Swiss Shooting Sport Association celebrates 200th anniversary in Aarau
Published: Friday, Aug 16th 2024, 12:50
Retour au fil d'actualité
The Swiss Shooting Sport Association (SSV) - one of the oldest sporting associations in the country - is celebrating its 200th anniversary with a three-day festival in Aarau from today, Friday. Shooters played an important role in the founding of the federal state.
Most shooting clubs were founded in the 19th century. According to the SSV, shooting festivals also served as important meeting places for the national-liberal bourgeoisie. This ultimately shaped the emergence of modern Switzerland.
The Shooting Sports Association is now the fourth largest sports association in Switzerland. Of its 130,000 members, almost 58,300 are licensed. To this day, the Swiss shooting competition is one of the largest sporting events in Switzerland.
The association is celebrating its anniversary from today (Friday) to Sunday with a large public festival at its founding location in Aarau. Among other things, a parade, a flyover by the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic team and appearances by prominent guests are planned. An anniversary competition with the best marksmen in Switzerland is also part of the event, as is a supporting program with lots of music. Over 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the major event.
Aarau will be transformed "into a shooting sports mecca", the SSV announced. The celebrations are not just reserved for shooters and invited guests, it said. Not only the best are allowed to take part in the anniversary competition; half of the participants in the final were selected by lot.
Olympians on site
Among the speakers at the ceremony on Sunday morning will be Federal Councillor Albert Rösti. It has also been announced that the two most successful Swiss shooters at the Olympics in Paris will be at the ceremony: Chiara Leone from Aargau (gold) and Audrey Gogniat from the Jura (bronze).
On Sunday at 2 p.m., the big parade through Aarau starts, with over 50 formations from all over Switzerland, with many flags, historical uniforms and typical customs.
Close relations with the army
The Swiss Shooting Sport Federation is the umbrella organization for Swiss marksmen and markswomen. It represents around 130,000 members in 2,600 clubs and organizes the annual Federal Shooting Competition. This is considered the largest shooting festival in the world.
The SSV was founded in Aarau in 1824 as the "Swiss Shooting Association". In the same year, the first official Federal Shooting Festival was held in the cantonal capital of Aargau.
From the very beginning, the shooting clubs have had close ties with the Swiss Armed Forces. On their behalf, they carry out compulsory shooting to maintain and promote the shooting skills of the population.
The association is also involved in top-class sport. It aims to promote Swiss shooting sport in the Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines. A milestone for the association was the opening of the National Performance Center (NLZ) in Magglingen BE in 2016, where selected shooters live and train as professional athletes.
https://www.swissshooting.ch
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic