Brandenburger Schuetzenverein

Welcome to the Official site of the Brandenburger Schuetzenverein-Chicago. All are welcome here, and we truly hope you enjoy your visit with us.

Merry Christmas from the BSV!
May your holidays be as fantastic as the Bornschlegl’s eggnog!!!

Election News

Members, the club’s Bi-Annual election has been held, and the good news is that the transition of power was peaceful. To see all of the night’s results, refer to the Rules, By Laws and Standards Page. Congrats to the winners and thanks to the departing board members for your service.

The fifth season, or as some know it, Karneval, has again arrived and some of us celebrated its start, along with the Rheinischer Verein, on November 8th, at the beautiful DANK Haus. The party was great, but we really look forward to Maskenball in February. We have posted additional pics to the Gallery Page and for those interested in the Rheinischer Verein you can find a link to their site on our Links Page. Helau und Alaaf!

Members, October’s Club Championship results have been posted to the Results/Scores Page

Busy, Busy October continued the weekend of the 18th, as the BSV not only sent a team down to the annual St Louis, St. Hubertus competition, while at the same time helping DANK Haus host the Chicago Architectural Centers, Open House Chicago. We have posted Warren Perlstein’s amazing Photo Link from Open House on the Gallery Page, and in the meantime are waiting to receive some pictures from St Louis.

October is always a busy month for us here at the BSV and as it does every year it kicks off on the first Sunday of the month celebrating German-American Commemoration Day. Each year the clubs gather at St Benedicts to honor German immigrant contributions to America.

However, this year was made even more special to the club as three of its favorite members have returned to America, and even though that means we will be closing the Vienna branch of the BSV-Chicago, we don’t care, as we are thrilled to have Andreas, Sabina and little Wilma with us.

The BSV-Chicago was proud to have members representing the club at GAPA’s 50th Anniversary Octoberfest celebration. Above is a copy of their ad book, and our ad in it

The annual Chicago von Steuben Parade was celebrated on September 6th this year and we were glad to be there as we are every year distributing gemutlicheit to kids (thank you Haribo for the Gummi’s) and adults alike. This event is always one of the highlights on our yearly calendar.

The BSV-Chicago extends their heartfelt congratulations to the Omaha, Nebraska Schuetzenverein on their first ever Sommer Wettschiessen, which was held on 16 August 2025, at their beautiful home in Omaha. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to attending again next year. Event results will be posted on our Results/Scores page along with some pictures from the meet. Gut Schuss!

On 10 August the BSV-Chicago celebrated the IV Annual Karl Frentz Memorial Picnic with family, and friends, at Sleepy Hollow Park in Glenview. The party started at noon, and we all had a good time. Special mention to Monte and Jason for providing refreshments and we would once again like to thank the Frentz family for their help in making this event possible every year!

Milwaukee German Fest, July 25-27. The annual Fest March took place on Saturday and BSV club members marched not only with our friends from the Niedersachsen Club of Chicago, but with our sister Schuetzenvereine from across the region as the Midwest Schuetzenbund. It was nice spending some leisure time with our friends from out of state and to spread the word about our sport and our traditions.

While it isn’t our normal practice to endorse a business here at the BSV-Chicago, in the case of Doener Kebaps (at least good ones) we are willing to make an exception for a food that many of our members are extremely passionate about. While a real Kebap is still hard to find on this side of the Atlantic, we are pleased to relate that you can quench your taste for one of these Turkish-German delights at Berliner Kebap in Streamwood, Illinois. Contact and further information can be found on our News & Notes Page, and their website can be accessed at https://berlinerkebap.com/ . Guten Appetit.

Unknown to many, the largest Schuetzenfest in the world takes place every year in Hannover, Germany. The first edition of the festival was launched in 1529 by Duke Erich I. Today – after almost 500 years – the Schützenfest still takes place annually, starting on the Friday before the first Monday in July. For much, much more on this fascinating Fest, click here: https://schuetzenfest-hannover.de/

This year the BSV is fortunate enough to have not one, but two of our club members in attendance in Hannover for the 2025 Fest. Reigning King Matt Hoppe and immediate past BSV-Chicago Queen Brittany Bochenko are not only representing the club but managed to find each other for a quick beer (or two) and send us a pic. We will be posting additional photos-caution could be a long thread-in the Gallery Page, as time permits. Macht Spass Alle!

June-The Troops have returned from the annual Wettschiesen in Peoria, and the last one to take place at the Lindenhof, a location that we will remember with enormous fondness. The results are posted to our Scores/Results Page if you would like to take a look, but a special congratulation goes out to BSV Member, Edgar Rojas, who managed to secure Bronze overall, in the Pistol category.

Das Fest ist jetzt beendet und vielen Dank zu unser Mitglieder who made the weekend such a great success. The BSV truly distinguished itself again this year, and along with our partner club, the Niedersachsen Club of Chicago, we helped continue a great Chicago tradition. We hope you were all able to come to enjoy the music and Gemutlichkeit. Besides the clubs volunteer efforts, the BSV was represented by not one, but two, member bands who performed live this weekend and entertained the crowds with much success. Thank you and congrats to Erich Freiberger and his band Paloma, as well as John Mclaughlin and his band Pieptone, well done guys. For more information about these great entertainers click on our Links Page.

2025 Maifest, Schuetzenverein representing (L) and Karl and Susanne, (R) love you guys!

Columbus results are in, see Scores/Results Page and we had a great time, the Columbus Club House Below

Windshield Decals have arrived, see Membership Page

Very Happy News-We have learned that former Chicagoan, and our friend, Art Heppner has been named the 2025 King of the German American Society of Cape Coral‘s Schuetzenverein. We have posted a couple of Pics on the News & Notes page, check them out and congrats to King Art.

Our 2025 King and Queen Schuetzenball took place the weekend of 4-5 April 2025 and was held at the beautiful DANK Haus in Chicago, Illinois. We at the BSV would like to thank all 140 of you who came to celebrate with us, but particularly to our Schuetzengeschwister who travelled from as far afield as Omaha, Nebraska to New York City to be there. Thank you All. We will be posting pictures below and to the Gallery Page, as we receive them, and if you have any you would like to share, please feel free to send them to bsvchicago@gmail.com.

Eight Teams in total met Saturday morning, beginning at 8:00 a.m. to compete for the honor of capturing the Wolfgang Reinke Wanderpokal. Besides ourselves we were pleased to host representatives of Schuetzenvereine from Auburn Hills, Omaha, Columbus, Cincinatti, Peoria, St Louis; aka the “Midwest Schuetzenbund” and not least, our newest friends from, Brooklyn.

Our 2025 King and Queen Ball kicked off Friday evening with an informal meet and greet, which took place in the Brandenburg Room of the DANK Haus. This year we had nearly 60 of our guests come to our pre-event, event. A libation was provided gratis to all who came courtesy of King elect Matt and Queen elect, Dahra and additionally by club member Brad who along with John M., kept our guests happy.

Karneval Season with Rheinischerverein-Chicago at DANK Haus, February 2025 (Below)

The 2025 King and Queen Shoot is in the books and everyone had a wonderful time. Congratulations to all of our winners, especially to King and Queen Elect, Matt and Dahra. You guys have big shoes to fill!

Der Adler and Erich, Brittany, Dahra, Matt and Troy, well done everyone

The 2024 Christmas Party was a wonderful success that was made even better by a generous gift from our reigning King, Tobias Dold. All members in attendance were presented with a brand new BSV Challenge Coin, courtesy of the King. These coins are very heavy and of an excellent quality. There are a handful or two left over which are available to members for purchase, see John if you are interested.

A couple of older memories for your enjoyment, for more of the same check out our Archives Page.

Christmas Party, December 20, 2023! Thanks for all the good food and gemütlichkeit! Fröhliche Weihnachten!!

  

2022 Schutzentag

The club also would like to extend a special thanks to Horst Siegel for coming by the club. It was nice to see a pivotal member of the Lincoln Square German Community come to have a drink with us. Thanks Mr. Siegel. You are always welcome!!!!

Mr. Siegel- Wir sind nicht Arschleckers, Wir sind Arschkickers!

We have some photographs on our membership only page, check them out. Let’s discuss which ones we want on our front page. Here is one from the post-parade party. It is a great one to start with.  

Membership meets at 7 pm, every Wednesday, on the Second Floor of the D.A.N.K. Haus, 4740 N. Western Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60625.  Please contact us at 773-251-3174, if you are interested in attending.