Recently, a forum buddy asked me for pictures of old German schützen houses and range buildings. So I decided to start a thread here, where each forum member can see the pics from the archive and share the historical information. Introduction The range buildings and schützen houses in the old German Reich are very interesting, because they were so different - they vary greatly depending on the region. In North Germany, Prussia, Salisia, and Pommerania, the buildings often looked like huge railway stations, with a park and the range in the backyard. Inside the building was a huge ballroom, mainly used for all events of the town, theater, urban activities. Because the shooters and their club were eminently respectable and often they owned the biggest hall in the town. In the middle ages, when the bigger towns still had defense wall round town, the shooting house was inside the wall. Because the shooters had to defend the town in case of an attack. Sometimes the range was outside the wall, shooters shot from the range building inside the town out of the windows to the targets. Towns were growing and growing, there was not anymore enough room for a range in the town or close to the town. The shooters were not anymore responsible for the safety and guaranty of the town, they kept their regular schützen house inside town walls for amenities and club meetings, but they erected another small building far outside, for practice, shooting, and schützen fest events. Most of the time the schützen house had a very good restaurant inside, and a coffee house, even hotels were integrated. Those were the places were the better situated families went on Sunday, kids could play in the yard, even a "Kegelbahn" (kind of German bowling alleys) was there. .
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