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Military historian to speak at Turner Hall
historian turner hall
Shown here with a Wisconsin Swiss Schützen (marksman) rifle, Chris Pederson, an Army military historian from Eau Claire, will speak about German and Swiss marksmen groups in Wisconsin at 7 p.m. May 14 at Turner Hall of Monroe.

MONROE — Chris Pederson, a military historian for the United States Army, will give a presentation about Wisconsin Schützenverein — German/Swiss marksmanship societies — at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 14 in the Grand Hall of the Turner Hall of Monroe, 1217 17th Ave. 

The event is part of Turner Hall’s Swiss Heritage Series. 

These traditional marksmanship societies, called Schützenverein, have close ties with the German and Swiss gymnast and singing groups. All these groups worked toward unifying Germany into a Constitutional Monarchy or Republic in the mid-1800s, but these bold marksmen and revolutionaries failed in their fight for freedom, with Prussia being the one to unify Germany. Consequently, many members of these groups joined our republic, recreating these organizations and societies in the United States. 

Currently a resident of Eau Claire, Pederson grew up both on a farm near Cleghorn and in the city of Eau Claire. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2003. Upon graduation, Pederson was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army and shortly after was living in the German state of Hesse, and then Baden-Württemberg in the old center of the picturesque town of Heidelberg. While in Germany, Pederson developed a great interest in the traditions, organizations and festivals of hunters and marksmanship societies, some of which were over 400 years old. 

He then took a four-month course learning about the local wildlife, marksmanship techniques and traditions of the hunters of Germany, certifying him to be a hunter (Jäger) in Germany. In a torch-lit ceremony in October 2007, Pederson was sworn into the brotherhood of German hunters near Heidelberg, Germany. This allows him to hunt and be a member of marksmanship societies there. Pederson currently serves as a major in charge of the 49th Military History Detachment located in Forest Park, Illinois. He has written articles on Germanic social groups from the mid-1800s for national magazines, museums and historical societies.