Bavaria guards celebrate 100th anniversary
The anniversary was delayed: the procession celebrating the 100th anniversary of the thulbaer bavaria-schutzen was almost a victim of the violent thunderstorms. And they had decorated the village so smartly with flags and garlands. Then there was still green light and the colorful train started to move. The dark band of clouds had disappeared and the rain piled up.
Loud bollerschusse of the schwarzpulverschutzen from the schutzenverein rohrbach from main-spessart announced the rough festival in the provost's parish. 38 groups took part and marched along the historic arched bridge to the village, past the monastery wall and around the ancient provost's house. Over the old fuldaer street it went back to the tent.
It was a colorful procession. Not only did the numerous awards shine on the smart jackets of the guards, but also the guards' wives, and many groups had wrapped up great hikes. The marching music was provided by the thulbataler musikanten, the obererthaler dorfmusik, frohsinn aus frankenbrunn and the musikverein oberthulba.
"It's not just the sport and the pushing that's important to us, but also meeting up with friends.", underlined guardian and club chairman michael meindl. He was pleased with the great response and was grateful that many local politicians had come: "politics needs the clubs and we clubs need politics".
A worthy celebration
The thanks were mutual. Oberthulba's mayor gotthard schlereth (CSU/G) congratulated on the "perfect presentation" this 100th anniversary. The patron, the honorary patron erhard happ, was also thanked by the patron, who gave the association a patron chain as a remembrance. For his tireless efforts over the years, he was also given a lasting memento: a guardian's disc showing the provost church and happs, his beloved guardian's home.
"Here in thulba there is real guardianship and a lot of joy in guardianship", district master of guard siegfried schmitt announced ."What you are celebrating here is a splendid feast of protection. Especially the enthusiasm makes me very happy.
An old tradition was also revived: the thulba guardians were accompanied by six young honorary ladies: laura muller, eva jopp, kristin glockner, laura huppmann, daniela trimbach and karina kolb. They presented the schutzenverein with a commemorative plaque to mark its birthday. A flag ribbon was presented by the schutzenjugend with steffen sitzmann at the helm. After all the flags were placed in front of the stage, the bavarian song was sung to close the official part of the ceremony.
Thanksgiving service
Already the thanksgiving and festive service in the morning had been completely in the sign of the jubilee 100 years bavaria-schutzen. Clubs are an important counterbalance to the many everyday worries that people face, emphasized pastor karl-theodor mauer in his festive sermon. "They are among the shining lights in the local community." The guardian associations may have originated in the middle ages, when they were still protecting their fellow citizens in towns and villages, but today it is the community of values and cohesion that pays off. "It is an important service that you have taken on." In addition to sports, it is especially important to preserve customs and tradition, emphasized the clergyman, and continued: "what you have created for yourselves in the past decades in terms of values with hard work and a lot of sacrifice of free time is remarkable." The schutzenheim is now a meeting place for young and old alike. And through its successes, the association is known throughout germany.
The young guardian benedikt kolb thanked in his prayer at the altar for all that has been created with god's blessing by the guardian association and its members. In the prayers for the future, prayers were also said for the deceased members and for a good future of the association. The choir community of thulba and a group of singers from reith with organist peter kleinhenz helped to organize this worthy celebration in the church.