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Over the past four years, I have attended three Schützenfeste in Lipperode, Germany. The Schützenfest is a local village-based three-day festival that has its origins in the 15th century, where militias trained for village defense. Nowadays, the shooting is restricted to hitting a wooden target designed in the form of a bird. There are prizes attached to parts of the bird. The person who shoots the last piece of the bird from the target is crowned King and takes over the social activities of the Schützenfest club for the following year. During the three-day festival, there are many parades with marching bands from other villages as well as the host village. Needless to say, beer is the common accompaniment to all these activities. In Lipperode, the “uniform” is a top hat with oak leaves, a white shirt and pants, and a black jacket with a yellow and red sash.

It has taken me several years to feel comfortable at these events, largely due to my impoverished German. However last year, Werner, Andreas’s brother in law took me under his wing and steered me to the good places to get some sketching done. My German can get me started in simple conversations and so I am slowly feeling more comfortable with these events.