularly called Ümmerich.

Octave

The octave, which actually encompasses a period of eight days, is colloquially used in Olpe for the last week before the start of the Olpe shooting festival. With the corporal assembly in the "guard rooms" of each of the nine corporations, the "octave" is heralded.

Fairground

The Schützenplatz is an enclosed area on the Imberg in Olpe with several buildings, which are called tents here. The square itself is laid out in the form of terraces with tables, benches and counters in the shade of trees. In the middle is the music pavilion.

procedure

Officially, the shooting festival takes place from Saturday to Monday. But there is already a senior afternoon on Friday and the so-called beer and beff tasting in the evening.

Saturday

The shooting festival officially begins with picking up music at the train station. From here there is a short walk to the market square. Afterwards you meet in the corporal offices. In the afternoon there is a star march to the market square. Here the rifle major gives a speech. This is followed by honoring the dead and the national anthem. Then there is a pageant where the rifle flag and the rifle king are picked up and several dignitaries (mayor, the rifle vicars, the evangelical pastor and the district administrator of the Olpe district) are serenaded. The goal of the parade is the Schützenplatz. There he first marches past the Schützenkönig before it comes to the march on the dance floor. This is followed by a social get-together and a concert. A dance band plays in the evening. There is a night train at night. Before the march, The Great Elector's Riding March is played. On the way the train stops at the former Oberstadt-Brunnen, the Kump, where the festival music plays the piece "I pray to the power of love" from the big tattoo. Then the king is brought from there to the old pastorate. The waltz dance of the people forms the end of the evening.

Sunday

On Sundays a concert is played on the market square. The parade through the city begins at 3 p.m. The rifle flag and the rifle king are picked up again. Then a serenade is performed at the hospital. At the end of the move in the city there is the so-called triple move on Sundays. Usually the train is divided into three sections (1st – 3rd train). A train consists of two music bands and three corporations each. In a triple train, these three trains march side by side rather than one behind the other. On the Ümmerich there is again the march past the king and the march on the dance floor. During the following concert, the children's and royal polonaise take place. In the evening dance music is played and there is another night train with the prayer at the Kump and the delivery of the king.

Monday

Monday begins with the high rifle mass in St. Martinus Church. Afterwards, the victims of war and violence will be honored at the memorial in Weierhohl. The highlight of the festival is the bird shooting, in which the new shooter king is determined. The proclamation of the king and the final bringing home of the king conclude Monday morning. In the afternoon there is another parade through the city. In the evening the king's polonaise takes place with the new Schützenkönig. As on the other two days of the shooting festival, this day and with it the shooting festival ends with the train to the town's market square.

Special features of the shooting festival

The Olper Schützenfest is the only festival that is supplied directly by the Krombacher brewery . For this purpose, the beer is always contractually commissioned and secured personally by the rifle board and representatives of the brewery.
Usually the festival music is provided by a military or police band.
On the Sunday and Monday of the shooting festival, club members will be given free beer at the stands of the corporations on the Schützenplatz until around 8 p.m.

Other activities in the association

Shooting ball

The Schützenball takes place every January and is one of the city's social highlights.

Sebastianus

Sebastianus is the patron saint of the shooting club. In his honor there will be a festive service on his name day (January 20) in the Martinus Church. The day before St. Sebastian's Day is celebrated by churches in the core town of Olpe. At the board meeting on Sebastianustag, the official decision is made whether a shooting festival will take place in the current year or not. In addition, a decision is made about the issue of free beer.

Annual general meeting

According to the statutes, the general meeting of the association takes place on the 2nd Friday in March. Although the members have the actual rights of participation, traditionally the corporal assembly meetings on the Saturday before the start of the shooting festival experience considerably greater interest and participation.

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi traditional beer tasting as well as the handing over of the medal by the reigning rifle king takes place in the dining room on the "Ümmerich" for invited guests (board of directors, former board of directors, old kings, corporal leaders and former, shooting vicars, festival landlords, etc.).

Corporal meetings

Traditionally, corporal meetings take place on the Saturday before the start of the shooting festival in the corporal or guard rooms. They serve to inform the members and to maintain the life of the association. Until the introduction of an annual general meeting in the early 1980s, the coroporals meeting was the association's annual general meeting. That is why there are still officers at every corporal meeting today, and the major attends every corporal meeting.

Repentance and prayer session

A solemn board meeting of the association takes place on the Saturday after the day of penance and prayer. As a rule, newly elected board members are officially admitted to the board on this day (receipt of officer or ensign patent). Retired board members are officially dismissed here.

literature

Andrea Arens: St.-Sebastianus-Schützenverein Olpe. Shooters, club history, structures. Ed. St. Sebastianus Schützenverein Olpe eV Olpe 2011. ISBN 978-3-00-034791-7
Joachim Nierhoff: District of Olpe: The most beautiful pages - At Its Best. Sutton Verlag GmbH 2013, ISBN 3-954-0024-26 .

media

1986: LP "Olper Schützenfest - 1311-1986" long-playing record;
1999: VHS "With rifle, drum and flag" shows a journey through time of the shooting festivals from 1935, 1937, 1938, 1957, 1961;
2001: CD Schützenfest in Olpe - A CD with the 26 most popular pieces of music / marches from the Olpe Schützenfest;
2004: DVD The Olper Schützenfest ... moving in picture and sound. A documentation of the shooting festival from 2004;
2011: DVD 700 years of St. Sebastianus Schützenverein Olpe eV A film documentation for the anniversary shooting festival 2011;
2012: DVD 100 Years of Corporations - Our "Nine" - The Film;