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:
Since 2023, the European Taxidermy Championships (ETC) has proudly made Salzburg its permanent home. Hosted at the world-class Messezentrum Salzburg venue, the championships will now take place every two years, creating a consistent international meeting place for taxidermists, artists, and wildlife enthusiasts from across Europe and beyond.
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:
