Vol. 19 · No. 1 · Issue 58 · Spring 2001 · pp. 37-60 (24)

Gary Anderson

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Abstract

On a frozen field 35 kilometers east of Dortmund, members of Germany's elite—government officials, business leaders, and royalty—assemble in the medieval city of Arnsberg for a 1,000 year ritual: the Arnsberg Treibjagd (driven hunt). Like live-sized Hummelfiguren, adorned in Bavarian-style Loden coats, expensive Zeiss binoculars, priceless weapons, and accompanied by the German hunter's best friend, the Dackel, they ready themselves for the ancient and hairraising wail of the hunting horns—the hunt is on! The playing out of this medieval scene is soon interrupted, however, by an unlikely group of fast-moving, jean-clad "hunting saboteurs" who, wielding signs that read "Hunting is Murder," proceed to barricade hunting areas and to risk life and limb before high-powered rifles. The scene plays itself out in the usual way: heated words are exchanged, the police arrive, and the hunt is cancelled. Over the past few years, this scenario has become more common in German forests. For the first time in its deeply rooted existence, German hunting is under siege by the anti-hunting movement, begging the question of whether this age-old hunting culture will survive in the new century.