Waakirchen (dpa/lby) - After two years of Corona, hundreds of mountain riflemen commemorated the Sendlinger Murder Christmas of 1705 on Christmas Eve for the first time. Around 600 mountain riflemen in colorful uniforms gathered in front of the Oberländer monument in Waakirchen, Upper Bavaria (district of Miesbach), to commemorate the battle a good 300 years ago. The participants came from 47 companies between Chiemgau and Werdenfelser Land.
Ex-Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber was there as an honorary member of the mountain riflemen in uniform. Head of the State Chancellery Florian Herrmann (CSU), who represented the Prime Minister, acknowledged the commitment of the mountain riflemen to the customs in Upper Bavaria. Also present was the Bavarian Economics Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) as well as other political representatives in the region.
Captain Martin Beilhack of the Waakirchner Company said the Mountain Riflemen were the last remnant of Bavaria's former army. "We stand up for our homeland." Today that applies less militarily than, above all, to customs and traditions. With the historical weapons of the mountain riflemen, including muzzleloaders, a national defense would hardly be possible.
Beilhack himself had to give up his weapons years ago, but had always defended himself against the suspicion that he was a Reich citizen at the time. He was a Democrat, he emphasized on Saturday. He is fully rehabilitated. He did not comment on whether he had the guns returned.
In 1705, a good 2,500 farmers and craftsmen rose up against the Austrian occupiers. In what is now Munich's Sendling district, a bloody battle broke out on Christmas; according to tradition more than 1200 riflemen died.
