Bavaria: tradition in danger | DW Documentary

things are going off with a bang in King Goll gun Tahoe Kaiser stands at attention his marksman's Club is celebrating the days when Bavarians protected their land with guns Apurva Varian's still love their homeland and many feel it's coming under threat though not here at the gun club Gunther Hall Kaiser's sure of that we're a pillar of strength but Bavaria is changing the conservative CSU who've governed the state for decades could face an upset in upcoming elections will the marksman break ranks or take things in their stride they're all decked out Gunther ha Kaiser is

deputy commander of the in King Gao marksman's Club we follow the big parade the biggest question is who will lead it behind the two coaches behind the two coaches yes the guests of honor should be at the front normally we're up front yeah what's the black bear doing at the back each year they celebrate with a battalion festival a weekend full of tradition gives you a feeling of pride Oh you meet lots of old friends it's just nice to something like this take place elsewhere in Germany I don't imagine so this is Bavaria yep as

it lives and breathes it's almost time for the parade to begin okay cue the myth that some people stop and take pictures as if they can't quite believe what they're seeing the parade passes through the village of a show where the local marksman's Club is celebrating the anniversary of its founding royalty has even turned out for the occasion Prince max Duke in Bavaria rides in a carriage next to his wife Elisabeth some 2,000 people are marching here though among marksman's clubs this is one of the smaller festivities the highlight of the event is the official

portion and there's no mistaking when that commences the greetings from the district and state captains often revolve around one word homeland our homeland is where we live the language we all understand and the way of life that makes us feel secure and happy the marksmen hear many calls for their homeland to stay just as it is let's stand together to keep our Bavarian land the way it is that's not always easy but if we stand together everything will be alright God above will help us and the Mother of God - and Prince max Duke in

Bavaria seen here on the Left his royal highness views the marksman as being more important than ever now we need to keep protecting our homeland and all the values that it stands for these values are specially endangered now I'd say they're always a little in danger in this era of globalization especially so we should preserve our character and other good things and the marksman's clubs do that extremely well while the prince has no official powers his word still counts among the marksmen but how are Gunter Ho Kaiser and his comrades supposed to defend their homeland

in modern-day Germany I'm not with weapons we should defend our homeland spiritually how my exemplifying Christian values loyalty to our homeland and friendship of all Chavez and these marksmen think that really only works in Bavaria they have a skeptical view of the rest of Germany the farther north you go the harder it becomes really good why is that mm-hmm the mentality perhaps we haven't got us marksmen seeking honor to keep if it's not done [Music] here it's about safeguarding Bavarian traditions in all its forms but the marksman's club is more than just a mere Club

they see themselves as a kind of social Authority as almost everyone takes part that holds villages and communities together and provides a sense of security and trust far greater than any government in Munich or far away Berlin could ever hope to they've been doing it for centuries and do it for posterity [Music] will something like this be around in 50 years absolutely even though everything's changing not much changes around here do you serve pizza or Garros not likely you need to ask the owner why is that folks are hungry this has to go quickly so

the menu is set first goulash with dumplings then a mug or two of beer that often loosens people's tongues then suddenly all of Bavaria is endangered by immigration and the rest of Germany too I think we've done pretty well with Catholicism in Bavaria in recent years and when other religions get mixed in those valleys won't be passed on to young people and eventually this will end can you feel the influence of other religions with us marksman it's not evident but the outside influences are there when you go into the big cities for us in the

country it's not that way thank God but looking at the big cities it's an issue günther ha cosa understands such fears but he doesn't think his beloved Bavaria is on the verge of annihilation right now he's more worried about how he scored in a shooting his comrade Georg Winkler has set the bar high happy with your score yes I just can't keep up ha hosers won the king of marksmen title three times but this is clearly not his day you happy we're doing okay these marksmen don't just wear folk costumes it's a real sport the

older you get the more it grabs you I used to run a lot of marathons both but with age I slowed down a bit and then I started shooting air rifles 800 marksman compete against one another in the top competition for upper bavaria shooting clubs there are real prizes to be won including an award from the bavarian premier he's not here but has sent his deputy Ilze Eichner the variants go to the polls on October the 14th the Christian socialists have held power for 60 years but now many plan to demonstrate their displeasure with the

CSU at the ballot box when CSU Interior Minister Jose Hoffer almost caused the collapse of Germany's ruling coalition even the most faithful supporters were annoyed I think they go for caused a lot of unrest in the party in Berlin and of course that spreads like wildfire to the ground roots level there's a certain discontent on she's got to try to offset that smooth things over that won't be easy here please give a warm welcome to deputy state premier elder Eichner with state elections just around the corner even a marksmen are wondering how the Christian socialists

will do this time around and can is Eichner tella captain from a commanding officer when state guests come to Bavaria it's only fitting that the marksman's clubs represent Bavaria and provide an image of our state dear honoured state dear and secondly I'd like to thank the marksman's clubs for defending our values and doing this openly anyone expecting a real campaign speech was disappointed instead there were warm words at the award ceremony you can to hawk lasers club did very well their senior team took first place [Applause] didn't think he could do it did you amazing

but who is this year's king of marksman what his name is Benedict dizer junior so it's business as usual with a marksman and likely for the Christian Democrats as well few here believed that the CSU will ever lose power Bavaria's CSU now and forever despite the polls what despite the polls Bob perhaps it just doesn't matter who rules among them to these kings of marksmen [Music]