Are these boys carrying dummy rifles?

[BlackWatch1]

Anyone one know if these boys are carrying dummy rifles in this Third Reich parade? What kind of a parade would it be? Thanks!

[Edelweisse]

Are these boys carrying dummy rifles?

Hi...WOW pretty cool picture.

In this PC world today....the libs would be freaking out along with the PC parents. Teachers would be tarred & feathered and fired. The students would be suspended...especially those carrying real swords. OMG!!!!!!!!

I like it the picture...times have changed...

[Edelweisse]

Are these boys carrying dummy rifles?

Another comment......there are "NO GIRLS".....OMG....the PC world again would FREAK OUT!!!!! How dare they!!!!!

[chrischa]

Hello.

Yes, they are dummy rifles.

I can't see any swastikas, etc unless the lapel badge worn by the (I presume) teacher is an NSDAP badge. But, it certainly looks Third Reich era.

States of Germany have by nature had a history of militia and military parades. I think this is remembering a battle rather than preparing for one.

[BlackWatch1]

Hello.

Yes, they are dummy rifles.

I can't see any swastikas, etc unless the lapel badge worn by the (I presume) teacher is an NSDAP badge. But, it certainly looks Third Reich era.

States of Germany have by nature had a history of militia and military parades. I think this is remembering a battle rather than preparing for one.

You will see two swastika flags in the upper right corner. I don't think the parade had to do with preparing for war either. Perhaps a festival with a shooting competition and the boys are carrying dummy rifles in honor of it? Our German members will know more about it I think

[ODW]

In the barrels stuck flowers. (like Carnation Revolution or Vietnam War Protest)
So it´s some parade against the old war/ a new war? Probably some social democratic or communistic.
And two guy hang out her swastika banner, for protest against the protest?
If it´s the HJ, i think they would wear their HJ uniforms and don´t put flowers in the barrels.
But all only my guesses.

[chrischa]

You will see two swastika flags in the upper right corner. I don't think the parade had to do with preparing for war either. Perhaps a festival with a shooting competition and the boys are carrying dummy rifles in honor of it? Our German members will know more about it I think

Ah yes. iphone screen.

[jmark]

Hi...WOW pretty cool picture.

In this PC world today....the libs would be freaking out along with the PC parents. Teachers would be tarred & feathered and fired. The students would be suspended...especially those carrying real swords. OMG!!!!!!!!

I like it the picture...times have changed...

Aah yes, the halcyon days of pre-war Nazi Germany. The good ol' days. Thank goodness times have changed. I wonder how many of those boys were still alive in 1946.

[BlackWatch1]

Maybe the boys are part of a Schützenfest? Here is a modern photo of a Schützenfest in Neuss, Germany.


And this one is in Düsseldorf.


And these German beauties are part of another Schutzenfest in Meerbusch.

[Br. James]

Hold on now, friends! I can't agree with Edelweisse' comment: "In this PC world today....the libs would be freaking out along with the PC parents. Teachers would be tarred & feathered and fired. The students would be suspended." As far as I know, Olympic Events are still quite PC, and especially when someone wins a medal of any grade! Shooting events of all kinds are still a part of the schedule, and to win a medal in international, national, state or local competition is a goal highly prized, today as in the past. Where do such skilled marksmen and women come from? They come from years of training and experience, of course, and that is what such events as the ones pictured here -- both in the Nazi era and in modern Germany -- celebrate, IMO.

While we're used to seeing large numbers of uniformed, marching men carrying rifles in Nazi-era films, these were government-approved films, designed to attract and interest youth in military and police careers...just as we see today on TV. While there are countless pix of German military personnel and political and civil police carrying a variety of weapons in public, one should remember that gun control was quite strict among civil society in Germany in the 1930s and '40s. This was to assure the government -- the NSDAP -- that only the RIGHT people had access to guns. Just as the Party banned all other political parties by 1934, it was always concerned to avoid the possibility of civil unrest and revolution against the NSDAP leadership...and gun control was very much a part of that mindset.

Br. James

[feldpost 58]

Hi,

To connect these photos to Nazism is, in my opinion a mistake.
One should remember that Schutzenfest etc., were a part of German tradition for many years before the Nazis.
The NSDAP merely took over many aspects of German culture, and to outside eyes these events became "Nazi".
I go to Minden Westfalen every two years to celebrate the "Freischiessen" which is to commemorate the battle of Minden, and the victory won over the Napoleonic French by Germany and the British.
The British Army still have several "Minden Regiments" who commemorate their victory in this battle today.
These festivals are a part of German culture, but to an observer may be considered as a "Nazi" festival due to a lack of knowledge of German culture.

Best wishes,

John.

[BlackWatch1]

A Schützenfest (German "marksmen's festival") is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of both Germany and Switzerland.

At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on their shooting abilities, for example by shooting at a wooden representation of an eagle. The winner of the competition becomes the 'Schützenkönig' ("king of marksmen") until the next year's competition.

During the Middle Ages, many towns had to find ways to defend themselves from gangs of marauders. For this reason clubs and associations were founded, comparable to militias; these paramilitary associations were sanctioned for the first time in the Law for the Defensive Constitution of the Towns by King Henry I, and officially integrated into the towns' defense plans. Accompanying the military exercises and physical examinations of the towns' contingents, festivities were held combined with festive processions. Participants from other parishes and at times even the feudal heads of state were also invited to these Marksmen's Courts (Schützenhöfe). However, the self-confident spirit of the townsfolk that marked these festivities was not always regarded positively by the authorities. For this reason, different traditions developed in different regions. The military significance lessened over the course of the centuries and became meaningless with the creation of regular troops and garrisons for national defence. The Schützenfests however continued in the form of a regional patriotic tradition.

A 15th century Schützenfest in Konstanz as depicted in the Luzerner Chronik of 1513. Men are competing with crossbows.