Standschützen

The Standschützen (singular: Standschütze) were originally rifle guilds and rifle companies that had been formed in the 15th and 16th centuries, and were involved time and again in military operations within the borders of the Austrian County of Tyrol. A Standschütze was a member of a Schützenstand ("shooting club"), into which he was enrolled, which automatically committed him to the voluntary, military protection of the state of Tyrol (and Vorarlberg). In effect they were a type of Tyrolean local militia or home guard.

Even though the regular army was already stationed in the Tyrol and Vorarlberg, voluntary Standschützen were often called up, for example in the War of the First Coalition of 1796–1797, the revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, the Austro-Sardinian War of 1859 and the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The highlights of their military involvement, however, were undoubtedly their struggle for freedom under Andreas Hofer against their Bavarian and French occupiers, culminating in the Battles of Bergisel, and their mobilization during the First World War.

The origins of the Standschützen are found in the Landlibell, a deed issued by Emperor Maximilian I dating to 1511, and a decree by Archduchess Claudia de' Medici of 1632, in which each Tyrolean judicial district had an obligation to provide volunteers, capable of acting as fighting men, the number to be determined in each case depending on the threat, in order to form of a Landwehr for the defence of the state.

In the late 19th century, the hitherto independent militia rifle companies were placed under command of the military and sponsored and supported as sources of manpower that could be utilized for the territorial defence of the state. The now officially titled Standschützen were given the opportunity to practise shooting under better conditions than before in order to be prepared to defend their homeland in a crisis.

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