Jahn

NAME:

Jahn, Friedrich Ludwig

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Founded the gymnastics movement.

NICKNAME/ALIAS:

None

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:

11 August 1778, Lanz, Brandenburg, Germany

DATE AND PLACE OF DEATH AND AGE AT DEATH:

15 October 1852, Freyburg an der Unstrut, Germany. Aged 74

DISCIPLINE:

Educator

FIELD:

Physical Education

LANGUAGE:

German

PARENTS:

Father: name???

Mother: name???

SIBLINGS:

???

SPOUSE:

1. Helene Kollhof
2. Emilie Hentsch

CHILDREN:

1 survived infancy

EDUCATION:

High school, Salzwedel

High school, Berlin

Universities of:

Halle

Frankfurt an der Oder

Gottingen

Greifswald

MAJOR WORK:

1810, "German Nationality"

LIFE AND TIMES:

Jahn was the son of clergyman. He studied theology, history and philology at a number of universities in Germany. In 1809  he settled in Berlin, the capital of Prussia, to earn his living as a schoolmaster.

Prussia had lost almost half its territory after defeats by the French and many Prussians were looking for a way to regenerate the nation's pride. As a result, physical fitness became associated with nationalism. Physical education had  been officially sanctioned by the Prussian government in 1804, and in 1807 the philosopher <influenced by> Fichte* had urged its inclusion in national education.

Jahn became involved with the rebirth of nationalism and the promotion of physical fitness. In 1808 Karl Friesen established a fencing club in Berlin which was organised like a secret society. In 1810, Jahn and Friesen set up the "German League", a secret organisation whose members were mainly teachers and military officers.

In the same year Jahn published: "German Nationality", which had been inspired by his language studies. He took a job at a school on the system of the Swiss educator, <taught system of> Pestalozzi*, who emphasised outdoor pursuits, and met <taught with> FWA Froebel* who also taught there.  Jahn ran a physical exercise group for his pupils on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons when there was no school.

He got an enthusiastic following and in 1811 he opened a gymnastics club at the Hasenheide gymnastics field, south of Berlin. The first public gymnastics day was held there on 19 June 1811. At the end of the year Jahn left his school job to devote himself to gymnastics full-time.

The gymnastic classes he ran were the basis of the "turnverein", the gymnastic movement in Germany. The Hasenheide site was extended, its organization was improved and the range of activities greatly extended. Jahn invented parallel bars, the rings, the balance beam, the horse and the horizontal bar, all of which became standard gymnasium equipment in Western Europe and the United States.

He saw the practice of gymnastics as the realisation of his concept of populist nationalism, and in breaks between exercises he lectured his public classes on the national heritage. Although his gymnastics were for all age groups and social classes, Jahn saw them primarily as a preparation for military training.

He referred to them as "patriotic gymnastics" and he instituted war games, complete with reconnaissance patrols and surprise attacks. He openly declared that his aim was to keep young people "from laxity and debauchery, and to prepare them to fight for the Fatherland in the struggle ahead". 

In 1812 Jahn was involved in the foundation of the German Patriotic Student Organization. The following year, the start of the wars of liberation triggered the national resistance against Napoleon and Jahn joined the Lutzow Free Corps. It was a volunteer organisation and Jahn commanded its third battalion.

He returned to Berlin in 1814 after the death of Friesen on the battlefield. He sat on the General Armaments Committee at Frankfurt am Main, and he submitted a report to the education authorities which recommended education that prepared students for war. He also planned the setting up of children's playgrounds in Berlin.

Jahn was a participant at the Congress of Vienna after the end of war in 1815 and he was involved with the establishment of the nationalistic Berlin Society for the German Language.

The gymnastic movement, which had gone into decline during the war, was revived by Ernest Eislen, and together with Eislen Jahn wrote "A Treatise on Gymnastics".  The gymnastic movement  became increasingly allied with the Patriotic Students movement and in 1817 Jahn gave public lectures on German nationalism.  After an exceptionally violent display of nationalism by German students, instigated by two of Jahn's pupils, Jahn began to be seen as a disruptive force by the government.

In 1819 a gymnast student, Karl Sand, murdered the writer <his student murdered> Kotzebue*, and the government announced it was taking over the supervision of the Berlin gymnastic centre. Jahn responded by announcing publicly that gymnastics would be resumed in the summer.

He was arrested in July 1819 and taken to Spandau prison where he was detained until May 1820. Gymnastics were banned in Prussia by royal decree and over a hundred gymnastics fields were closed. Jahn was confined to the city of Kolberg from 1820 until 1825. On his release, he was forbidden to live in any town which had a university or school. He settled in Freyburg an der Unstrut.

Meanwhile gymnastic movements started in Zurich and Sweden,  and Jahn's disciple <disciple was> Follen* went to North America to establish gymnastic clubs.

Later in the century, the celebrated American dancer <method used by> Duncan* took "turnverein" lessons. The movement was kept alive in Germany and in 1837 gymnastic lessons were authorized in secondary schools in Prussia.

In 1840 the new Kaiser, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, removed the ban on Jahn's political activities and presented him with the Iron Cross for military gallantry. The first national gymnastics festival in Germany was held in Frankfurt am Main in 1841 and the following year the ban on gymnastics was lifted in Prussia. During the 1840's, the middle class began joining in the gymnastics movment,  which had previously been supported mainly by students. In 1849 Jahn was elected as a delegate to the German parliament.

ASSESSMENT: Jahn started the "turnverein", the gymnastic movement, which by the end of his life was established throughout Europe and in the United States. In Germany, the movement developed strong links with German nationalism.

EXTRA CONNECTIONS: None

ONELINER: Freidrich Jahn, founder of modern gymnastics

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Ueberhorst, Horst, Freidrich Ludwig Jahn and His Time, 1778-1852, Heinz Moos Verlag, Munich, 1978