Meeting a Prince and Princess

Meeting a Prince and a Princess

For a number of years, Gary and Ruth Ann have actively studied the Reformation and Martin Luther, especially during our trips to Germany. We are very familiar with how Elector Prince Frederick the Wise, his brother Johann and Johann's son Johann Friedrich, provided political and government protection for the Reformation during Martin Luther’s time in the German area known as Saxony.

Saxony or parts of Saxony have been ruled by members of this family, the Wettins, for roughly one thousand years from the 10th century until the end of World War I. After the Reformation time when the Wettins ensured that the Reformation would survive, our personal interest in this family reemerges in the mid-19th century with the brothers Ernst and Albert, who were descendants of those Saxon rulers.

Albert, known as Duke Albert of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha, was chosen to become the husband of Queen Victoria (the great, great grandmother of Queen Elizabeth). They were married in 1840, and he became Queen Victoria’s “Prince Consort.”

The older brother of Price Albert and heir to the Saxon-Coburg-Gotha Duchy was Ernst. Known as Duke Ernst II, he founded the German Shooting Federation (Deutscher Schuetzenbund) on July 11, 1861. Duke Ernst was an idealistic supporter of full German unification at a time when Germany was totally disunited. He saw the unification of all German shooting, gymnastic and singing clubs as a way to promote German unification. 

The brothers Albert (l) and Ernst (r)
photo credit:   Gary Anderson at Callenburg Castle

The German Shooting Federation celebrated the 150th anniversary of their founding in 2011. A descendant of Duke Ernst, today’s Prince Andreas of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha, was an important part of the celebration. Prince Andreas also provided space in his family castle (Callenberg Castle) near Coburg, Germany for the German Shooting Museum.  

Gary Anderson (l), Prince Andreas (c) and Franz Schreiber, ISSF  Secretary General
at the German Shooting Museum, Callenburg Castle, Coburg

Prince Andreas and his noble predecessors have been “Protectors” of the German Shooting Federation since its founding. In today's usage, a Protector means a prominent member of the nobility who allows his name and status to be used to endorse an organization.    www.http://www.schloss-callenberg.com

Prince Hubertus, who is the son of Prince Andreas, is the great great, grandson of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Prince Leopold was the 8th child (of nine children) and 4th son of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert. During the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Ruth Ann and Gary met Prince Hubertus and his wife, Princess Kelly, who is the daughter of a U. S. Naval Officer, at the German House, where International Sport Shooting Federation officers attended a reception hosted by the German Shooting Federation.

In February of this year, the ISSF loaned its World Championship challenge trophies to the German Shooting Museum so they could become part of a special exhibition at the CALLENBURG  Castle. Gary was present for the dedication ceremony and again met Prince Hubertus and Princess Kelly. They invited Gary and Ruth Ann to meet them in Coburg on their next visit to Germany.

Gary and Ruth Ann enjoyed a private dinner with the Prince and Princess in Coburg on June 10, 2013. On the next day, June 11, the Prince and Princess gave them a private tour of their CALLENBURG castle. 

The Prince Hubertus and Princess Kelly with Gary and Ruth Ann

The castle includes a chapel, today used for weddings and other ceremonies. It was consecrated in 1618 as the first Protestant sanctuary in the Coburg Duchy. The pulpit is centered directly behind the altar. Interestingly, there is a door into the upper floor of the chapel from the outside for town people to use. 

The Castle in the Callenburg Castle
Photo credit:    Gary Anderson at the Callenburg Castle

The public rooms of the castle are well organized with artwork, porcelain, instruments, furniture and family portraits. Every portrait in the castle tells another important story about the members of this influential and important noble family. The top floor of the castle has large, airy rooms that were previously used as an apartment for the family until 1945, but today are used for gatherings and receptions. Prince Hubertus’ and Princess Kelly's civil marriage ceremony was in one of these rooms.

The Prince and Princess thrilled us with an opportunity to see one room in the castle that is currently used to store family treasures that are yet to be documented, organized, and publicly displayed. There is a dazzling collection of unusual, ornate and fascinating clocks. Hanging on the wall are two paintings by Cranach (verified by an art historian as being authentic) and another "possible" Cranach. These pieces of art are unknown to the art world. At this time, the Prince and Princess do not know how these valuable works of art came to be owned by their family.

The Cranach paintings are especially meaningful to us because Cranach was a personal friend and supporter of Martin Luther and the Reformation.  Cranach was also an esteemed portrait artist and court painter for the Wettin rulers of Saxony who were ancestors of Prince Andreas and his son Hubertus who now own the Callenberg Castle. And for Gary and Ruth Ann, Cranach is also important because he and his wife Barbara were witnesses at the marriage of Martin Luther and Katarina von Bora that took place on June 13, 1525, 440 years before Ruth Ann and Gary were married on June 13, 1965.

"Commandeering a Bicycle"

“COMMANDEERING A BICYCLE”

TOKYO TRYOUTS

The tryouts for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games Shooting Teams were held at Ft. Benning, GA on June 29-July 15, 1964.  Two shooters each in Trap, Small Bore Rifle Position, 300 Meter Free Rifle, Free Pistol and Rapid Fire Pistol made the ten-man team.   Gary was a member of the Nebraska National Guard at the time, but was serving on active duty with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit for the summer.  Gary and Martin "Swede" Gunnarsson qualified to shoot the 300 meter event.  After the tryouts,  Gary returned to Hastings College to start the fall semester. Gary received orders to return to active duty for the Games from 25 September until 4 November 1964.

The US shooting Team and Officials, Tokyo 1964

Gary is second from the left, back row

Col. Tom Sharpe, far right, back row, was the 1964 USA Shooting Team Captain

Before traveling to Tokyo, the USA Olympic Team of more than 350 athletes was given a resounding sendoff from Los Angeles at an elaborate banquet in Disneyland's Frontier Land. Bob Hope was the Master of Ceremonies.  The evening ended with a spectacular fire works display.    On September 30, 1964 Olympic Flight #3 (Pan American Airlines) left LA for Tokyo with the shooting, canoe, cycling, fencing, equestrian, weightlifting and women's volleyball teams.  

Team gear and luggage at the Olympic Village

The Olympic Village was built at Asaka, known as Camp Drake when it was the site of the American security forces in Tokyo.  The village was a little more than nine miles from the Olympic Park.  At a cost of $8.3 million, the Tokyo housing agency and Japan's Self-Defense Forces erected 55 dormitory buildings, most of them were four stories high, to house 9,000 athletes and 3,000 Boy Scouts and servicemen who would help run the village. In all, the Japanese spent $56 million for sports facilities and $16.8 million for operating expenses. They also spent $280 million on new roads,  including a freeway between Olympic Village and the main stadium, and a new highway linking Haneda Airport to downtown Tokyo.

The Olympic Village had different dining halls set up to provide different types of diets for the different countries or groups of countries.  Gary remembers the food in their dining hall being very good.  Gary roomed with rifle shooter Lones Wigger and pistol shooter Tom Smith (Smith was an Air Force fighter pilot who almost made the 1956 Olympic team as a shot-putter).  


The OV was pretty spread out so having access to a large fleet of bicycles was appreciated by everyone.  The bicycles were in such demand, however, that every evening Lones and Gary would go out and each commandeer a bicycle to take back to their room so they would have transportation down to the bus station in the morning where they caught the bus that took them out to the range.   

The bicycles at the Olympic Village -- commandeered daily by Anderson and Wigger

The Olympic Village also had a bank and a phone center (an athlete had to go to the phone center to place or receive a call).  Telegrams to athletes were received at the venues.

The bank at the Olympic Village 

The phone center at the Olympic Village

Gary's dormitory room - notice Ruth Ann's picture on the bedside table

There was a PX in a U.S. military installation that was some distance from the Olympic Village where Gary did some shopping.     To get there, Gary had to use the Japanese train system, about a 30 minute ride from the OV.      Gary borrowed $300 from his home town bank so he would have enough money to buy a really good camera, which turned out to be a Nikon F, the top of the line then.   The camera cost $160, plus a telephoto lens for $50.  

Gary's first Nikon

Blue Bell by Noritake

Gary picked out and purchased the Anderson china (Noritake Bluebell), a 96 piece set for $39.25.     He also bought a pair of binoculars for his dad.   But the PX mixed up the shipping addresses, and Gary's dad received the china, and Ruth Ann got the binoculars!    Though they had not announced wedding plans, Gary also bought the silk for Ruth Ann's wedding gown, which was made by Ruth Ann and her mother.  

Mikimoto pearls purchased by Gary for Ruth Ann in Tokyo, 1964

Gary purchased a strand of Mikimoto pearls, which Ruth Ann wore on their wedding day.  The pearls were also worn on the wedding day of their daughter Kirsten Anderson Georgi.

The pistol and rifle events were held at the Asaka Shooting Range which was specially built for the 1964 Olympics.  Organization of the rifle and pistol events was supervised by the National Rifle Association of Japan. Score keeping and range operations were accomplished by the officers and men of the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces.

Gary had two weeks in Tokyo for practice before his competition on October 15.    Nine days before he won his Gold Medal and set a new World Record, his classmates back at Hastings College pulled off the world's first ever trans-Pacific pep rally (next blog).

Gary Anderson Receives the Award of the Olympic Order

Former USA Shooting President and two-time Olympic gold medalist Gary Anderson (Oak Harbor, Ohio) was awarded the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Order in November 2012.

International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) President and IOC member Olegario Vazquez Raña had the honor to award the IOC Olympic Order to Anderson during ISSF Meetings taking place in Alcapulco, Mexico, on behalf of IOC President Jacques Rogge.

The Olympic Order is the highest award of the IOC and was created in May 1975 as a successor to the Olympic Certificate. The Olympic Order is awarded to individuals for distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Order insignia resembles a collar with the five Olympic rings framed by olive branches.

“Gary Anderson has devoted his life to sport, both as an athlete and as a sports administrator in the USA and at the International Shooting Sport Federation,” said Raña. “He has placed his knowledge and experience as an elite athlete at the service of sports administration.” 

Anderson was a member of the USA Shooting Team for 10 years (1959-1969) and earned two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo (1964) and Mexico City (1968). He also claimed seven World Championship medals, two Pan American Games titles and 16 National Championship titles to go along with six individual World Records in his career.

Anderson served USA Shooting as President from 2009-2013. At the international level, he joined the international shooting family in 1978 as member of the ISSF Administrative Council, and is now serving the international federation in his role as Vice President.

Anderson served as the Director of the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) from 1999 to 2009. In addition to promoting firearms safety training and rifle practice for all shooters, Anderson's primary focus at CMP was to develop and sustain successful youth shooting programs at both regional and national levels.

A former Nebraska state senator, Anderson previously worked at the NRA where he served as Executive Director of General Operations. Gary was responsible for the development of safety, training and competition programs. Among hundreds of other honors, Gary was awarded the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP) Distinguished International Shooting Badge (Serial number one) in April 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. While at the NRA, Anderson served on the NBPRP board, and was one of the first people to advocate and pioneer a shift in priorities to youth and junior shooting. As a result of this shift, Anderson became the founding and administrative director of the U. S. Shooting Team Foundation. 

In 1993, he moved to Atlanta to become the Shooting Competitions Manager for the 1996 Olympic Games. In 1996, Anderson accepted a position with Fulton County Georgia, to manage the Wolf Creek Shooting Venue, a facility destined to become a premier national and international center for the shooting sports.

Anderson’s influence on shooting sports extends well beyond the United States. He has traveled extensively throughout his career in shooting, serving as a genuine ambassador for shooting sports, attending 12 Olympic Games, three as a competitor and nine as technical delegate or a jury member. He is also the recipient of one of only five prestigious honorary memberships to the historic and renowned shooting club, Hauptschutzengesellschaft, in Munich, Germany.
(story reprinted by permission of USAS)