Club history

500 years of St. Sebastianus Schützen MeckenheimThe St. Sebastianus Schützenbruderschaft Meckenheim probably owes its first documentary mention to a thief who was arrested on January 15, 1661 and later hanged. The bill for the execution costs states that the thief was picked up by nine shooters and a courier in Villip. However, there are many indications that the brotherhood is even older and could rightly and proudly celebrate its 500th anniversary in 2001 the entry "St. Sebastianus Schützenbruderschaft founded 1501" can be found under the keyword "Meckenheim". There is no confirmation of the founding year, but the oldest piece of historical rifle silver supports this view. According to experts, the depiction of a dove on the small trailer allows it to be dated to the 16th century. Therefore the brotherhood is called today "St. Sebastianus Schützenbruderschaft Meckenheim before 1600 (1501)". The riflemen initially believed in an even earlier founding date when they learned from an article by Klaus Fink in 1979 that in the interest register of the Himmerod Abbey there were already 1317 archers ("sagitarii") in Meckenheim who received an annual grain harvest as wages for guarding services . In fact, this assumption did not stand up to critical scrutiny. The social position and the self-image of the early rifle guilds differed fundamentally from the tasks of the archers, who were recruited in the first half of the 14th century by the monastery of Himmerod and the lords of Rheinbach in Meckenheim and some neighboring towns. The archers were obliged to defend the walls and were allowed to move into the city in the event of war. The rifle movement that arose in Flanders did not reach the Rhineland until the beginning of the 15th century and was organized in late medieval rifle guilds. These voluntary associations of the emerging bourgeoisie saw themselves neither as a military corps for city defense nor as a citizen militia to carry out regulatory functions. Their regular shooting exercises with crossbow and bow were used for military training. The fact that St. Sebastian became the patron saint of Meckenheim riflemen is probably due to the fact that he was venerated as the second patron of the parish church alongside St. John the Baptist. There is evidence of a Sebastianus altar in the church as early as 1660. When on January 20, 1740, Sebastianus Day, a conflagration remained without major consequences, the brotherhood founded an annual singing mass for this festival. The name of the earliest known Meckenheim shooter king is Jacob Schmitz. This name adorns the oldest royal shield of the brotherhood from 1695. As early as 1890, the brotherhood acquired part of today's Schützenplatz at the "Taufweiher" in a foreclosure auction to create a shooting range. In order to be able to enter the brotherhood as owner in the book, their recognition as a "legal person" was applied for. It received this on September 18, 1893 through "All the highest decrees" from King Wilhelm II of Prussia and makes the brotherhood a real curiosity today. Only a few associations were "legally competent" in this way and are still allowed to do without an entry in the register of associations at the district court by holding a king and bird shooting and other general purpose-oriented festivities, finally showing the last honor when members of the association die ", a copy of the oldest statute of the Meckenheimer Schützen from June 20, 1846 in the log book of 1872 names the main purpose of the" Sankt Sebastianus Schützen- Society". Much has changed in the life of the Meckenheimer Schützen club since then, but much has continued to exist, such as the commitment to "Faith, Customs and Home". This was a contribution by Christiana Kuepper (Bonner Rundschau of March 24, 2001) on the occasion of 500th anniversary of the brotherhood.