Schuetzen Verein (San Francisco, Calif.)

The San Francisco Schuetzen Verein was founded in 1859 as a militia and shooting society for German Americans. It evolved into a social and athletic club, sponsoring shooting festivals and events around the Bay Area.

Organizational History

The San Francisco Schuetzen Verein was founded by Jacob Knell, H. Millemann, and John Reinhart in August 1859 as a militia and shooting society for German Americans. In its early days, the organization held shooting tournaments, parades, and eagle-king shoots, as well as regular target practice in Hayes Park. After President Lincoln's assassination in 1865, the Schuetzen Verein patrolled the streets of San Francisco for two days and two nights until they were relieved by federal troops. The organization evolved into a social and athletic club, sponsoring shooting festivals and events around the Bay Area, with headquarters at the corner of Polk and Turk Streets in San Francisco.

The San Francisco International Shooting Festival Association was an aggregation of Bay Area shooting clubs that included the Schuetzen Verein. In August and September of 1915, the Association hosted the Grand Prize Shooting Tournament at Shellmound Park in Emeryville as part of the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition held in San Francisco that year.