Every year on the Monday after Trinity, the Monday exactly one week after Whitsun, the Hofer Schlappenentag takes place. Schlappenschießen, Hussites and Schlappenbier are all part of it - but what exactly is this special Hofer local holiday all about?

Schlappentag begins with morning wake-up calls under many a window, so that no one oversleeps the gathering of the craft guilds and marksmen at 8:00 a.m. at the Schießhäuschen. After a joint procession to the town hall and a reception by the mayor and the marksmen's commissioner, the procession with representatives from politics, crafts and marksmen starts there at 9:45 am. As soon as the procession through the entire city (via Ludwigstrasse, Altstadt, Luitpoldstrasse, Marienstrasse and Konrad-Adenauer-Platz) arrives at the festival site at the Schießhäuschen, the first barrel of Schlappenbier, a drinkable strong beer, is tapped and served in the festival tent. The "Hof National Holiday" has been celebrated for almost 600 years.

Historically, the tradition of Schlappenschießen dates back to the destruction and plundering of the town of Hof in 1430 by the Hussites. The precondition for the raid are the events surrounding the Bohemian theologian and reformer Jan Hus. Already 100 years before Martin Luther, he advocated that the church should return to its true core. Jan Hus' followers, the Hussites, radicalized after his execution and led war campaigns, called "smoking walks," through Bohemia and Germany. In 1430, they came to Hof and incinerated the town.

In order to rebuild Hof after the Hussite invasion, the people of Hof asked the margrave for a tax relief. This was also granted by him - but only under the condition that from that time on all Hof craftsmen and citizens had to attend a shooting exercise once a year in order to be better able to defend themselves in case of a possible next attack.

The last possible date for the exercise, which was carried out by the Privileged Target Shooting Society in 1432, was the Monday after Trinity. Therefore, on that day most of them came to the target practice directly from the field in working slippers, the typical wooden shoes worn at that time. From this, over the years, a whole procession formed to the shooting house on that day. From this tradition the Schlappentag with its procession was born. After the Privilegierte Scheibenschützen-Gesellschaft 1432 Hof was granted the brewing rights, Schlappenbier was also brewed. Only later in the course of the 19th century the folk festival character of the Schlappentag was added.

Today, public figures, craftsmen and marksmen are invited to the Schlappenschießen, which is still held by the Privilegierte Scheibenschützengesellschaft 1432 one day before Schlappentag. Shooting is done with a Zimmerstutzen. As a prize, the king of the slap beckons a year of free parking in all public parking lots in the city of Hof. If an invited participant does not show up, a fine is due - analogous to the penalty imposed if one missed the shooting practice in the past. The invited person can circumvent this by "buying" an anonymous shooter. Since 2015, there has also been a public citizens' shoot following the Schlappenschießen: without a prize, but the winner is allowed to take part in the official Schlappenschießen the following year.