Architecture

“Cafehaus (Coffee House),” “Speissehütte (Dining Hall),” “Bureau des Central-Comité (Office of the Central Committee),” “Schützenstand (Shooting Range)” — a major event with thousands of visitors requires space, infrastructure and extensive organisation. As early as 1842, the Eidgenössisches Schützenfest in Chur featured its own “Coffee House”, which was likely frequented mainly by spectators, as women were not yet permitted to take part in the shooting competitions at that time. That year, the festival was held on the Quaderwiese meadow near the town centre. For later editions — in 1949, 1985 and 2026 — the shooting grounds on the outskirts of town were used. The Rossboden shooting grounds in Chur include a historic shooting hall. For the 1949 and 1985 Schützenfest, these were complemented by major temporary structures — as can be seen in these project plans.

In addition to the shooting ranges and the various places serving food and drink, it was likely the prize pavilion exhibiting the festival awards that attracted the greatest attention in 1842 (more on the festival awards can be found here). Crowning the already imposing structure was a ceremonial banner tower (Fahnenburg) displaying the banners of the participating shooting associations. This octagonal neo-Gothic pavilion was originally intended solely for use during the Schützenfest. However — likely at the urging of the Graubünden engineer and master builder Richard La Nicca — it was preserved as a garden pavilion on the Rosenhügel and used again for the Eidgenössisches Schützenfest held in Chur in 1985. By that time, however, the prize pavilion was already in poor condition and was subsequently placed in storage. Since 2017, the carefully restored prize pavilion on the Hirschbühl (near the Rosenhügel) in Chur can once again be viewed outside the Schützenfest:

Many visitors will also be interested in the military structures associated with shooting culture. Some of these sites in Graubünden have since been converted into museums and can now be visited: