Glaube Sitte Heimat

Every two years, the small town of Beverungen, in the middle of Germany, celebrates with particular vigour its “Schützenfest“, the traditional Marksmen's Festival. Festivities are focused on numerous parades and a shooting contest, where the winner is declared "King".
Marksmen's guilds or brotherhoods are known to have existed since the Middle Ages throughout the Germanic regions. They protected cities and rural areas against troubles, wars and looting. In Beverungen, about a quarter of the active male population is involved in the local Marksmen's Association.
In 2008, Beverungen has the honour of hosting the annual festival of the "Confederation of Historical German Marksmen's Brotherhoods" with thousands of participants coming from all over the west of Germany. District Kings and Diocesan Majesties compete for the title of the year's new "Confederal King" who receives the royal insignia in front of the altar, after the prayer of blessing.

Little known by foreigners, ignored and even snubbed by city people, the Marksmen's Festivals (Schützenfeste) stand as a foremost event in many towns and villages all over Germany, and their participants number millions nationwide. The multiple sporting, social or charitable activities of the Marksmen's Associations or Brotherhoods play an important role, particularly in Germany’s rural regions.
The observation of two such festivities in a small town deep in the Federal Republic of Germany was an occasion to plunge into German popular culture and some of its century-old traditions, which remain strongly anchored in regional identities. These crystallise around the notion of Heimat, which designates the - often idealised - homeland or native region, where one feels at home and to which one remains attached and loyal.