Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Web Site: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Filename: FriedrichLudwigJahn-Gymnastics.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Friedrich Ludwig Jahn German Educator Written By: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, (born Aug. 11, 1778, Lanz, Brandenburg, Prussia—died Oct. 15, 1852, Freyburg an der Unstrut, Prussian Saxony), the German “father of gymnastics” who founded the turnverein (gymnastics club) movement in Germany. He was a fervent patriot who believed that physical education was the cornerstone of national health and strength and important in strengthening character and national identity. Jahn studied theology, history, and philology (1796–1802) at the universities of Halle, Frankfurt an der Oder, Göttingen, and Greifswald. He spent the next years tutoring, travelling, and attending classes at Jena and Göttingen. In 1809 he settled in Berlin, where he held several teaching positions at secondary schools. There he began a program of outdoor physical exercise for students. He invented the parallel bars, the rings, the balance beam, the horse, and the horizontal bar, which became standard equipment for gymnastics. He established a strong following among both youths and adults and in 1811 opened his first gymnastics club. In 1813 Jahn joined the volunteer Lützow corps and commanded its third battalion until after the fall of Napoleon in 1815, returning then to Berlin and resuming work as a state teacher at his gymnastic club. Deutsche Turnkunst zur Einrichtung der Turnplätze (A Treatise on Gymnastics, 1828), written with Ernst Eiselen, was published in 1816. In the politically reactionary climate of 1819, Jahn came under suspicion for his outspoken nationalistic views and strong influence on youth, and the government arrested him, closed his gymnastic club, and imprisoned him for almost a year. After his release he was confined to the city of Kolberg until 1825, when he was given his freedom. He was forbidden, however, to live in a city with a university or a secondary school, and so he moved to Freyburg an der Unstrut, where he lived the rest of his life. Jahn was awarded the Iron Cross for military bravery in 1840. Two years later a national ban on gymnastics, which had been in effect since 1819, was lifted. He served in the national parliament (1848–49). Jahn wrote a vigorous defense of cultural nationalism, based on his investigation of the German language and culture, Das Deutsches Volkstum (“German Nationality”; 1810). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gymnastics: History The acknowledged “father” of gymnastics, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, founder of the Turnverein movement, is credited with the rapid spread of gymnastics throughout the world. Gymnastic competition can be traced to the outdoor playground (Turnplatz) Jahn opened in a field known as the “Hasenheide” (rabbit field) on the outskirts of Berlin.… ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Russ Howell - Interview The theme of “Get Inspired” which encourages people to get into sports is a very personal goal of mine. One of my heroes within the realm of physical education was a German named, Freidrich Jahn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ludwig_Jahn). He was the Father of Modern Heavy Apparatus German Gymnastics. He used sport to unify the 52 separate German states during his lifetime. I had always hoped to make skateboarding into American Gymnastics, a system of motion that would help unify the world. Other skaters wanted to keep the sport without rules. Studying Sports had opened my eyes to a new list of sports heroes including Friedrich Ludwig Jahn of Germany. He lived in the mid-1800's and used sport to unify his country after Napolean had separated Germany into fifty-two separate provinces. I realized the potential of sport and wanted to be involved with sport and athletics. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (August 11, 1778 – October 15, 1852) was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist. The secret of living in peace with all people lies in the art of understanding each one by his own individuality. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ludwig_Jahn In his own time Friedrich Jahn was seen by both supporters and opponents as a liberal figure. He advocated that the German states should unite after the withdrawal of Napoleon's occupying armies, and establish a democratic constitution (under the Hohenzollern monarchy), which would include the right to free speech. As a German nationalist, Jahn advocated maintaining German language and culture against foreign influence. In 1810 he wrote, "Poles, French, priests, aristocrats and Jews are Germany's misfortune." At the time Jahn wrote this, the German states were occupied by foreign armies under the leadership of Napoleon. Also, Jahn was "the guiding spirit" of the fanatic book burning episode carried out by revolutionary students at the Wartburg festival in 1817. Jahn gained infamy in English-speaking countries through the publication of Peter Viereck's Metapolitics: The Roots of the Nazi Mind (1941). Viereck claimed Jahn as the spiritual founder of Nazism, who inspired the early German romantics with anti-Semitic and authoritarian doctrines, and then influenced Wagner and finally the Nazis. Memorial in Vienna However, Jacques Barzun observed that Viereck's portrait of cultural trends supposedly leading to Nazism was "a caricature without resemblance" relying on "misleading shortcuts". Scholarly focus on the völkischness of Jahn's thought started in the 1920s with a new generation of Jahn interpreters like Edmund Neuendorff and Karl Müller. Neuendorff explicitly linked Jahn with National Socialism. The equation by the National Socialists of Jahn's ideas with their world view was more or less complete by the mid-1930s. Alfred Baeumler, an educational philosopher and university lecturer who attempted to provide theoretical support for Nazi ideology (through the interpretation of Nietzsche among others) wrote a monograph on Jahn in which he characterises Jahn's invention of gymnastics as an explicitly political project, designed to create the ultimate völkisch citizen by educating his body. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY Friedrich Ludwig Jahn German Educator Born Aug. 11, 1778, Lanz, Brandenburg, Died Oct. 15, 1852, Prussia Father of Gymnastics Founded the turnverein (gymnastics club) movement in Germany Physical education was the cornerstone of national health He invented the parallel bars, the rings, the balance beam, the horse, and the horizontal bar 1811 - Opened his first gymnastics club 1813 - Jahn joined the volunteer Lützow corps and commanded its third battalion until after the fall of Napoleon in 1815 1819 - Imprisoned for his outspoken nationalistic views Jahn was awarded the Iron Cross for military bravery in 1840 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------