German Gymnastics Association (Deutsche Turnerschaft) in Relation to Sport Movement in Germany before the World War I

Abstract

Modern physical culture was one of the many important processes that have taken over the political, social, and cultural life in Germany in the second half of the 19th century. At the turn of the 19th century in Germany, two big middle-class organizations have been formed to deal with physical activity affairs: the German Gymnastics Association (Deutsche Turnerschaft; the Turnverein) and dynamically-growing English sports. The paper demonstrates the relations between the Turnverein movement and the world of sport in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. The German Gymnastics Association, an organization founded in the 60s of the 19th century, had long-time achievements initiated by the work of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. Simultaneously, the world of sport in Germany was concentrated on the newly-founded in 1904 German Olympics Committee – primary organization bringing together several various federations of sport disciplines. It was an organization primarily brought into existence to coordinate the debut appearance of the German Empire in the restored by P. Coubertain Olympic Games.

Keywords

• German Gymnastics Association
• Deutsche Turnerschaft
• Turnverein Movement
• German sports
• Olympic Games
• II German Empire