It was precisely foot-lazy foresters, poachers and wood guards who brought the "Freischütz" on its way to well-tended restaurants. As soon as the city forester from Schwerte, who was too far to walk to the forest, had turned his back on his forest, the poachers shouldered their crossbow and sharpened the wood-mischiefer's ax. In 1843, the swords magistrate built a small forest house in the middle of the forest to put the villains out of business.
At the urging of the forester, the magistrate finally gave him permission to serve alcohol in 1861. That was the first step from the forester's house to the restaurant, which also got its name at the time: "Im Freischütz". Then, in 1899, when citizens switched from the stagecoach to the tram, the "Freischütz" became a popular place to go out; so popular that it soon became too small for the many visitors. The proposal to build a larger "Freischütz" building with a ballroom caused lively debates in the city parliament in 1898. From 1900 to 1902, today's "Freischütz" with the listed ballroom in Art Nouveau style was built.