Hofer Schlappentag 2024

This includes the colorful parade with representatives from politics, crafts and marksmen and, of course, the festive event at the shooting house with the specially brewed Schlappenbier. Traditionally, the Hussite guided tour, the Schlappenschießen (morning) and the Bürgerschießen (afternoon) take place the day before.

Night watchman tour on the eve of the Hussite raid

New this year is the additional night watchman tour on May 25 from 6:30 pm. The guided tour with scenic interludes by Wolfgang Pollnick, the night watchman of Hof, together with a number of dressed-up citizens of Hof, lasts about an hour. The meeting point is at Hof Town Hall. The tour costs 5 euros per person.

Hussite tour - a journey into the past

The Hussite tour has been a fixed part of the Hof Schlappentag program for years and traditionally takes place on the Sunday before Schlappentag. Visitors can look forward to a varied journey through the past and various scenes that take them into the history of the Hofer Schlappentag.

Where? Sankt Michaelis Hof, Kirchplatz 4, 95028 Hof

When? Sunday, May 26, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm

Tickets are available for 5 euros directly from the guide. The tour ends after two hours at the Hof Hospital Church.

Every citizen is allowed to shoot - even without slippers!

On Sunday, May 26, 2024, before Hofer Schlappentag, the Hofer Sportschützenvereinigung (HSSV) will be holding its seventh popular citizens' shooting event after the traditional shooting event for craftsmen and marksmen. Shooting is with the air rifle, 10 m, standing-open. The Sunday morning target shoot, to which dignitaries from the trades, marksmen, politics and business are invited, takes up the tradition of the old shooting exercises. The prize is an exemption from parking fees instead of the former tax exemption.

Citizens' slipper shooting

Where: "Schießhäuschen", Schießgraben 1, 95028 Hof

When? Sunday, May 26, 2024, 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Registration: At the shooting range (Königssaal), immediately before the shooting.

There are cash and drink prizes to be won. The best low shot ("Blattl rating") will be awarded the title of "Bürger-Schlappenkönig*in 2024". For minors, the signature or presence of a parent or guardian is required. Insurance cover is provided by the Bayerischer Sportschützenverbund e.V. (BSSB). Alcohol is strictly prohibited for all shooters.

Reception in front of the town hall

On Monday, May 27, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., the wake-up call and reception will take place in front of the town hall. This will be followed by the parade from the town hall to the shooting house. Around 25 groups will march along, including guests of honor, trainees from the city of Hof, various shooting associations, Hussites, representatives of the craft beer industry, majorettes and brass bands from the twin town of Eger, the German Armed Forces, the naval association, representatives of the craft trades, the band from Markt Trockau-Pegnitz and many more.

In the marquee, the motto is "Etzert leffds!" and the people of Hof celebrate the Hofer Schlappentag together with many guests in an exuberant and peaceful atmosphere and can enjoy the Schlappentag beer brewed especially for the Schlappentag by the Scherdel brewery.

International guests

The city of Hof traditionally welcomes representatives of its twin cities as guests to the Schlappentag. This year, the youth wind orchestra from Cheb will be coming with the majorettes, a formation dance ensemble, as well as representatives of the city. Guests from Plauen are also expected. The crew of the fleet service boat Alster will not be able to come to Hof for the 592nd Schlappentag as they are currently sailing in the Baltic Sea.

Scherdel Schlappenbier

The special brew for the Scherdel Schlappenbier 2024 vintage was already brewed in March. After the main fermentation, the Schlappenbier matures for several weeks before being available to all Schlappenbier lovers from Monday, May 27, 2024. Shortly before Schlappen Day, the strong beer with an original gravity of 16.3 percent and an alcohol content of 6.5 percent is filled freshly into kegs and bottles and only delivered in the early morning of Schlappen Day. Schlappenbier is only available while stocks last. Traditionally, only a limited quantity of this beer rarity is brewed. Scherdel Schlappenbier has recently won awards in several quality competitions. In addition to the DLG gold medal, the Schlappenbier made it into the Finest Beer Selection and received the gold medal for the best bock beer in the international quality competition "European Beer Star 2023".

Painting competition - children design their favorite slippers

In order to bring even the youngest children into contact with tradition, the organizers of Schlappentag - Hofer Handwerk, Privilegierte Scheiben-Schützen-Gesellschaft, Brauerei Scherdel and Stadt Hof - have launched a painting competition for the kindergartens in Hof. The literal slippers are to be the focus of the competition. Until 10 May 2024, kindergarten children are invited to draw or craft their favorite slippers. The organizers will select the winning work from the numerous entries. The winning kindergarten will be announced on the stage in front of the town hall on Schlappentag. The Hofer Wärschtlamo will visit the kindergarten and hand out Wärschtla to the children.

Schlappentag enjoyment boxes

This year, for the first time, there are two versions of the popular Schlappentag enjoyment box from the Falter company. The first box contains beef sausage, Pressack and Schlappentag beer. What's new here is that you can individually choose which Hofer butchers (Max, Schiller or Herpich) the meat and sausage products should come from. The box costs 56 euros. The other variant is a pure beer box with either 9 or 18 bottles of Schlappenbier. Shipping is free of charge and possible from May 27, 2024. The box with 9 bottles costs 22.99 euros, the box with 18 bottles 35.99 euros. Falter's online store also sells merchandise for Hofer Schlappentag such as baseball caps, calendars and beer mugs: www.falter-shop.de

History of the Hofer Schlappentag

On the Monday after Trinity Sunday (one week after Whitsun), Hof celebrates Schlappentag. The festival dates back to the Hussite invasion in 1430, as a result of which the citizens and craftsmen of Hof were obliged to take part in regular shooting practice. These have been held since 1432, which is also the year the shooting guild was founded, with many choosing the last possible date, i.e. the Monday after Trinitatis. These regular shooting exercises had a more functional character. This also explains the name of the day, as people went to the shooting range in "slippers". These were cheap and durable wooden shoes that were worn to work in the Middle Ages.

Even when it became clear over the course of time, particularly during the Thirty Years' War, that a citizen's militia consisting of craftsmen was hardly capable of defending a town, the citizens capable of military service were retained as a military reserve alongside the professional armies that had now been introduced, so that the exercises continued to take place year after year, albeit with interruptions in times of need. It can be assumed that the people of Hof had little desire for military exercises anyway and delayed the fulfillment of this onerous duty until the last possible date.

It became customary for the shooting exercises to begin on the Monday after Whitsun with a ceremonial procession. The more the military value receded into the background, the more they took on a sociable character. A specially brewed strong beer is part of this. The unpleasant obligation to attend shooting practice thus became a traditional festival. Today, the Schlappentag is part of the founding myth of the town society and unites old and young, locals and newcomers, guests and those returning home especially for the occasion.

A 5.50-metre monument at the entrance to the festival grounds commemorates this tradition and shows the metamorphosis from craftsman to marksman. Thus, the Schlappentag is also a festival of craftsmen, as the founded marksmen's guild was mostly made up of craftsmen who also had to take part in regular shooting exercises and competitions.

The tradition is upheld by marksmen and craftsmen, supported by the town of Hof. In addition to the "Privilegierte Scheiben-Schützen-Gesellschaft Hof 1432", all of Hof's shooting clubs take part in the parade as well as in the other activities (citizens' shooting, slag shooting). The craft guilds are involved in the parade. In the preparation of the annual event, the District Craftsmen's Association is an equal partner of the Privileged Target Shooting Society Hof 1432. The invitation to the festival is issued jointly by the master marksman, the District Craftsman and the Lord Mayor.

The document from 1430 and its copy from a 17th century file in the secret archives of the Plassenburg castle reveal the origins of the festival. The origin of the festival can be found in the 17th century: "We Friderich and we John his son, by the grace of God, Margraves of Brandenburg x and Burgraves of Nuremberg, publicly confess with this letter, for us and all our heirs to all those who see, hear or read it, when we have wolbedacht, und mercklich erkannt, solch manchfelt Verdürblich Und gros schäden, For as our dear and faithful mayor, councillor and commoners, rich and poor, have taken and received our city as a court, itzund from the outside, with name, fires and other things, and even if we take them up as a court, build them and are happy to see the aforementioned city protected and improved, they will not be able to build and fortify themselves again without our help, And we have asked them diligently and diligently that we would free them for several years for all taxes and prayers, as we have seen and recognized such their suspicious shame, name and fire, and also their diligent prayers that they may and should be granted such shame, and that they should all the more fortify and build their city and their home to the court, And they have been released and pardoned by special grace for ten whole years following each other, of all taxes and prayers, and they are also released and pardoned in this way in the form of this letter, and as a deed sealed with our appending internal seal, which is given at Cadolczburg on Monday after Sunday Invocavit in the fast, after the birth of Christ our Lord, fourteen hundred years and thereafter in the thirtieth year."