The Origins of the ETC
How it all began…
The Origins of the European Taxidermy Championships
The European Taxidermy Championships (ETC) began in 1992 in Leiden, the Netherlands, shortly after the founding of the European Taxidermy Federation (ETF). Since then, numerous competitions have taken place in various European countries:
- 1992, Leiden, NL – 325 entries, 13 nations
- 1995, Oslo, NO – 258 entries, 150 participants, 9 nations
- 1998, Riihimäki, FI – 300 entries, 160 participants, 17 nations
- 2000, Chambord, FR – 315 entries, 89 participants, 14 nations
- 2002, Longarone, IT – 270 entries, 78 participants, 16 nations
- 2004, Dortmund, DE – 220 entries, 74 participants, 17 nations
- 2006, Longarone, IT – 247 entries, 69 participants, 14 nations
- 2010, Longarone, IT – 345 entries, 85 participants, 19 nations
- 2014, Longarone, IT – 209 entries, 98 participants, 14 nations
- 2015, Oulu, FI – 148 entries, 56 participants, 14 nations
- since 2018 (every two years), Salzburg, AT – 351 entries, 253 participants, 34 nations (2018)
Changes in Recent Years
Since the 3rd edition in 1998, the ETC has been an open competition, also welcoming participants from the USA and Canada. In the beginning, different rules and evaluation systems were used, which sometimes caused confusion. Since 2012, the rules, score sheets, and categories have been standardized, the ETC Species Lists were introduced, and the competition became more professionalized.
After the dissolution of the ETF in 2016, the ETC has been run by an independent team led by Matthias Fahrni (CH) and Berend Koch (D). In 2020, Carsten Skakkebaek and Johan Hassing took over the organization and modernized the rules with the support of an experienced Advisory Board.
Key changes include:
- Each entry is judged by two jurors.
- All divisions are evaluated according to the same criteria to ensure comparability.
- Entries with photographic documentation of exceptional work may be promoted by the jurors to a higher category.
- Two new categories were introduced: Roe Deer Heads and Habitat.
News
2025 wurden die ETC offiziell vom Messezentrum Salzburg übernommen, dies soll die Zukunft des Wettbewerbs sichern und die notwendigen Ressourcen für ein nachhaltiges Wachstum schaffen.
