Neuss Schützenfest

The tradition & historical record

The Neuss Schützenfest, officially the Neuss' Citizens' Marksmen's Festival (German: Neusser Bürger-Schützenfest), is the Schützenfest of the German city of Neuss. It is held annually on the last weekend in August. With more than 7,500 parading marksmen it is smaller than the Hanover Schützenfest but is regarded as the largest marksmen's festival in the world that is organized by a single association and does not include platoons from other cities. The year 2011 saw the largest number of trooping marksmen to date, with 6,951 marksmen taking part in the parade. The marksmen's festival with its royal parade, several processions, royal shooting competition and a great number of accompanying events is a social highlight of the city of Neuss and the surrounding area and attracts up to a million visitors each year. The largest number of visitors to date was recorded in 2007, with 1.5 million people coming to watch the Schützenfest. ¹

While the Schützenfests of the Middle Ages were primarily military in character, cultivation of traditions and social aspects are the main focus of the modern day festivities. For this reason, the marksmen wear uniforms with mock guns, often decorated with flowers sticking out of the barrel. In 2017 the regiment consisted of around 7,860 actives; i.e., parading, marksmen and musicians with an undetermined number of reserves. It is divided into different corps, each wearing their own distinct dress uniform. The Schützenfest is organized by the Neuss Citizens' Marksmen's Association, of which all marksmen are members. This association is headed by a committee of 10–12 members, among them the Colonel (Oberst), the highest-ranking officer and the commandant of the regiment. Ceremonially the Schützenfest is represented by the King of Marksmen (Schützenkönig), who is determined each year in a traditional shooting competition. Application for the regality is open to all marksmen, however, it involves a lot of expenditure of time and money from both the king and his wife and for his children, optionally. The king is not a member of the association's committee, however. The marching bands, corps of drums and fanfare bands present come from the Neuss area and beyond, following the old German band pattern, however the Quirinus Band and Bugle Corps, a new band raised in 2011 and based in the vicinity, marches in the British Light infantry band tradition in a record 160 paces per minute (as it is affiliated to the Royal Green Jackets association in the UK and is the first ever German marching band of its kind, their present Bandmaster being Peter Hosking, who is an ex Royal Green Jacket and Light Infantry Musician). ¹

The regiment, brigade sized with more than 7,860 serving actively as of 2017, is divided into a total of 10 corps that have been established over time. Only two of these corps, the Grenadeer Corps and the Riflemen Corps were in existence in the times of the first modern day Schützenfest in 1823. Except the Sappers, most are company sized or battalion-sized formations, only 2 are regiment-sized. Each corps has its own distinctive uniforms. Apart from the Squires, the Scheibenschützen, the Artillery Battery and the Cavalry, all corps are further divided into platoons (Züge) of 15–30 marksmen each. A corps is generally headed by a Major or Captain (Hauptmann), while platoons are headed by First Lieutenants (Oberleutnant). ¹

The Sappers form the smallest of the existing corps, consisting of a single platoon with a current total of 22 members. They wear a blue uniform jacket under a white apron, a high mock bearskin cap topped by a red and white brush, as well as an axe and a hunting dagger. Since 1830 they march at the head of the regiment and act as honour guard for the Marksmen's King. ¹

The Grenadeers took part in the modern day Schützenfest since its inception in 1823. They wear white trousers, a white shirt, a white bow tie, a black cutaway coat or evening tailcoat with a black vest or cummerbund, as well as a black top hat. They traditionally carry mock rifles. The officers wear a blue uniform jacket and a bicorne instead of the tailcoat and top hat and a saber instead of the rifle. In 2011 the Grenadeers were the second largest of the corps. ¹

The Squire Corps offers a chance for young boys past the age of 7, to take part in the Schützenfest. Few other corps of the regiment allow for active participation of children in the parades. The uniform of the squires consists of a black jacket, a red and white sash worn diagonally across it and short trousers made of black velvet, they wear a saber on parade. The Squire's cap is adorned with a red and white pom-pon. Presumably the origins of the squires reach back to former times, when young girls in white dresses would accompany the royal carriage and throw flower petals. The year 1835 is usually regarded as founding year of the Squire Corps. However this date has not been verified and is based solely based on the earliest available receipts for the acquisition of the uniforms. At the royal parade the squires form an honor guard for the king, the committee and VIPs in the saluting base. During the processions and the inspection for the royal parade, they march ahead of the king's carriage and the mounted escort behind. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Neuss Schützenfest”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Neuss Schützenfest is recorded in open cultural data. The structured record cited below does not describe the practice, and this entry has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²