Działalność Bractwa Strzeleckiego w Opolu (Schützengilde zu Oppeln) na przykładzie uroczystości związkowych i jubileuszowych organizowanych w latach 1885–1936
The activity of the Shooting Society in Opole (Schützengilde zu Oppeln) at the example of Union celebrations and anniversaries organised in the years 1885–1936

Summary/Abstract: The Shooting Society in Opole belonged to the oldest organisations of this kind in Silesia. It was founded in the period of the Hussite Wars (1435), and its primary aim – like other shooting societies’ as well – was the protection of city walls. Over the centuries shooting societies became the medium of town tradition, and shooting houses were the venues for its cultivation. In the course of time, their military character became of lesser importance. In the mid-19th century the shooters’ movement became consolidated at the country level, as well as regionally. Apart from the German Shooting Association (Deutscher Schützenbund, 1861), there had been the Upper-Silesian Shooting Association (Oberschlesischer Schützenbund since 1849) and the Silesian Shooting Association (Schlesischer Schützenbund since 1862). The Shooting Society in Opole joined the second association in 1886, and the third one in 1876. Thanks to that membership, shooting societies from all Silesia – and beyond – were hosted in Opole during anniversaries in the years 1885, 1902, 1930 and 1936. Moreover, the Upper-Silesian Shooting Association held its celebration twice in this town (1894 and 1926). In spite of their rather conventional character, those celebrations attracted considerable interest and were important cultural events in Opole.

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