The story started in the Netherlands in Leiden 1992, shortly after the European Taxidermy Federation ETF, the roof organization of the national European taxidermy associations, was founded (Leiden/NL 1991).
The 1st “European Taxidermy Contest” was organized by the Dutch Taxidermy Association NVP. Taxidermists out of 13 different countries, from Norway in the north down to Malta in the south, competed with 325 entries. This auspicious beginning was followed by 9 further championships in different places.
2nd European Taxidermy Competition 1995, Oslo / Norway
(150 participants incl. competitors, 9 nations, 258 entries)
3rd European Taxidermy Competition 1998, Riihimäki / Finland
(160 participants, incl. competitors, 17 nations, 300 entries)
4th Concours Européen de Taxidermie 2000, Chambord / France
(89 competitors, 14 nations, 315 entries)
5th Open European Taxidermy Competition 2002, Longarone / Italy
(78 competitors, 16 nations, 270 entries)
6th European Taxidermy Competition 2004, Dortmund / Germany
(74 competitors, 17 nations, 220 entries)
7th European Taxidermy Competition 2006, Longarone / Italy
(69 competitors, 14 nations, 247 entries)
8th Open European Taxidermy Competition 2010, Longarone / Italy
(85 competitors, 19 nations, 345 entries)
9th Open European Taxidermy Championships® 2014, Longarone / Italy
(98 competitors, 14 nations, 209 entries)
10th Open European Taxidermy Championships® 2015, Oulu / Finland
(56 competitors, 14 nations, 148 entries)
11th Open European Taxidermy Championships® 2018, Salzburg / Austria
(253 participants incl. 153 competitors, 34 nations, 351 entries)
Since the 3rd edition in 1998, it was always held as an open championships with competitors from USA and Canada. After Finland 1998, the period changed from three to two years. Because of the World Taxidermy Championships® editions 2008 and 2012 in Salzburg / Austria, the periods between the 7th, 8th and 9th edition of the ETC® lasted four years. To prevent a longer interval of four or more years to the next ETC® because of the planned (and later cancelled) 2016 edition of the WTC® in Salzburg, we decided to accept the invitation of Finland for 2015, only one year after Longarone / Italy.
Till 2010, each European Taxidermy Championships® was operated with different rules and regulations and different score sheets which sometimes caused confusion. Since 2012, when the last competition committee of the ETF was elected, a lot of things have been changed to be more professional. The new Competition Committee consisted of only two permanent members plus the next ETC® host. This system worked very well. The European Taxidermy Championships® (ETC®) became a trademark, mandatory ETC®-Rules & Regulations were introduced together with the ETC®-Species Lists. A new definition for ribbons and places was published, and in the background, many items regarding the organization have been amended and professionalized.
After dissolving the ETF in April 2016, the European Taxidermy Championships® ETC® is operated by a team under the leadership of Matthias Fahrni (CH) and Berend Koch (D) as an independent organization.
In 2020 Carsten Skakkebaek and Johan Hassing came into the European Taxidermy Championships® ETC® and took over the company, as well as the leadership, in 2021.
To modernize the rules and regulations for the ETC®, Carsten and Johan formed an experienced Advisory Board. The most important result of this work is the following changes to the Rules & Regulations:
Each entry will be judged by two judges (team).
Each division will be judged from the same set of criteria and judged equally, which means that the points given by the judging team are comparable through the different Divisions.
Entries that have provided photographic documentation of the working process and are deemed as exceptional work can be promoted to a higher Division than the original entered at the judges’ discretion.
2 new divisions are added, Roe Deer Heads and Habitat