Milwaukee Public Museum

The "fest" has been a hallmark of Milwaukee culture since German and Germanic people arrived in the city in the mid-1800s. While bierfests (beer), saengerfests (singing), theatrical festivals and religious festivals still abound today, one once-popular festival has since fallen into obscurity – the shooting festival, or schuetzenfest.

Schuetzenfest Von Milwaukee takes a historical look at Milwaukee's shooting festivals of 19th century. The exhibit includes 23 locally significant firearms, period photos, replicas of awards and the Milwaukee Sharpshooter's Club flag, and a number of other interesting tidbits of Milwaukee and shooting festival culture. The show will be on exhibit into 2012.

A schuetzenfest was a gathering of marksmen, and their families, competing for honors in marksmanship. An old German practice dating back to the military drills of late medieval armies and Renaissance era citizen militias, the earliest competitions were actually military drills practiced with swords and spears. Over time, the types arms used in competition expanded to include the long bow, the crossbow and rifled firearms. Other hallmarks of the schuetzenfest were parades of marksmen, religious ceremonies, awards ceremonies, feasting and singing.

The schuetzenfest came to America with German immigrants, especially those of the mid 19th century, hence the popularity of the fests in Milwaukee. The city's Germanic population grew steadily throughout the 1840s and 1850s, and at times more than 1,000 people per week arrived in Milwaukee from Prussia, Saxony, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and other German states. Wherever Germans settled in America, schuetzen gesellschafts (clubs) sprang up, and by 1880 Milwaukee had ten hunting and target shooting clubs in the city.

Schuetzen boomed between 1880 and 1910. A National Schuetzen Bund (club) was established, and common rules, targets and club structures were reinforced. Schuetzenmeisters traveled from competition to competition winning honors for themselves and their hometowns. Shooters often returned home laden with ribbons, medals and trophies.

During the 1890s changes occurred in the shooting world. Then, in the early 1900's, rising anti-immigrant sentiment started sweeping America, especially against Germans due to growing German imperialism. After 1910, the use of German language was frowned upon, and the beginning of World War I in 1914, reinforced by the entry of America into the fighting in 1917, effectively stopped the practice of all things German in America. The Volstead Act of 1919 established alcohol prohibition and put an end to the festive aspect of the schuetzenfest. With these changes in place, schuetzen had soon diminished as a sport, never to recover its former glory. The last of the old Milwaukee schuetzenmeisters and their shooting grounds were gone by 1930, but today there is resurgence of interest in this tradition, and small clubs still practice the art and tradition that is schuetzen.