Some friends of the Scottish Highlandpipes met in Oerlinghausen (near Paderborn) in the spring of 2002 to make music together. Anke, Pierrette, Thomas, Gerry, Maik and Rüdiger were asked to take part in a parade in the community. However, the “formation” was still missing the name! After a long discussion, Pierrette’s proposal was narrowly won. The “Highland Dragon Pipe Band” was born. As a band symbol, the Celtic dragon shines in deep red from the bass drum."
Justus, Markus and Calum joined the band after just a few weeks. Maik took over the role of Pipe Major. “Black Stewart” was chosen for the ribbon tartan. Gerry found suitable practice rooms in Oerlinghausen. But when the “British Legion Bielefeld Branch” kindly offered a gym and other ideal practice rooms, the band gratefully moved to the “Rochdale Barracks” on Oldentruper Strasse in Bielefeld.
From 2003 Justus Twele offered courses for the Great Highland Bagpipe in cooperation with the municipal music schools in Bielefeld and Herford. This offer met with a great response. Although the courses took place independently of the band, it turned out in the course of 2005 that some pipers from this pool joined the band.
So the band slowly but steadily grew - workshops were also used to further develop the playing quality.
In 2008 we moved into our rehearsal rooms in the police school in Stukenbrock, which we are still allowed to use today.
In 2011, Justus resigned from his position as pipe major and was succeeded by his student Andrea.
In 2014 Andrea offered a beginner’s course for playing the bagpipes as part of the VHS Paderborn. Half of the course participants remained true to the instrument and were accepted into the band shortly thereafter. This developed into a lively training company for pipe beginners.
In 2015, Lukas became one of the youngest leading drummers in the German bagpipe scene to take over the management of the drum corps.
With 25 to 30 performances a year, there is no musical boredom in the band. The band plays at weddings, birthdays, Highland Games, shooting matches and various other occasions.
This year, 2017, the band celebrates their 15th anniversary. This will be celebrated with a new homepage, a return to the competition in Peine and a musical event towards the end of the year. You can read more about this event shortly here on the homepage.
