Schützenfest Aldenhoven

520+ Years of Shooting Fraternity

The St. Sebastianus Schützenbruderschaft Aldenhoven of 1506 e.V. is among the oldest and most traditional shooting fraternities in the Rhineland — and in all of North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded two years after the first performance of Albrecht Dürer's Apocalypse woodcuts, in the late Middle Ages, it has maintained 520 years of continuous club history. Peasant wars, Reformation, Thirty Years' War, French occupation of the Rhineland, industrialization, two World Wars, reunification — the fraternity has survived all upheavals and is a living tradition today.

Aldenhoven — Municipality in the Düren District

Aldenhoven is a municipality in the Düren district (North Rhine-Westphalia) with around 13,000 inhabitants — located in the transition area between the Aachen region and the Rhineland, south of the Dutch border. The municipality consists of the main town Aldenhoven and several districts (Schleiden, Siersdorf, Engelsdorf, Pattern, Niedermerz, Freialdenhoven, among others) — a typical rural community in the Rhineland with active club structures.

Festival Calendar June 5th-8th, 2026

The 2026 shooting festival spans four days. The reigning king and queen will lead the festival and crown the new majesty. Membership in the fraternity is possible until Friday, June 5th, 2026, 7 PM — those wishing to join should register before the festival begins.

Program Points (Typical Four-Day Shooting Festival in Aldenhoven)

• Friday, June 5th, 2026: Festival opening, marquee kickoff with live band
• Saturday, June 6th, 2026: Religious shooting mass, formation of companies, main phase of the king's shooting, coronation ball with music
• Sunday, June 7th, 2026: High mass, flower parade with the king and queen and all companies through Aldenhoven, king's shooting or supplementary shooting, king's ball in the evening
• Monday, June 8th, 2026: Morning ceremony, shooting competitions, king bird shooting (the shooting at the wooden bird to determine the new majesty), coronation of the new king / new queen, closing festival

St. Sebastianus — The Patron Saint

Like many Rhineland shooting fraternities, Aldenhoven is dedicated to the patron saint St. Sebastianus — the Roman martyr traditionally depicted with arrows, thus symbolically associated with shooters. The shooting mass on Saturday or Sunday is the religious anchor of the festival — a component that is rarely preserved so prominently in the largely secularized modern folk festivals.

Comparison with Neighboring Shooting Traditions

A special feature: in Aldenhoven, there is a second traditional shooting organization that also maintains a very old tradition — the St. Sebastianus Schützenbruderschaft Aldenhoven of 1450. Both clubs — the one from 1450 and the one from 1506 — maintain their own shooting history and celebrate their own shooting festivals. A remarkable concentration of old shooting fraternities in a single municipality.

Location and Travel

Aldenhoven is located in the Düren district — about 25 kilometers northeast of Aachen, 25 kilometers west of Düren. By car: A 4 exit Aldenhoven, or A 44 exit Jülich, then to the municipality. By public transport: AVV bus lines (Aachener Verkehrsverbund) from Aachen or Jülich to Aldenhoven. Aachen is easily accessible by ICE/Thalys from Cologne, Brussels, and Paris.