by other German states, the procedure was by no means universal. Thus
the reaction did not directly affect the Kingdom of Württemberg, the
Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg and Oldenburg, the Duchy of Brunswick, and
the Free Cities of Hamburg and Lübeck; and it was not of long duration
in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Between 1820 and 1840 the old organizations
continued without interruption, therefore, in scattered cities, and new
societies of older boys or young men who met regularly for exercise were
formed in Hanover (1831), Frankfort-on-the-Main (1833), Plauen in Saxony
(1834), and Pforzheim in Baden (1835). Even in Berlin Ernst Eiselen
(1793-1846), Jahn’s faithful assistant, was allowed to open a private
indoor and outdoor gymnasium in 1828. The venture prospered, and he added
a gymnasium for girls in 1832, and four years later opened a branch
institution in another part of the city. The latter was transferred to
his helper Wilhelm Lübeck (1809-1879) in 1839. Both men trained many
teachers of gymnastics, and wrote valuable manuals,[51] bridging over in
this way the gap between the older and the newer _Turnen_.
With the accession of Frederick-William IV to the Prussian throne in
1840 the hopes of his people were kindled afresh, and during the next
decade all Germany was stirred by an agitation for reform which steadily
gathered force until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1848
brought it to a climax. One sign of this quickened national and political
life was a general revival of the Jahn gymnastics. The incorporation of
physical training in school programs led to the formation of separate
societies (_Männerturnvereine_) for adults, in which the bond of union
was at first merely an agreement to meet for exercise at certain fixed
hours; but this was soon followed by the adoption of by-laws, the
appointment of boards of directors, and the fixing of definite dues.
Partly as a result of excursions and exhibitions new societies sprang
up everywhere, until at the close of the decade they numbered nearly
three hundred. The desire for union which early showed itself was
met by holding district conventions (_Turntage_) and gatherings for
gymnastic exercises (_Turnfeste_). So we find turners from Frankfort,
Hanau, and Mainz coming together in Frankfort-on-the-Main September 5,
1841, for the first of several annual _Turnfeste_, and on the Feldberg
in 1844 inaugurating the important series of _Feldbergfeste_; and in
Saxony, where progress had been especially active and orderly, the
first _Turntag_ at Dresden, October 31, 1846, attended by delegates
from fifty-four societies. Periodicals devoted to the interests of the
turners also began to make their appearance—Karl Euler’s “Jahrbücher
der deutschen Turnkunst” (1843 and 1844) and “Turn-Zeitung” (1846
and 1847),[52] “Der Turner” (1846-52),[53] the “Mainzer Turnzeitung”
(1846),[54] and Ravenstein’s “Nachrichtsblatt für Deutschlands
Turnanstalten und Turngemeinden” (1846 and 1847).[55] But a second
period of reaction set in with the revolutionary movements of 1849, in
which many of the turners, the Saxon and South German ones especially,
took an active part. In carrying out their policy of repression the
various governments again disbanded or put under careful supervision
the gymnastic societies, and not only those directly concerned in
disturbances, but others which had been well-disposed and preferred to
keep _Turnen_ free from partisan politics. Of the three hundred societies
in existence in 1849 hardly a third survived the next ten years. A few,
however, continued vigorous and active, and this number included some of
the largest and best Turnvereine in Saxony and Württemberg. Here Theodor
Georgii started his “Turnblatt für und aus Schwaben” (1850-1853),[56]
followed by the “Esslinger Turnzeitung” (1854-1856),[57] and this in
turn was succeeded by the “Deutsche Turnzeitung” (since 1856),[58] the
present organ of the German Turnerschaft. In Dresden Moritz Kloss began
to publish the “Neue Jahrbücher für die Turnkunst” (1855-1894).[59]
Toward the close of the fifties signs of life began to multiply. The
war of France and Sardinia with Austria (1859) and uncertainty as to
future relations between France and the German states helped to rouse the
slumbering societies and fill abandoned _Turnplätze_ once more. A summons
printed in the Deutsche Turnzeitung in March of 1860 and signed by
Theodor Georgii and Karl Kallenberg resulted in the first general German
convention and _Turnfest_, held at Coburg June 16-19 of that year—the
anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. More than a thousand adult
turners were present, representing one hundred and thirty-nine cities
and villages. Formal organization into a national body was impossible
as yet, but notwithstanding this a feeling of union was established and
a great impulse was given to further growth. The next year the fiftieth
anniversary of the opening of the Hasenheide _Turnplatz_ was celebrated
by a second convention and _Turnfest_ at Berlin, August 10-12. The
attendance rose to 2812 adult turners, 1659 of them from outside the
capital. Two hundred and sixty-two places were represented. This time a
standing “Committee of the German _Turnvereine_,” composed of 15 members,
was appointed to look after matters of general interest. The committee,
at its meeting in Gotha the following December, organized by electing
Theodor Georgii chairman and Dr. Ferdinand Goetz business manager; it
decided that _Turnvereine_ as such must hold themselves unconditionally
aloof from all political partisanship, took action which put a damper on
those who wished to have military exercises introduced in all societies,
and charged Georg Hirth with an investigation which led to the first
“Statistical Annual of German Turnvereine” (Leipsic, 1863).[60] According
to this there were on July 1, 1862, in 1153 towns and cities, 1284
societies, not less than 1050 of them organized since 1860. In 1863,
the semi-centennial of the Battle of Leipsic, more than 20,000 turners
gathered in that city for the third convention and _Turnfest_. Another
statistical annual issued two years later[61] showed an increase of 650
societies and more than 33,000 members over the numbers recorded in the
first volume (July 1, 1862 to November 1, 1864).
Enthusiasm had reached such a pitch that a reaction was inevitable, and
the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, by diverting attention and draining
the resources of the people, interfered with further expansion and
threatened to paralyze the existing _Turnvereine_. In the five years
between November 1, 1864, and August 1, 1869, there had been a falling
off of nearly 400 societies and 40,000 members, according to the
statistical annual of 1871.[62] A Turnfest planned for July 22-24, 1866,
in Nuremberg, had to be given up; but two years later 168 delegates
assembled for the fourth general convention in Weimar (July 20 and
21, 1868), and there formally organized the _Deutsche Turnerschaft_, a
firm union of all German gymnastic societies, including the Austrian
Germans. A constitution was adopted, the old committee was increased to
22 members, and Georgii and Goetz were continued in their positions as
chairman and business manager. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71
15,000 turners followed the colors to the field and many gymnasia were
converted into hospitals. But in spite of this temporary check the war
brought what Jahn and his followers had looked forward to for sixty years
and more—the unification of Germany. Experiences of march, battlefield,
and camp had driven home to the minds of all the need and value of
physical efficiency, as nothing else could do it; and after the formation
of the new Empire popular _Turnen_ began, at first slowly and then
more rapidly, to flourish as never before, and this time with the full
approval of the state.
The following table shows the development that has taken place since
the first statistical investigation was made, in 1862. The second
column gives the number of German towns and cities in which there were
popular gymnastic societies (_Turnvereine_), and the third column the
total number of these societies irrespective of membership in the
_Turnerschaft_. “Active” turners are those who actually take part in the
gymnastic exercises.
----------------+-------+------------+----------------------------------
| | |Belonging to Deutsche Turnerschaft
| | | (Since 1869.)
Date. |Places.|Turnvereine.+----------+-----------+-----------
| | |Societies.| Members. | Active
| | | | | Turners.
----------------+-------+------------+----------+-----------+-----------
1862, July 1 | 1153 | 1279 | | 134,507 | 96,272
1864, November 1| 1769 | 1934 | | 167,942 | 105,676
1869, August 1 | 1415 | 1546 | | 128,491 | 80,327
1876, November 1| 1532 | 1788 | 1547 | 156,590 | 69,872
1880, January 1 | 1741 | 2226 | 1971 | 170,315 | 86,159
1885, January 1 | 2413 | 3208 | 2878 | 267,854 | 144,134
1890, January 1 | 3340 | 4434 | 3992 | 388,513 | 195,375
1895, January 1 | 4536 | 6061 | 5312 | 529,925 | 270,528
1900, January 1 | 5509 | 7238 | 6483 | 647,548 | 310,374
1905, January 1 | 6063 | | 7264 | 766,347 | 357,849
| | | [63] | [63] | [63]
1910, January 1 | 7621 | | 9101 | 946,115 | 435,511
1915, January 1 | 9851 | | 11,769 |1,072,274 |
1920, January 1 | 8518 | | 10,010 |1,008,375 |
----------------+-------+------------+----------+-----------+-----------
General German _Turnfeste_ and conventions (_Turntage_) of the Deutsche
Turnerschaft (since 1868) have been held as follows:
-----+----------------------------+-------------------------------
| Turnfeste. | Turntage.
No. +---------+------------------+--------------+----------------
| Place. | Date. | Place. | Date.
-----+---------+------------------+--------------+----------------
I Coburg |1860, June 17-18 |Coburg |1860, June
II Berlin |1861, August 10-12|Berlin |1861, August
III Leipsic |1863, August 2-5 |Leipsic |1863, August
IV Bonn |1872, August 3-6 |Weimar |1868, July 20-21
V Frankfurt|1880, July 25-28 |Bonn |1872, August 3
VI Dresden |1885, July 19-21 |Dresden |1875, July 25-26
VII Munich |1889, July 28-31 |Berlin |1879, July 27-28
VIII Breslau |1894, July 22-24 |Eisenach |1883, July 24-25
IX Hamburg |1898, July 23-27 |Coburg |1887, July 19-20
X Nuremberg|1903, July 18-22 |Hannover |1891, July 21-22
XI Frankfurt|1908, July 18-22 |Esslingen |1895, July 22-23
XII Leipsic |1913, July 12-15 |Naumburg a. S.|1899, July 30-31
XIII | |Berlin |1904, April 4-5
XIV | |Worms |1907, July 28-29
XV | |Dresden |1911, July 27-28
XVI | |Erfurt |1919, Oct. 15-16
---------------+------------------+--------------+----------------
The Bonn _Turnfest_ fell in the period of decline, and one planned for
Breslau in 1878 was given up because disturbed political conditions
threatened its success; but beginning at Frankfort-on-the-Main two years
later these great national gatherings have brought together not less
than 10,000 turners, and at Hamburg and Nuremberg between 25,000 and
30,000 were present. Successive conventions have left the outward form
of the German Turnerschaft almost unchanged, although various details
have been modified. The Esslingen _Turntag_ defined its object to be “the
promotion of German gymnastics as a means to physical and moral vigor,
and the fostering of patriotic sentiment and a spirit of racial unity
among Germans.” In 1887 Georgii gave up his position as chairman of the
committee and was succeeded by Alfred Maul, of Karlsruhe, who resigned in
1894. The next year Dr. Ferdinand Goetz was appointed to that office, and
his place as business manager was given to Dr. Hugo Rühl, of Stettin. Dr.
Goetz died October 13, 1915. Dr. Theodor Toeplitz then became chairman,
but died June 2, 1919, and the position passed to Dr. Oskar Berger, of
Aschersleben.
[Illustration: FIG. 18.—District Display at the 11th German _Turnfest_,
Frankfurt, 1908.]
[Illustration: FIG. 19.—A Competitor on the Horizontal Bar at the 11th
German _Turnfest_, Frankfurt, 1908.]
[Illustration: FIG. 20.—Mass Exercises (17,000), at the 12th German
_Turnfest_, Leipsic, 1913.]
Turnvater Jahn is still held in loyal and grateful remembrance, as the
apostle of German unity and the man who gave to the German people a love
for gymnastics. The one hundredth anniversary of his birth (1878) and
the fiftieth anniversary of his death (1902) were celebrated throughout
the entire _Turnerschaft_. That body has erected monuments in his honor
at the Berlin _Turnplatz_, and in Lanz, Freyburg, and other places; has
built a memorial gymnasium (_Turnhalle_) over his grave in Freyburg; and
has brought together there, in the “Jahn Museum,” numerous relics of
the man and his work. In 1903 a separate building was provided for this
collection.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Dr. Carl Euler’s “Encyklopädisches Handbuch des gesamten Turnwesens”
and “Geschichte des Turnunterrichts,” and files of the _Neue Jahrbücher
für die Turnkunst_, _Deutsche Turnzeitung_, and _Monatsschrift für das
Turnwesen_ (see page 82).
Das gesammte Turnwesen. Ein Lesebuch für deutsche Turner. 133
abgeschlossene Muster-Darstellungen von den vorzüglichsten älteren und
neueren Turnschriftstellern. Herausgegeben von Georg Hirth. Mit den
Bildnissen von GutsMuths, Vieth, Jahn, Eiselen, Harnisch, Passow, Spiess,
Martens. Leipzig, Ernst Keil, 1865.
Das Gesamte Turnwesen. Ein Lesebuch für deutsche Turner. In erster
Auflage herausgegeben von Georg Hirth. Aufsätze turnerischen Inhaltes
von älteren und neueren Schriftstellern. Zweite erweiterte Auflage in 4
Abteilungen. Besorgt von Dr. F. Rudolf Gasch. Hof, Rud. Lion, 1893. Three
volumes. A “Geschichtliche Einleitung (Ergänzungsband)” was added in 1895.
Moritz Zettler, “Bausteine zur Geschichte des deutschen Turnens.” In
_Deutsche Turnzeitung_ 1885-1900. A long series of articles, based on the
study of original documents.
Handbuch der Deutschen Turnerschaft. Im Auftrage des Ausschusses
derselben herausgegeben von Dr. med. Ferdinand Goetz, Geschäftsführer
des Ausschusses der Deutschen Turnerschaft. Leipzig-Lindenau, Verlag
des Ausschusses der Deutschen Turnerschaft, 1879. The second to sixth
editions of the Handbuch were published in Hof, by Rud. Lion, in 1884,
1888, 1892, 1896, and 1899; and the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth in
Leipzig, by Paul Eberhardt, in 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920. The editor,
since 1899, has been Dr. Hugo Rühl.
Jahrbuch der Turnkunst: Jahrbuch der Deutschen Turnerschaft. Edited
by Dr. Rudolf Gasch, and published in Leipzig-Zwickau by Emil Stock,
annually since 1907. The volumes are illustrated and range from eighty or
a hundred up to nearly three hundred pages.
FOOTNOTES:
[42] Über die Beförderung des Patriotismus im Preussischen Reiche. Allen
Preussen gewidmet von O. C. C. Höpffner. Halle, 1800.
[43] In his own opposition to everything foreign Jahn had applied the
name _Turnen_ to his exercises, believing that it was a term of German
origin, and from this root he built up many new compounds—_Turner_
(gymnast), _Turnkunst_ (the gymnastic art), _Turnplatz_ (the grounds
where the exercises were practised), _Turntag_ (gathering of gymnasts),
etc.
[44] Lehrbuch der von Friedrich Ludwig Jahn unter dem Namen der Turnkunst
wiedererweckten Gymnastik. Mit Kupfertafeln, darstellend die Geräthe,
Gerüste und Uebungen auf dem Turnplatz in der Hasenheide bei Berlin. Zur
allgemeinern Verbreitung jugendlicher Leibesübungen herausgegeben von
(Johann Jakob Wilhelm) Bornemann. Berlin, W. Dieterici, 1814. See also
his “Der Turnplatz in der Hasenheide,” published in 1812.
[45] Die Deutsche Turnkunst zur Einrichtung der Turnplätze dargestellt
von Friedrich Ludwig Jahn und Ernst Eiselen. Mit zwei Kupferplatten.
Berlin, auf Kosten der Herausgeber, 1816. The volume, without the plates,
has been issued in _Reclams Universal-Bibliothek_ (Leipzig, Philipp
Reclam jun.), with an introduction by Hugo Rühl dated 1905.
[46] Dr. Christian Eduard Leopold Dürre. Aufzeichnungen, Tagebücher und
Briefe aus einem deutschen Turner- und Lehrerleben. Herausgegeben von Dr.
Ernst Friedrich Dürre. Leipzig, Eduard Strauch, 1881.
[47] Des Berliner Turners Franz Lieber’s “Die Fahrt nach Schlesien im
Jahre 1818, um vom Tie vorzulesen beschrieben.” Eine Turn-Reliquie aus
dem Jahre 1818 (with introduction and notes by Dr. Karl Wassmannsdorff).
In _Deutsche Turnzeitung_ 1895: 637-642, 686-690.
[48] See Eduard Dürre’s “Rückblicke und Träume eines alten Turners,” in
_Deutsche Turnzeitung_ 1872: 103-107, 127-129, 136 and 137.
[49] Moritz Zedtler (Zettler), “Das Wartburgfest am 18. October 1817,”
in _Deutsche Turnzeitung_ 1877: 309-312, 331-333, 343-346, 351 and 352.
See also his “Ein geckenhafter Gegner des Turnens,” in 1880: 9-11, 25-28,
41-45. Other articles published in the _Deutsche Turnzeitung_ are Dr.
Th. Bach’s “Aus Metternich’s nachgelassenen Schriften” (1881: 409-411,
422-424, 429 and 430), Karl Wassmannsdorff’s “Das burschenschaftliche
Schauturnen bei Gelegenheit des Wartburgfestes am 18. Oct. 1817”
(1882: 461), and Hans Brendicke’s “Die Wartburgfeier der Deutschen
Burschenschaft und ihre ältere Literatur” (1887: 624 and 625).
[50] Friedrich Ludwig Jahn’s Leben. Nebst Mittheilungen aus seinem
literarischen Nachlasse. Von Dr. Heinrich Pröhle. Berlin, Franz Duncker,
1855. A second edition, unchanged, was published in 1872.
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, Sein Leben und Wirken. Von Dr. Carl Euler,
Professor, Unterrichts-Dirigent der K. Turnlehrer-Bildungsanstalt in
Berlin. Stuttgart, Carl Krabbe, 1881.
Friedrich Ludwig Jahns Werke. Neu herausgegeben, mit einer Einleitung und
mit erklärenden Anmerkungen versehen von Dr. Carl Euler. Hof, G. A. Grau
& Cie. (Rud. Lion), 1884-1887. Three volumes.
[51] Turntafeln. Das ist: Sämmtliche Turn-Uebungen auf einzelnen Blättern
zur Richtschnur bei der Turnschule und zur Erinnerung des Gelernten
für alle Turner herausgegeben von Ernst Wilh. Bernh. Eiselen. Berlin,
gedruckt und verlegt bei G. Reimer, 1837. The 46 printed pages contain
numbered lists of exercises.
Über Anlegung von Turnplätzen und Leitung von Turnübungen. Als Vorläufer
einer neuen Auflage der _Deutschen Turnkunst_ herausgegeben von E. W. B.
Eiselen. Berlin, G. Reimer, 1844.
Abbildungen von Turn-Uebungen gezeichnet von H. Robolsky und A. Töppe.
Durchgesehen, vervollständigt und geordnet herausgegeben von E. W. B.
Eiselen. Berlin, G. Reimer, 1845. A fifth edition, prepared by Karl
Wassmannsdorff, was published in 1889.
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn’s Deutsche Turnkunst. Zum zweiten Male und sehr
vermehrt herausgegeben. (Erste Hälfte des Werkes). Berlin, G. Reimer,
1847. The preface is signed “Die vereinten Herausgeber” (Eiselen,
Massmann, Feddern, Ballot, Böttcher, and Wassmannsdorff).
Lehr- und Handbuch der deutschen Turnkunst, von W. Lübeck, Turn- und
Fechtlehrer am Königl. Kadetten-Hause zu Berlin und Vorsteher einer
Turnanstalt. Frankfurt a. O., Gustav Harnecker und Comp., 1843. A second
“ganz umgearbeitete, vermehrte und verbesserte Auflage” was published in
1860.
[52] Jahrbücher der deutschen Turnkunst. Herausgegeben von Karl Euler,
Turn- und Fechtlehrer in Königsberg in Preussen, Mitglied der deutschen
Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Erstes Heft. Danzig, S. Anhuth, 1843.
Jahrbücher der deutschen Turnkunst. Herausgegeben von Karl Euler, Turn-
und Fechtlehrer in Köln a. Rh., Mitglied der deutschen Gesellschaft zu
Berlin. Zweites Heft. Solingen, Albert Pfeiffer, 1844.
Turn-Zeitung, von K. Euler und Dr. Lamey. Karlsruhe, 1846.
Turn-Zeitung, von K. Euler und Prof. Schach. Karlsruhe, 1847.
[53] Der Turner. Zeitschrift gegen geistige und leibliche Verkrüppelung.
Dresden, H. M. Gottschalk, 1846-1852. Seven volumes.
[54] Mainzer Turn-Zeitung, herausgegeben von Eduard Müller. Mainz, 1846.
[55] Nachrichtsblatt für Deutschlands Turnanstalten und Turngemeinden.
Frankfurt a. M., 1846 and 1847. Two volumes.
[56] Turnblatt für und aus Schwaben. Von Theodor Georgii. Esslingen, four
volumes, 1850-1853.
[57] Turnzeitung. Zeitschrift für Turn- und Feuerlöschwesen. Von Theodor
Georgii. Esslingen, C. Weichardt. Three volumes, 1854-1856.
[58] Deutsche Turn-Zeitung. Leipzig, since 1856. The publishers have been
Ernst Keil (1856-1874), Eduard Strauch (1875-1899), and Paul Eberhardt
(since 1900).
[59] Neue Jahrbücher für die Turnkunst (volumes 1-25). In 1880 the name
was changed to “Jahrbücher der deutschen Turnkunst” (volumes 26-40).
Published annually 1855-1881 in Dresden (volumes 1-27) and 1882-1894
in Leipzig (volumes 28-40). There were six numbers a year 1855-1881,
and twelve numbers 1882-1894. Beginning with volume 28 Woldemar Bier
succeeded Kloss as editor.
[60] Statistisches Jahrbuch der Turnvereine Deutschlands. Im Auftrage
des Ausschusses der Deutschen Turnvereine herausgegeben von Georg Hirth.
Leipzig, Ernst Keil, 1863.
[61] Zweites statistisches Jahrbuch der Turnvereine Deutschlands. Im
Auftrage des Ausschusses der Deutschen Turnvereine herausgegeben von
Georg Hirth. Leipzig, Ernst Keil, 1865.
[62] Drittes statistisches Jahrbuch der Deutschen Turnerschaft. Im
Auftrage des Ausschusses der Deutschen Turnerschaft herausgegeben von Dr.
Ferd. Goetz und A. F. Böhme. Leipzig, Ernst Keil, 1871.
[63] District (_Kreis_) XV (German Austria), which on January 1,
1904, contained 525 societies with 61,166 members and 25,316 active
turners, withdrew from the Deutsche Turnerschaft on September 25,
1904, and formed an independent association under the name “Turnkreis
Deutsch-Oesterreich.” It is therefore not included in the figures for
1905 and later.
CHAPTER XII.
ADOLF SPIESS, THE FATHER OF GERMAN SCHOOL GYMNASTICS.
By the Prussian cabinet order of June 6, 1842, already referred to (page
101), physical training was “formally recognized as a necessary and
indispensable part of male education.” Minister Eichhorn, who was charged
with putting this decree into effect, received that same summer a visitor
from Switzerland who for eight years had been teaching gymnastics to boys
and girls of all ages, as a regular branch of their school work, and
who therefore seemed to have solved successfully, on a small scale, the
problem of incorporating the subject into the school plan. He was asked
by the Minister to submit in writing a statement of the measures which in
his judgment would accomplish the same result in the Prussian state, and
the reply to this request, dated at Burgdorf on the 18th of the following
October, was contained in some “Thoughts on the method to be followed
in making gymnastics an integral element in popular education.”[64]
The steps therein advocated have since been taken, in part at least,
by almost every German state, and the author, Adolf Spiess, now enjoys
the undisputed title of “founder of school gymnastics in Germany and of
gymnastics for girls in particular.”
Spiess was a native of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and born February 3,
1810, in Lauterbach, a small town on the northeastern slope of the
Vogelsberg. His father, Johann Balthasar Spiess (1782-1841), himself the
son of a Thuringian farmer and master smith, had first prepared himself
for a position as teacher in the elementary schools, but after some
years of professional experience at Frankfort-on-the-Main decided upon
further study, and so completed a course in theology at the University
of Giessen, and immediately after passing his examination, in 1807,
became teacher and sub-rector at the Latin school in Lauterbach. Thither
he soon brought as bride Luise Werner, of Saarbrücken, first met in
Frankfurt, and Adolf was the oldest of their five children. In 1811 the
father accepted a pastoral position in the Evangelical Lutheran church
at Offenbach, across the Main from Frankfurt, and in addition to his
clerical duties opened a private school which prepared for the upper
classes of the _Gymnasium_ (higher classical school) or for a mercantile
career. Ten years before this he had observed the methods in use at
Schnepfenthal, and made the acquaintance of GutsMuths and other teachers
there, renewed by frequent later visits. It was therefore natural that
one feature of the daily program should be gymnastics, as described
and practised by GutsMuths—walking the balance beam, jumping, running,
climbing, throwing, skating, swimming, etc., and games of all sorts.
Every week throughout the year there were also excursions with teachers,
and dancing lessons were given in the winter months.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.—Adolf Spiess (1810-1858).]
Adolf entered this school at the age of six or less. A few years later,
in 1819, Fritz Hessemer, just back from the University of Giessen, made
the pupils acquainted with the new Jahn gymnastics, and parallel bars
and a horizontal bar were now added to the equipment. In 1824 some
of the boys organized a little society for the purpose of practising
gymnastics regularly outside of school hours. They met in the private
garden _Turnplatz_ of Hofrath A. André, using Jahn’s “Deutsche Turnkunst”
as a guide and inspiration, and soon afterwards entered into friendly
relations with other turners in Hanau, a few miles to the east, with whom
joint excursions on foot to the Taunus Range were made in 1826 and the
following year.
In the spring or summer of 1828 Spiess went to the University of Giessen
to pursue the study of theology. He at once joined the _Burschenschaft_,
which had been organized ten years previously and now concealed itself
under the name _Waffenverbindung_, and his active habits at once took the
form of assiduous practice in fencing, the favorite student exercise.[65]
Before the end of the year he had become proficient in the art. There
were also many excursions with friends to neighboring peaks and castles,
and an acquaintance has borne witness to the skill he displayed in all
forms of physical activity—riding, swimming, skating, dancing, and
gymnastics. Music and drawing, too, for which he possessed both taste and
talent, absorbed a portion of his leisure. With other students he left
Giessen at Easter of 1829 and journeyed on foot across the Vogelsberg
to Schnepfenthal, where as a schoolboy he had met GutsMuths nine years
before, and then on to Halle, there to continue his theological studies
in the university. An excursion through the Harz Mountains later in the
same season was made the occasion of a visit to Jahn. In Halle there
were opportunities for renewed practice on the horizontal bar, the
parallel bars, and the horse, and fencing, too, was not neglected; but
the greatest interest was excited by certain outdoor games. For these
they used to gather twice a week, and often to the number of a hundred or
more, in Passendorf, singing and playing together until nightfall. About
Christmas time of the same year Spiess went up to Berlin for some months.
This gave an opportunity to frequent Eiselen’s private gymnasium, and
though that master himself was confined to his home by illness the young
student saw and learned many new exercises from Philipp Feddern, his
assistant.
For a year or more following the spring of 1830 Spiess was again in
Giessen, and active in the life of its Burschenschaft.[66] He now began
to give regular instruction in gymnastics, first to a dozen boys on a
garden Turnplatz, and then, as interest grew, to nearly 150 in one of
the city parks; and already he was modifying the traditional method
by gathering the entire number into one band at the commencement of
each period for various simple exercises performed in rhythm as they
stood or marched, or for running and jumping under the leadership of
a single teacher. But the Hessian authorities were on the lookout for
agitation looking toward a united Germany, and had already given notice
to the University that no student who was affiliated with forbidden
organizations, like the _Burschenschaft_, would be admitted to the
regular examinations. The July revolution in France, however, exerted
a stimulating influence. Early in 1831 the local association allied
itself with the general German _Burschenschaft_, and members were openly
displaying signs of their sympathy with the radical element. Under such
circumstances any revival of the old _Turnen_ was certain to be viewed
with apprehension. In the spring of 1831 the former prohibition was
renewed, and there could be no more exercising by groups in public. After
some months of private study at Sprendlingen, his father’s new parish,
Spiess returned to Giessen and successfully passed his examinations in
theology, April 2, 1832. He then became private tutor in the family of
the Hessian Count Solms-Rödelheim, at Assenheim.
Before taking this position, or on one of his visits home, he received
a foretaste of what awaited him if he remained in his native state. A
friendly magistrate informed his father one evening that if the young man
was found in the house on the following morning he would be subject to
arrest. Spiess therefore left at once, and reached Assenheim in safety.
The next year (1833) a newspaper notice brought word to Sprendlingen that
the city of Burgdorf, in Switzerland, was in search of someone who could
take charge of physical training in its elementary school. The clergyman,
recognizing that a sojourn in a neutral country was the only safe course
for his son, in view of existing political conditions, at once wrote
to propose Adolf for the place. Word came in August that he had been
appointed teacher of gymnastics, singing, writing, and drawing.[67] On
October 5 he left home with his youngest brother, Hermann, and traveling
by way of Basel reached Burgdorf on the 21st, ready to begin work in the
alien state which was to be his fosterland for fifteen busy and fruitful
years (1833-1848).
The city authorities had erected a new, attractive, and roomy building
for the school, and now placed at its head Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852),
already widely known for his book “The Education of Man” (1826), and
Heinrich Langethal (1792-1879) and Wilhelm Middendorf (1793-1853), who
had been associated with Froebel for fourteen years in his school in
the Thuringian village of Keilhau and after the few years in Burgdorf
were again to be his helpers when the first kindergarten was opened at
Blankenburg, another Thuringian town. All three had been members of
Lützow’s Free Corps during the War of Liberation, and through residence
in Berlin had come under the influence of Jahn and his work on the
Hasenheide Turnplatz. Spiess found these colleagues ready to coöperate
with him at every step, and all worked together in perfect harmony to
give the broadest possible training to the children under their care.
The open-air gymnasium, originally laid out after the Jahn plan in
1824, and beautifully situated in a grove near the left bank of the
Emme, overlooked to the east by wooded sandstone cliffs beyond the
stream and on the west by an ancient castle, was now doubled in size and
entirely refitted in accordance with the wishes of the new teacher. In
the castle itself, where Pestalozzi had conducted his school for five
years (1799-1804) and written “How Gertrude Teaches Her Children” (1801),
a hall was equipped for winter use. In the spring of 1834 the boys of
the school, including even the youngest, began to receive systematic
instruction in gymnastics for two successive hours on three afternoons of
each week, and before long the interest of the girls, also, was awakened
and special classes were formed and suitable exercises devised to meet
their needs. There were frequent excursions on foot into the surrounding
country, and once a year, in the autumn, an exhibition or _Turnfest_ was
held. The new discipline, which reached pupils of both sexes and all
ages, was regarded as an essential part of their school training.
[Illustration: FIG. 22.—The original Spiess _Turnplatz_ at Burgdorf, in
the grove between the Emme and the Castle.]
It was not long before the attention of the cantonal school authorities
was attracted to the Burgdorf experiment, and as a result Spiess received
in 1835 the added appointment of teacher of gymnastics in the normal
school (_Landschullehrer-Seminar_) at Münchenbuchsee, ten miles to the
southwest, where in addition to eighty children in the model school he
found about a hundred pupils. He also undertook a similar task at various
other schools in the neighborhood, among them one for girls in Kirchberg,
and for his own pleasure and further training joined a small gymnastic
society of adults (_Männerturnverein_) in Burgdorf, visited the Turners
in Bern and Hofwyl, and attended the annual Swiss _Turnfeste_ held in
Bern (1839), Basel (1841), and Zurich (1842).
Experience with all grades of pupils had proved to Spiess that the
material and methods of Jahn’s “Deutsche Turnkunst” were not sufficient
for his needs. Little by little he began therefore to develop and
test new groups of exercises, and first of all what he called “Free
Exercises,” or those which require either no apparatus at all, or only
such as can be carried in the hands. They were intended to secure ready
control and graceful carriage of the body under ordinary conditions,
while the pupil was standing or walking on the usual supporting surface,
and differed in this particular from the forms commonly practised on the
old Turnplatz. The attempt to instruct large numbers of pupils at once in
these free exercises led to the elaboration of another group, the class
exercises in marching (_Ordnungsübungen_), by means of which the entire
mass was made to move as one individual, and in this way discipline and
order were improved, since each pupil learned to handle himself as part
of the whole, and any desired arrangement of the units could be promptly
secured. The next step was a review of all the gymnastic material in the
effort to devise a more satisfactory classification than the one adopted
in the books of GutsMuths, the “Deutsche Turnkunst,” and Eiselen’s
“Turntafeln” (1837). The result of this study was the publication in 1840
of the first part (Free Exercises) of his “System of Gymnastics” (_Lehre
der Turnkunst_),[68] followed by a second (Hanging Exercises) in 1842,
and a third (_Stemmübungen_ or supporting exercises, including balancing
and vaulting) in 1843.
In the summer of 1842 Spiess returned to Germany, drawn by the signs of
approaching gymnastic revival in Prussia and the desire to discuss his
own views with other men of like interests. He found Massmann,[69] at
Munich, too firmly wedded to the _Turnen_ of student days to receive
with any sympathy the proposed innovations; but Jahn, whose guest he was
for two days in Freyburg, and Eiselen, whom he saw at a watering-place
near Berlin, were more cordial in their attitude. The visit to Minister
Eichhorn (August 10), and the formal statement of his ideas regarding the
essential features of a state system of physical training for the schools
which followed it, have been mentioned already in the opening paragraph.
Two years before Spiess had married a former pupil, Marie Buri, and
the need of finding a larger and more remunerative field of usefulness
no doubt had much to do with the journey to Berlin; but the summons of
Massmann to the Prussian capital in 1843 put an end to all hopes in that
direction.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.—The Basel _Turnplatz_, from a plate in the
_Turnbuch_ of Spiess (1847).]
Attempts to secure a footing in Darmstadt and in Basel met at first with
no better success; but afterwards he received from the latter city a
call to the position of teacher of gymnastics and history in two higher
schools for boys—the _Gymnasium_ and the _Realschule_—and at the orphan
asylum, entering upon these duties in May of 1844. The following March he
was relieved of the work in history in order that he might have time for
instruction in gymnastics at the public girls’ school (_Töchterschule_),
and preparations were also made for progressive improvement in physical
training at all the city schools. Free at last to devote all his thought
to the one subject, he finished in 1846 the fourth and final part (Class
Exercises in Marching, _Gemein-_ or _Ordnungsübungen_) of his “System of
Gymnastics,” and the next year was able to publish the first volume of
a practical manual for teachers (_Turnbuch für Schulen_),[70] containing
graded series of exercises suitable for boys and girls between the ages
of six and ten. The second volume, covering the ages from ten to sixteen,
was completed in 1851, after he had left Basel and returned to his native
land.
In May of 1848 Spiess accepted an offer from Minister von Gagern of
Hesse, and moved to Darmstadt, the capital of the Grand Duchy, to
undertake the task of introducing gymnastics into the schools of that
state, beginning with the higher schools and the common schools of such
communities as were prepared to take the step at once. He was also
to train the requisite teaching force, and afterwards to superintend
their work. The salary of the new “_Oberstudien-Assessor_” was fixed
at two thousand gulden. Lessons were immediately begun with classes in
two secondary schools for boys (the _Gymnasium_ and the _Realschule_)
and in the higher school for girls (_Mädchen-_ or _Töchterschule_),
and in a large garden lying near the center of the city the hall of a
former public house was converted into a gymnasium by setting up along
one side rows of vertical poles and horizontal bars and ladders, and
adding to these a giant stride, parallel bars, bucks, jump stands and
jumping ropes, stilts, and poles for use in vaulting. A new gymnasium or
_Turnhaus_, surrounded by a double Turnplatz and containing a hall one
hundred by sixty feet which could be changed into two rooms by means of a
movable partition, was opened for use June 14, 1852, with classes of boys
and girls from various schools. It was the first building of the kind in
Germany. Public exhibitions the next year and again in 1855 acquainted
parents, teachers, the grand ducal family, and the state and city
authorities with the nature of his work, and increased their interest in
it.
A four weeks’ normal course was given in February of 1849 to about
thirty teachers in elementary and higher schools, most of them from
Darmstadt, but one from Dresden and ten from Mainz, Offenbach, Worms,
and other Hessian towns. Instruction was chiefly by means of model
classes, conducted by Spiess in their presence, and after observing these
the teachers themselves were given an opportunity to practice the same
exercises. No other formal courses were given in Hesse, but in response
to an invitation he took charge of a similar one in Oldenburg, capital of
the Grand Duchy of the same name, in the fall of 1851. He also visited
many places in Hesse in the interest of physical training, and teachers
from all parts of the state came to Darmstadt from time to time during
the next few years to become familiar with his method. To all these he
gladly rendered whatever assistance they desired. A list of foreign
visitors during the period 1852-1854 has been preserved, and on it are
found the names of educators from Sweden[71], Belgium (1), Switzerland
(3), Austria (4), Prussia (6), Saxony (2), Württemberg (2), Baden (5),
Oldenburg (4), Frankfort-on-the-Main (8), and others from the smaller
German states. More than half of the number remained long enough to
receive practical instruction under Spiess, and to this group belong
Nyblæus, Kawerau and Kluge from the Central Institute (Royal Normal
School of Gymnastics) in Berlin, and Moritz Kloss, Director of the Normal
School of Gymnastics in Dresden. Another list covering the same period
shows that the Spiess method had been, or was about to be, adopted in
more than thirty-five schools in ten cities outside of Hesse, including
Berlin, Neurippen, Breslau, Frankfort, Dresden, Oldenburg, Vienna, and
Bern, besides Basel and Burgdorf.
Failing health compelled Spiess to interrupt, in the summer of 1855,
his hitherto unceasing activity. Tuberculosis had developed in the lung
wounded during his student days, and attempts to stop its progress by
residence in the Taunus and for two years at Vevey, on Lake Geneva,
proved unavailing. He returned to Darmstadt, visiting the _Turnhaus_
there for the last time in the fall of 1857, and died the following year,
on the 9th of May.
The chief service which he rendered to physical training in Germany, and
wherever German influence has been felt, was the attempt to make it a
part of the school life. The _Turnplatz_ was not to exist side by side
with the school, as a counterpoise to the exclusively mental training
of the latter, and in charge of some independent individual or society;
but the school should concern itself with the whole life of the young,
physical as well as mental, and gymnastics, recognized by the state as
a means of education, should be thoroughly incorporated and treated on
an equality with other branches of instruction and discipline, enjoying
the same rights and conforming to the same pedagogic principles. It
should therefore be made a required exercise, from which nothing except a
physician’s certificate of defect or illness would excuse any pupil. In
addition to the open-air gymnasium and the playground the community or
the state would have to provide and equip closed halls, in or near the
school building, so that instruction need not be interrupted by season
or weather. Elementary classes require an hour each day for gymnastics
and games. Less time might suffice for the older children, but the
lesson periods, in either case, should be included within the school
hours, or stand in immediate proximity to them. Periodical examinations
in gymnastics coming at the same time with general examinations, and
annually recurring exhibitions or _Turnfeste_ were to be held. Those who
teach the subject must be educators by profession, and closely identified
with the life of the school, receiving their training in this branch, as
in all others, at the normal schools and the universities, or in part at
institutions intended for that purpose exclusively—the normal schools
of gymnastics. In elementary schools instruction would be in the hands
of the grade- or class-teacher, and in higher schools there should be
special teachers of gymnastics, just as in the case of mathematics,
or languages, or science. The exercise-material must be arranged in
progressive steps suitable for the different school grades, and a series
of manuals prepared to fit the different conditions and needs in country
and city schools, in common schools, higher schools for boys, and schools
for girls.
In preparation for the process of sorting out and distributing to each
sex and age appropriate forms of exercise Spiess thought it necessary
first of all to collect, analyze, and classify the whole mass of possible
positions and movements of the body. This he endeavored to do in his
“System of Gymnastics” (_Die Lehre der Turnkunst_), but without seeking
at the same time to separate the useful from that which is unessential
or undesirable. The book is not intended, therefore, as a practical
guide for the teacher. That function was reserved for his second work,
the _Turnbuch für Schulen_, which has been a mine of instruction and
suggestion for authors of later manuals. Here he leads gradually from the
simplest exercises to the most difficult combinations, pointing out what
material is to be used for each sex and age, and explaining the method
to be pursued during the lesson hour. He devised new forms of apparatus
on which the whole class, or a considerable fraction of it, could work
at once under the teacher’s eye and at his command. The “Free Exercises”
and the “Class Exercises in Marching” (_Ordnungs-_ or _Gemeinübungen_)
which he elaborated were a fresh contribution to the stock of German
gymnastics, and with his simpler exercises on apparatus supplied material
for girls and younger boys. His musical gifts[72] rendered possible that
rhythmical arrangement of the free exercises which has continued to be
so conspicuous a feature in the teaching of his followers ever since, and
enabled him also to combine artistically certain marching or dancing or
other rhythmical movements into a fixed series which could be executed
by pupils to the accompaniment of some familiar song, or other musical
composition, as in the case of the Miller-_Reigen_ and the whole group of
_Lieder-_ and _Tanz-Reigen_.[73]
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Euler’s “Encyklopädisches Handbuch des gesamten Turnwesens” and
“Geschichte des Turnunterrichts” (see p. 82), and the following articles
in the _Neue Jahrbücher für die Turnkunst_ (NJT), _Deutsche Turn-Zeitung_
(DTZ), and _Monatsschrift für das Turnwesen_ (MT):
Wassmannsdorff in NJT 1855: 330-334 and 1858: 81-90; and in DTZ 1859:
22-23 and 1863: 137-140.
Lion in DTZ 1858: 91-93, 98-99, and 102-103.
Marx in NJT 1885: 57-66.
Schmeel in DTZ 1910: 82-85, 97-101, 117-120, and 133-136.
Schmuck in DTZ 1911: 453-457.
Neuendorff in MT 1910: 122-128.
The Spiess centenary in 1910 was the occasion of three important
publications: (1) Adolf Spiess: Sein Leben und seine Wirksamkeit.
Dargestellt nach Vorträgen, gehalten bei Anlass der Spiess-Feier im
Basler Turnlehrerverein von J. Bollinger-Auer, Lehrer an der Höhern
Töchterschule in Basel (Basel, Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1910.) (2) Adolf
Spiess. Ein Gedenkblatt zu seinem hundertjährigen Geburtstage. Von
Prof. Dr. Karl Roller, Oberlehrer in Darmstadt (Berlin, Weidmannsche
Buchhandlung, 1910); and (3) Adolf Spiess, der Begründer des deutschen
Schulturnens. Ein Lebensbild von H. Schmeel, Stadtschulinspektor in Worms
(Giessen, Emil Roth, 1910).
FOOTNOTES:
[64] Gedanken über die Einordnung des Turnwesens in das Ganze der
Volkserziehung, von Adolf Spiess. Basel, Schweighauser’sche Buchhandlung,
1842. Reprinted on pages 15-41 of “Kleine Schriften über Turnen von
Adolf Spiess. Nebst Beiträgen zu seiner Lebensgeschichte. Gesammelt und
herausgegeben von J. C. Lion.” Hof, G. A. Grau & Cie. (Rud. Lion), 1872.
Second edition, 1877.
[65] See Herman Haupt’s “Adolf Spiess, der Begründer des deutschen
Schulturnens, als Giessener und Hallischer Burschenschafter 1828-1831,”
on pp. 306-330 of “Quellen und Darstellungen zur Geschichte der
Burschenschaft und der deutschen Einheitsbewegung,” Band II, Heft 3-4
(Heidelberg, Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1911).
[66] To a sword-thrust in the lung received as second in a student duel
at this period (November, 1830) his family traced the disease which in
middle life brought his career to an untimely end.
[67] Upon his reappointment, for a term of six years, on October 13,
1835, instruction in geography and history was substituted for the
writing and drawing.
[68] Die Lehre der Turnkunst von Adolf Spiess. Basel, Schweighauser’sche
Buchhandlung. Four volumes, as follows:
I. Theil: Das Turnen in den Freiübungen für beide Geschlechter, 1840. II.
Theil: Das Turnen in den Hangübungen für beide Geschlechter, 1842; second
edition in 1871. III. Theil: Das Turnen in den Stemmübungen für beide
Geschlechter. Mit einem Anhang der Liegeübungen, 1843; second edition
in 1874. IV. Theil: Das Turnen in den Gemeinübungen, in einer Lehre von
den Ordnungsverhältnissen bei den Gliederungen einer Mehrzahl für beide
Geschlechter, 1846; second edition (Basel, Benno Schwabe) in 1885.
[69] Hans Ferdinand Massmann (1797-1874), pupil and friend of Jahn in
Berlin, member of the Jena _Burschenschaft_ and present at the Wartburg
episode in 1817, was summoned to Munich in 1827 to take charge of
gymnastics, first in the royal _Kadettenkorps_ and then in a public
outdoor _Turnanstalt_ which was to serve all the schools of the city. In
1841 he was called to Berlin to confer with Minister Eichhorn regarding
the revival of physical training in Prussia. Two years later he was
entrusted with the carrying out of the plan, but proved unequal to the
task, and retired from the position in 1851.
[70] Turnbuch für Schulen als Anleitung für den Turnunterricht durch
die Lehrer der Schulen, von Adolf Spiess. Basel, Schweighauser’sche
Buchhandlung. Two volumes, as follows: I. Theil: Die Uebungen für die
Altersstufe vom sechsten bis zehnten Jahre bei Knaben und Mädchen, 1847;
second, “vermehrte und verbesserte Auflage, besorgt von J. C. Lion,”
in 1880. II. Theil: Die Uebungen für die Altersstufe vom zehnten bis
sechszehnten Jahre bei Knaben und Mädchen 1851; second edition, as above
(Basel, Benno Schwabe), in 1889.
[71] Gustav Nyblæus, then teacher of gymnastics at the University of
Lund, but afterwards Director of the Central Institute (Royal Normal
School of Gymnastics) in Stockholm.
[72] The father of Spiess had begun to play the organ for church services
at the age of nine, and in his school at Offenbach paid particular
attention to instruction in singing. Adolf himself learned to play
the violin and the pianoforte, and his strong boyish voice developed
into a beautiful tenor. He was made an honorary member of the Swiss
_Musikverein_ in 1838, sang solo parts from the oratorios of Spohr
and Neuhaus in the presence of the composers at a musical festival in
Lucerne, and the tenor solos in Mendelssohn’s “St. Paul” at Zurich, and
took the title role in Handel’s “Samson” at the national musical festival
in Basel in the summer of 1840. It was at his suggestion that Max
Schneckenburger wrote “Die Wacht am Rhein” that same year, and when it
was read to a little company gathered in the Burgdorf “Stadthaus” Spiess
was the first to sing it, to an accompaniment which he improvised on the
pianoforte.
[73] Spiess committed to Karl Wassmannsdorff, his friend and associate
for two years in Basel, the preparation of his material on _Reigen_ for
publication. See “Reigen und Liederreigen für das Schulturnen aus dem
Nachlasse von Adolf Spiess. Mit einer Einleitung, erklärenden Anmerkungen
und einer Anzahl von Liedern herausgegeben von Dr. K. Wassmannsdorff.”
Frankfurt a. M., J. D. Sauerländer’s Verlag, 1869. A second “verbesserte
und mit einem Anhange ‘Gang- und Hüpfarten für das Mädchenturnen’
vermehrte Auflage” was published in 1885.
CHAPTER XIII.
PHYSICAL TRAINING IN THE PRUSSIAN SCHOOLS.
The astonishing development of popular interest in gymnastics which
has taken place in Germany and other European countries can be traced
directly to Jahn’s work at the Hasenheide, near Berlin, in the years
1810-1818; and between 1833 and 1858, in Switzerland and Hesse, Spiess
laid the foundation of German school gymnastics. But although the first
definite step looking toward physical training in the Prussian schools
was the cabinet order of 1842 (p. 101), it was not until after the
accession of William I to the throne, in 1861, that conditions became at
all propitious. During the latter half of the reign of Frederick-William
III, from 1819 to 1840, the one man who with his pupils and assistants
kept alive the tradition of _Turnen_ in Berlin, adding to and further
systematizing its content, and won for it gradually increasing
recognition, was Ernst Eiselen, among Jahn’s earliest followers and his
most faithful fellow-worker. Under Frederick-William IV (1840-1861) there
were at first encouraging signs of revival, but the unfortunate choice
of Massmann to direct the carrying out of the new plans (1843-1850),
followed by Rothstein’s untactful and somewhat bigoted attempt to
substitute the gymnastics of Ling for that of Jahn in the Royal Central
Institute of Gymnastics at Berlin (1851-1863), made the whole period a
disappointing one of storm and stress, without much evidence of real
progress. Each of these early phases deserves a few words of explanation.
Ernst Wilhelm Bernhard Eiselen (1793-1846), after the closing of the
Hasenheide _Turnplatz_ in the spring of 1819, became a teacher in the
Plamann school for boys. In April of 1825, using rented quarters,
he began to give courses in foil- and sabre-fencing and vaulting to
students in the University of Berlin, and two years later succeeded in
obtaining permission to offer private instruction in gymnastics. May 1,
1828, he opened his own gymnasium, with indoor and outdoor equipment,
at Dorotheenstrasse 31d (now 60). Courses for the training of teachers
were added in 1831, and the next year corrective exercises for girls,
for whose accommodation a special room was provided. By 1836 the number
of his pupils had increased to such an extent that a second gymnasium
was built in another part of the city (Blumenstrasse 3, now 63a),
and placed under the management of Wilhelm Lübeck (1809-1879), who
afterwards (1839) became its independent director. Arsenical poisoning
in his youth had permanently impaired Eiselen’s health, and this fact
and his retiring disposition may have led the Prussian authorities to
prefer Massmann as their agent in 1843. Eiselen was put in charge of a
great public _Turnplatz_ in the suburb of Moabit in 1846, but died a few
months later at Misdroy, a sea-bathing resort on the Island of Wollin.
Attention has already been called to his writings (p. 102). Among his
pupils and assistants who afterwards filled important teaching positions
were Wilhelm Ballot, Moritz Böttcher, Philipp August Feddern, and Wilhelm
Lübeck.
In 1836 Dr. Karl Ignaz Lorinser (1796-1853), state medical counsellor
at Oppeln, in Prussian Silesia, published a striking article on
“Safeguarding Health in the Schools,”[74] in which he urged that too
exclusive training of the mind in the higher schools was threatening
national vigor. His paper and the widespread discussion which followed
called the attention of the ministry of education anew to the need
of reform, and led to various orders looking toward more or less
systematic introduction of bodily exercises under the supervision of
teachers. Participation, however, depended upon parental consent and
the inclination of pupils. The cabinet order of June 6, 1842, and the
summons of Massmann to Berlin in the spring of 1843 to organize a system
of statewide physical training aroused expectations which were slow
in being realized. Instead of the Spiess plan of separate facilities
at each school and a graded scheme of exercises incorporated in the
school program, Massmann clung tenaciously to the idea of great central
exercising grounds (_Turnplätze_), preferably a single one even for the
larger cities, and a gathering here of all ages and classes for free
activity, especially on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons—a system of
public playgrounds, rather than one of orderly physical training.
But his endeavor to revive the Jahn gymnastics on a new _Turnplatz_
laid out in the neighborhood of the old Hasenheide site met with
little success, and the numbers in attendance dwindled rapidly. The
times had changed, and there was no one to supply Jahn’s inspiring
leadership. Teachers were needed, but Eiselen’s death had cut short
a plan to have him give two courses a year, of six weeks each, in
his private gymnasium. A “Central Training School for Teachers of
Gymnastics” (_Zentral-Bildungsanstalt für Turnlehrer_), under Massmann’s
direction, was therefore organized instead. It was to give annually two
three-months’ courses, beginning April 1 and August 1, to a maximum
of thirty pupils in each. The opening took place May 1, 1848, in the
Eiselen gymnasium; but the courses were discontinued before the end
of the following year. The attendance had been disappointingly small,
and those who came manifested little interest in their work. Massmann,
already a discredited leader with whose projects the school authorities
themselves had shown little sympathy, was retired in 1850. The government
attitude toward the Jahn _Turnen_ was still one of suspicion and
antagonism, and meanwhile attention had been drawn to the claims of a new
system of gymnastics, built up on foreign soil.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.—Hugo Rothstein (1810-1865).]
Hugo Rothstein (1810-1865), second lieutenant in the Prussian artillery
and teacher in the artillery school at Berlin, paid a visit to Sweden in
1843, and upon his return published in _Der Staat_ (September, 1844) an
article on “Gymnastics in Sweden and Ling’s System of Gymnastics.” It
attracted favorable notice in military circles, and Minister of War von
Boyen commissioned him to revisit the country in order to become better
acquainted with the subject. Accordingly in June of 1845, now first
lieutenant and accompanied by another officer, he went to Stockholm for a
full course at the Central Institute of Gymnastics (_Kongl. Gymnastiska
Centralinstitutet_), adding three months in Copenhagen to observe the
fencing and other instruction at the Danish Royal Institute of Military
Gymnastics (_Det Kongelige Militære Gymnastiske Institut_). During his
second sojourn in the Swedish capital he saw much of Director Branting
and Head Teacher Georgii, and was also a frequent guest at the palace of
King Oscar I. In the autumn of 1846 both officers were back in Berlin.
The following year Massmann published a translation of Ling’s writings
on gymnastics,[75] and Rothstein had begun work at once on a series of
volumes on the Ling system which appeared at intervals between 1847 and
1859.[76]
A direct result of the reports by Rothstein and Techow (the infantry
lieutenant who had been his companion) was the founding in Berlin
of a “Central Institute for Gymnastic Instruction in the Army”
(_Zentralinstitut für gymnastischen Unterricht in der Armee_), with
the two officers as teachers. Lübeck’s gymnasium on Blumenstrasse was
used for the practical exercises, and the first course there was begun
October 1, 1847; but the rioting which broke out in Berlin the next
spring, following the February revolution in Paris, brought it to a
sudden close. Two years later, however, the foundations of a new building
were laid in Scharnhorststrasse, and now it was decided to train both
military and civilian teachers in a single school, rechristened “Royal
Central Institute of Gymnastics” (_Königliche Zentral-Turnanstalt_)
and opened to pupils October 1, 1851. Rothstein was made director of
instruction (_Unterrichtsdirigent_). In his own teaching he employed
the Ling apparatus and exercises, making light of Jahn’s _Turnen_,
and for anatomical and physiological reasons rejecting the parallel
bars unconditionally. This action gave rise to repeated protests from
_Turnvereine_ in Berlin and other German cities, who regarded it as
a part of the government’s reactionary policy, and led to a violent
controversy (the _Barrenstreit_) in the years 1861 and 1862. Dr. Carl
Philipp Euler (1828-1901), who became civilian teacher in 1860, had
proposed that the banished apparatus be restored. Petitions, memorials,
and opinions for and against its use multiplied, and the discussion
was widened to include the whole subject of the comparative merits
of the Ling-Rothstein gymnastics and the Jahn _Turnen_. Emil Du
Bois-Reymond (1818-1896), professor of physiology in the University
of Berlin, entered the lists as a powerful champion on the side of
the Turners.[77] On the last day of 1862 appeared an opinion from the
highest medical authority in Prussia, the Royal Scientific Deputation
for Medical Affairs, to the effect that exercises on the parallel bars
“are justifiable and not to be rejected.”[78] It was therefore ordered
that both parallel bars and horizontal bar should be used with civilian
pupils. Rothstein withdrew from the school in 1863, left Berlin for
Erfurt, his birthplace and early home, and died there March 23, 1865.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.—Emil du Bois-Reymond (1818-1896).]
The later history of the Central Institute may be briefly outlined here.
A second civilian teacher, Gebhard Eckler (1832-1907), was added in
October of 1864. In 1877 the military and civilian sections, which had
existed side by side, were permanently separated, the former retaining
the old site on Scharnhorststrasse and hereafter called the Royal
Military Institute of Gymnastics (_Königliche Militär-Turnanstalt_),[79]
and the latter, under the name “Royal Training School for Teachers of
Gymnastics” (_Königliche Turnlehrer-Bildungsanstalt_), opening its doors
in temporary quarters on October 8, but after two years occupying its
own new home at 229 Friedrichstrasse (October 15, 1879). As early as
1866 Euler had begun to conduct private classes for women who desired
to become teachers of gymnastics, and in 1880 regular state courses
were added to meet their special needs. The first of these began
April 19 and closed July 6. Euler became “director of instruction”
(_Unterrichtsdirigent_) in 1877, and Dr. Ignaz Küppers (1840-) was added
as second director in 1891. Following Euler’s death, September 15, 1901,
Eckler was given the same title (1902), but retired in 1905, followed by
Küppers in October of the next year. A new office, that of director of
the school, was now created, and its first incumbent (May, 1905) was Dr.
Paul Diebow (1861-1920). In the autumn of 1911, after a further change of
name (to _Landesturnanstalt_, April 1, 1908), the institution was moved
to its present home in Spandau, eight miles northwest of Berlin, where
it enjoys ample facilities for indoor and outdoor training of all sorts.
The full course for men, at the outbreak of the Great War, covered seven
months (April-November), and that for women six months (January-June).
[Illustration: FIG. 26.—Carl Philipp Euler (1828-1901).]
To meet the great demand for teachers, examinations for persons trained
in city or private courses outside the Central Institute had been
given under its auspices after 1866. Beginning in 1889, arrangements
for similar state examinations for both men and women have been made
in Bonn, Breslau, Halle, and Königsberg, and in the case of women at
Bielefeld, Cassel, Danzig, Hannover, Kiel, Magdeburg, Stettin, and a few
other cities. The next noteworthy step was the introduction of teachers’
training courses in the Prussian universities, in each of which (Berlin,
Bonn, Breslau, Göttingen, Greifswald, Halle, Kiel, Königsberg, Marburg,
and Münster) a student could in 1914 take work in the theory and practice
of physical education, in preparation for a teacher’s certificate in
that subject, and could take the examination itself at the university
where he was studying.[80] In general such courses are governed by
regulations contained in the Prussian ministerial order of July 9, 1892,
originally intended for the University of Halle, and a supplemental order
of February 20, 1909, which relates to training in outdoor exercises.
The former provides for courses under the immediate oversight of the
University _Kurator_, to begin in the middle of October and continue
until the close of the winter semester—something less than five months.
They are open to candidates who have already qualified as teachers in the
schools, and to university students who have completed four semesters
of work. There is no charge for tuition. Each course embraces both
theoretical instruction and practical exercises, and occupies about
eighteen hours a week. As a rule one-third of the time is devoted to
lectures on the history of physical education, methods, the forms and
construction of apparatus (_Gerätkunde_), the structure and functions
of the human body, hygiene as related to exercise, and first aid in
accidents; and the remaining two-thirds to the attainment of personal
dexterity in the field of school gymnastics, and the actual teaching
of others, and direction of games, etc. Four hundred and ninety-eight
students attended these winter courses in the Prussian universities in
the year 1910-1911.
The later order, directed to the _Kuratoren_ of Prussian universities,
requires that as soon as possible the above courses be supplemented by
summer ones, lasting about four weeks and devoted solely to the subject
of games and athletic sports (_Volks- und Jugendspiele und volkstümliche
Übungen_). It was recommended that they cover from fifty to sixty hours
altogether, including from four to six lectures on the value of games and
athletic sports, about eight on theory and method, eight hours devoted to
practice in teaching or directing, and the rest to practical exercises.
The courses may be compressed within four weeks, or made to occupy two
or three hours each on two afternoons a week and spread over an entire
summer semester, thus interfering less with the student’s other work.
In many cases admission has been granted to students in the departments
of medicine, theology, and law, as well as to those enrolled in the
department of philosophy and preparing directly for the examination for
a state certificate as teacher of physical education. Hereafter the full
certificate is to be granted only to those who have completed both winter
and summer courses.
[Illustration: FIG. 27.—The Prussian _Landesturnanstalt_ at Spandau.]
[Illustration: FIG. 28.—Gymnasium of the _Realschule_ at
Gross-Lichterfelde, near Berlin.]
In spite of all this progress, there was at the beginning of 1913 no
professorship of physical education in any German university, although
the establishment of such a chair had been proposed at the University of
Giessen.
The Prussian cabinet order of June 6, 1842, had “formally recognized
bodily exercises as a necessary and indispensable part of male
education.” A ministerial circular of February 4, 1844, sent out to the
provincial school authorities, directed that in towns and cities indoor
and outdoor space should be provided for gymnastics at all higher schools
(_Gymnasien, höhere Stadtschulen_) and training-colleges for teachers
(_Schullehrer-Seminaren_), in order that the exercises might be practised
uninterruptedly throughout the year. Instruction was to be in the hands
of some regular member of the teaching staff who gave only part of his
time to this branch, rather than one who taught no other subject. The
exercises were to come as a rule on the half-holiday afternoons of
Wednesday and Saturday, or under certain conditions they might be given
daily during the hour following the afternoon session. It was left to his
parent or guardian to decide whether or not any pupil should participate.
Certificates of graduation from the schools were to note whether and with
what success use had been made of the instruction in gymnastics. A later
order (November 27, 1866) extended this last provision to cover semester
reports as well.
An order of September 10, 1860, reveals the intention of the ministry to
introduce gymnastics into _all_ schools for boys and young men, from the
elementary or folkschool to the university.[81] Special short courses
at training colleges for teachers, to reach those already in service,
are recommended as a means of filling the immediate need of competent
instruction, which will later be cared for by the regular graduates. The
indifference of many members of the teaching body in higher schools is
rebuked, together with the excessive number of excuses from attendance,
but attention is also called to praiseworthy progress made at other
institutions where the new movement receives earnest and sympathetic
support. University authorities are advised to furnish their students
with facilities for continuing habits of bodily activity, and reminded
of the advantage to the state if those who are to be leaders in church
and school affairs are given an opportunity here to become familiar with
a branch of education which they may later be called upon to oversee or
inspect.
Early in 1862 an official “Manual for Instruction in Gymnastics in the
Prussian Elementary Schools” was published, replaced by a “New Manual”
in the summer of 1868. This latter was again revised in 1895.[82] By
ministerial order of June 4, 1862, such instruction is declared to
be an integral part of the course for males in schools of this grade
(_Volksschule_), and attendance at the exercises is made compulsory.
Suitable grounds and the equipment called for by the Manual must be
provided. Teachers are prepared in training colleges (_Seminare_),
where special attention is given to actual handling of classes in model
schools, choosing and arranging suitable material for the different
grades from the official manual, and in the senior class to instruction
in methods, the installation of apparatus, the recent history of physical
education, the hygiene of exercise, and first aid.
The apparatus mentioned in the official manual of 1895 includes wooden
and iron wands, long jumping rope, jump stands and jumping board, balance
beam, climbing ropes and poles, ladders, adjustable horizontal bar, and
parallel bars. It recommends enough fixed apparatus so that four pupils
can exercise at a time. In its one hundred and fifty pages are described
a variety of marching and free exercises, and exercises with the
different forms of apparatus just mentioned, and in conclusion sixteen
selected running games and seven ball games. Beyond outlining the general
plan of each lesson, calling attention to the need of orderly progression
throughout the year, and indicating which of the exercises are intended
for the upper grades, the manual offers no direct assistance to the
teacher in laying out his course, _i.e._, it contains no tables showing
sample lessons and no series of exercises arranged in order of increasing
difficulty.
A third hour of exercise a week was added to the curriculum in higher
schools in 1892, and in elementary schools by order of June 13, 1910,
which was intended especially to encourage the use of games and other
activities in the open air. This same order made compulsory for all
schools the ten-minute periods of exercise for the promotion of good
carriage, deep breathing, and quickened blood-flow recommended in 1907
for days on which there was no regular lesson in gymnastics. The “Guide
for Use with Boys in Elementary Schools without Indoor Gymnasia,”
published in 1909,[83] lays down principles which are binding for boys’
schools of every sort. In it the class exercises in marching introduced
by Spiess are omitted. Free exercises and exercises on apparatus are
selected with the specific needs of the pupil in mind, and show the
influence of Swedish teaching and practice. They are supplemented
by running exercises, games, dry-land-swimming, and other forms of
activity, and attention is called to the value of _Spielstunden_
or play-afternoons. A recent development in higher schools is the
organization and rapid spread of voluntary gymnastic, running, tramping,
and athletic clubs of all sorts, conducted under the oversight of
teachers.
It was not until the ministerial order of May 31, 1894, that instruction
in gymnastics became a required subject in higher schools for _girls_.
Two lessons a week were to be given, and by women teachers. An order
of March 30, 1905, extended the requirement to elementary (_Volks_-)
and intermediate (_Mittel_-) schools in cities and large towns, and
recommended that teachers encourage also the playing of games after
school hours. The manual of 1895 was to form the basis of instruction.
A further step was taken on July 11, 1911, when the time allotted to
gymnastics was increased to three hours a week for the upper grades, and
all elementary schools not covered by former orders were urged to add
the subject to their curriculum. An official “Manual for the Physical
Training of Girls in Prussian Schools” was published in 1913.[84]
To an American the German universities and technical schools seem
singularly backward in the matter of physical education. At none of
them is there a full professorship devoted to the subject, and at
least a third have not even an instructor in gymnastics (_Turnlehrer_)
on the teaching staff. There are two student associations which may
be considered the survivors of the _Burschenschaften_ of Jahn’s day,
so far as the practice of gymnastics is concerned. One of them, the
_Akademischer Turnbund_, or “A. T. B.” (_Verband nichtfarbentragender
akademischer Turnvereine und -Verbindungen auf deutschen Hochschulen_),
organized June 27, 1883, on the Schweizerhöhe near Jena, included 39
societies and about 1900 student members in 1919, and belongs to the
German _Turnerschaft_. Its first competitive meet (_Turnbundfest_) was
held at Arnstadt, August 5 and 6, 1893, and the 6th at Coblenz July
28-31, 1912.[85] The other, the _Verband farbentragender Turnerschaften_,
or “V. C.” (_Vertreter-Convent_), to which 55 societies with about 1800
student members belonged in 1919, was given its present name and form
at a convention held in Berlin, June 11 and 12, 1885. Only a small
proportion of its societies have affiliated themselves with the German
_Turnerschaft_. The first general competitive meet (_Turnfest_) was held
at Sangerhausen May 26-29, 1882, and the sixteenth in Gotha May 13-16,
1913.[86] In 1911 an _Akademischer Bund für Leibesübungen_ was formed,
including the two associations mentioned, the _Akademischer Ruderbund_,
the _Kartelverband akademischer Rudervereine_, the _Akademischer
Sportbund_, and other similar organizations. This union held a “German
Academic Olympia” in Breslau, August 1-3, 1911, and another at Leipzig,
October 17-19, 1913. There had already been gatherings of this sort at
Leipzig, July 11, 1909, and Berlin, July 2 and 3, 1910.
There have been two attempts at a statistical survey of school gymnastics
covering all of the German states, the first by J. C. Lion in 1873,
and the second by Carl Rossow in 1908.[87] A general convention of
German teachers of gymnastics was held in Berlin, August 9-11, 1861, in
connection with the second general German _Turnfest_. Others have been
held at intervals ever since, and at the twelfth (Hof a. Saale, July 17
and 18, 1893), a _Deutscher Turnlehrerverein_ (German Society of Teachers
of Gymnastics) was formally organized. The eighteenth convention met in
Breslau May 29 and 30, 1914.[88]
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Euler’s “Geschichte des Turnunterrichts” and “Encyklopädisches Handbuch
des gesamten Turnwesens” (see pp. 81 and 82).
Handbuch des gesamten Turnwesens und der verwandten Leibesübungen. In
Verbindung mit zahlreichen Fachmännern herausgegeben von Studienrat Prof.
Dr. Rudolf Gasch, Dresden. Mit 44 Tafeln (teils in Farbendruck), mit 394
Einzelabbildungen und 566 Abbildungen im Texte. Wien und Leipzig, A.
Pichlers Witwe & Sohn, 1920.
Verordnungen und amtliche Bekanntmachungen das Turnwesen in Preussen
betreffend. Gesammelt von Schulrat Prof. Dr. C. Euler und Prof. Gebh.
Eckler. (First edition 1869, second edition 1884) Dritte neubearbeitete
Auflage herausgegeben von Prof. Gebh. Eckler. Berlin, R. Gaertner, 1902.
Verordnungen und amtliche Bekanntmachungen das Turnwesen in Preussen
betreffend. Mit einem Anhang: Die wichtigsten Turnverordnungen anderer
Bundesstaaten im Auszuge. Unter Benutzung der Sammlung von Euler und
Eckler neu gesammelt und herausgegeben von Dr. E. Neuendorff und H.
Schröer. Berlin, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1912.
The _Neue Jahrbücher für die Turnkunst_, _Deutsche Turn-Zeitung_, and
_Monatsschrift für das Turnwesen_ (see p. 82).
The _Jahrbuch der Turnkunst_ (see p. 108).
FOOTNOTES:
[74] “Zum Schutz der Gesundheit in den Schulen.” In _Medizinische Zeitung
des Vereins für Heilkunde in Preussen_, 1836, No. 1. Reprinted by T. C.
F. Enslin, Berlin, in 1861. Quoted at some length in Euler-Rossow 1907,
pp. 115-117.
[75] P. H. Ling’s Schriften über Leibesübungen. Aus dem Schwedischen
übersetzt von H. F. Massmann, Dr. Professor &c. Magdeburg,
Heinrichshofen’sche Buchhandlung, 1847.
[76] Die Gymnastik, nach dem Systeme des Schwedischen Gymnasiarchen P.
H. Ling, dargestellt von Hg. Rothstein. Berlin, E. H. Schroeder. In five
parts as follows: I. Allgemeine Einleitung (with life of Ling). Das
Wesen der Gymnastik, Grundlegung und Gliederung ihres Systems, u. s. w.
1848 and 1849. II. Die Pädagogische Gymnastik, 1847; second edition in
1857. III. Die Heilgymnastik, 1847. IV. Die Wehrgymnastik, 1851. V. Die
Aesthetische Gymnastik, 1854-1859.
With Dr. A. C. Neumann, Rothstein also published four volumes of an
“Athenaeum für rationelle Gymnastik.” Berlin, E. H. Schroeder, 1854-1857.
(Rothstein’s name appears alone on the title page of volumes III and IV.)
Other books by Rothstein were “Die gymnastischen Freiübungen nach dem
System P. H. Lings” (Berlin, E. H. Schroeder, 1853; fifth edition in
1861), and “Die gymnastischen Rüstübungen nach P. H. Lings System”
(Berlin, E. H. Schroeder, 1855; second edition in 1861).
[77] “Ueber das Barrenturnen und über die sogenannte rationelle
Gymnastik” (Berlin, Georg Reimer, 1862), and “Herr Rothstein und der
Barren” (Berlin, Georg Reimer, 1863).
[78] The report is reprinted in Georg Hirth’s “Das Gesamte Turnwesen,”
second edition, =3=, pp. 492-506 (Hof, Rud. Lion, 1893).
[79] It was moved to Zossen, about twenty-five miles south of Berlin, in
1919.
[80] Similar provision was also made in at least three other German
universities, Heidelberg, Jena, and Leipzig. Students at the last named
took their examination in Dresden, after a final eight weeks at the state
_Turnlehrerbildungsanstalt_ there.
[81] As generally in Europe, there are two distinct kinds of schools in
Germany, the elementary or common schools, and the secondary or higher
schools. The former (_Volksschule_) does not lead up to the latter, but
is designed to furnish that kind and degree of education which the State
requires of every citizen irrespective of class or calling. Its course
of eight years covers the period of “school age” (six to fourteen).
The higher school (_Gymnasium_, _Realgymnasium_, _Realschule_) gives a
broader training intended to prepare for later study at the university
and the professional and higher technical schools, or to meet the
conditions for admission to any but the lowest grades of government
employ. In order to enter one must be at least nine years old, having
obtained his earlier education in special preparatory classes or in the
ordinary _Volksschule_, and the average age of those who complete the
full nine years’ course is between eighteen and twenty.
[82] Leitfaden für den Turn-Unterricht in den Preussischen Volksschulen.
Mit 29 in den Text gedruckten Figuren in Holzschnitt. Berlin, Wilhelm
Hertz, 1862.
Neuer Leitfaden für den Turn-Unterricht in den Preussischen Volksschulen.
Zweite erweiterte Auflage des “Leitfadens für den Turn-Unterricht” 1862.
Mit 53 in den Text gedruckten Figuren in Holzschnitt. Berlin, Wilhelm
Hertz, 1868.
Leitfaden für den Turnunterricht in den Preussischen Volksschulen, 1895.
Berlin, Wilhelm Hertz, 1895.
[83] Anleitung für das Knabenturnen in Volksschulen ohne Turnhalle.
Berlin, J. G. Cotta’sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1909.
[84] Leitfaden für das Mädchenturnen in den preussischen Schulen, 1913.
Berlin, J. G. Cotta’sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1913.
[85] See the Handbuch für den Akademischen Turnbund. Im Auftrage
des Bundes herausgegeben von Dr. rer. pol. Kurt Blaum (A. H.
Burgund-Strassburg). 1908. Strassburg i. E., Selbstverlag des A. T. B.,
Universitätsplatz 7.
[86] See Der Turnerschafter. Handbuch des deutschen V.-C.-Studenten.
Zehnte Auflage. Bearbeitet von Herbert Meyer. Leipzig-Reudnitz, August
Hoffman, 1908.
[87] Statistik des Schulturnens in Deutschland. Im Auftrage des
Ausschusses der Deutschen Turnerschaft herausgegeben von J. C. Lion.
Leipzig, E. Keil, 1873.
Zweite Statistik des Schulturnens in Deutschland. Mit Unterstützung der
Ministerien der deutschen Bundesstaaten, der Deutschen Turnerschaft
und des Zentralausschusses zur Förderung der Volks- und Jugendspiele
unter Mitarbeit vieler Schulmänner im Auftrage und unter Mitwirkung des
Deutschen Turnlehrer-Vereins herausgegeben von Carl Rossow. Gotha, E. F.
Thienemann, 1908. The contents of this second survey are summarized in
_Jahrbuch der Turnkunst_ 1907 (Leipzig, Emil Stock, 1907), pp. 145-157.
[88] See Euler-Rossow, Geschichte des Turnunterrichts (Gotha, E. F.
Thienemann, 1907), pp. 415-423.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT IN GERMANY.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.—Konrad Koch (1846-1911).]
The beginnings of the playground movement in Germany can be traced back
to a time when the Franco-Prussian war was a very recent memory, and
its pioneers were men moved by the same spirit and motives which led
Jahn to the Hasenheide sixty years before. In the summer of 1872 Konrad
Koch[89] (1846-1911), a teacher in the Gymnasium (higher classical
school) Martino-Katharineum in Brunswick, with his colleague, Hermann
Corvinus, having in mind their own participation as schoolboys in the
outdoor exercises of a Jahn club, began to take pupils on free Wednesday
afternoons to St. Leonhardplatz, on the outskirts of the city, to
practise a variety of running and ball games. Three years of experience
with German games such as _Barlaufen_ (prisoners’ base), _Kaiserball_,
etc., revealed to them the need of something more highly organized, and
of a sport which might be practised in the winter months. The teacher
of gymnastics (_Turnlehrer_) at the _Gymnasium_ was August Hermann
(1835-1906), whose wife’s sister conducted a flourishing private boarding
school for girls in Brunswick and in its interest spent several months
a year in England. Hermann’s own house was a _pension_ which usually
contained a number of English boys, and Koch’s father-in-law, Dr. med.
Friedrich Reck, had observed with interest in his travels abroad the
widespread popularity of active games in Great Britain.[90] At Dr. Reck’s
suggestion Hermann therefore procured from England a football, and one
day in October, 1874, threw it among the boys on the playground. The
history of the Rugby game in Germany dates from this moment. American
baseball was introduced in 1875, and English cricket in 1876, as summer
games, and the steady increase in the number of players demonstrated the
wisdom of the changed program.
Saturday afternoon had now been added to Wednesday’s. In the summer of
1878 the games were made an integral factor of the school life. Certain
classes were freed from other work on two afternoons a week (Thursday
and Friday) in order that the pupils might engage regularly, the two
teachers whose time had hitherto been given voluntarily to the task were
now relieved from a part of their school duties and formally delegated to
this one, Mk. 200 a year was appropriated toward the cost of equipment,
and in the spring of 1879 participation in the games was made obligatory
for pupils in the lower and middle classes. The rule was extended to
cover the upper classes also in 1882. The Gymnasium Martino-Katharineum
thus became the first school in Germany to give to active games
a place in the curriculum. In 1885 the Realgymnasium and the new
Wilhelm-Gymnasium took the same step. Other higher schools in the Duchy
followed, and the movement reached the intermediate _Bürgerschulen_ of
the city in 1905, and the lower ones in 1908.
Skating competed with football for winter popularity, but cricket was
still the favorite summer game. Koch, who later became the recognized
psychologist and philosopher of the entire games movement in Germany, was
impressed from the start with its fundamental educational value. Like
Thomas Arnold, he attached great value to the influence of games on the
emotions and the will, and was not satisfied with the too exclusively
intellectual training of the schools. His “Die Erziehung zum Mute durch
Turnen, Spiel und Sport,”[91] a book devoted to the psychical aspects of
bodily exercise, deservedly ranks as a classic, and stands almost alone
in its field.
[Illustration: FIG. 30.—August Hermann (1835-1906).]
The German _Turnlehrer_ held their eighth general convention at Brunswick
July 27-30, 1876.[92] August Hermann opened the morning session on
the 28th with an address in which he urged the necessity of arousing
an interest in competitive exercises and games if bodily exercise was
ever to become a truly national custom in Germany, calling attention
particularly to English experience, and in conclusion referring to
what had already been accomplished in Brunswick with English football
and cricket. Dr. Reck described at length how he had himself seen all
England at play, and not merely those of one class or age or sex. He
also spoke of the value of such habits as a means of training the will
and developing initiative. Others who took part in the debate (Kloss of
Dresden and Jäger of Stuttgart) had been witnesses of the athletic sports
of English residents in German cities. On Saturday, the 29th, pupils
from the intermediate classes of the _Gymnasium_ gave the visitors an
impressive exhibition of their skill and interest in football and cricket
on St. Leonhardplatz, under the direction of Hermann and Koch.
Five years later (November, 1881) the movement in favor of games and
other outdoor sports, which had been slowly gaining headway among
German teachers of gymnastics and educators in general, received a
sudden impetus and gained a powerful champion, when Emil Hartwich
(1843-1886), judge in the Prussian district court at Düsseldorf, issued
his pamphlet “Woran wir leiden. Freie Betrachtungen und practische
Vorschläge über unsere moderne Geistes- und Körperpflege in Volk und
Schule.”[93] Hartwich was the son of a leading pioneer in German railroad
construction, and educated at the Friedrich-Wilhelmstädtische Gymnasium
at Cologne (1856-1862) and the universities of Heidelberg and Berlin
(1862-1865). After completing the required year of military service in
a regiment of dragoons at Berlin he began to practise his profession of
public magistrate, and became judge in the Düsseldorf court in 1873. By
enthusiastic application in his leisure moments he had acquired skill in
gymnastics, music, and painting. Deeply impressed with the importance
of the problems which modern education is called upon to solve, and
convinced that the physical point of view, though fundamental, was too
much neglected, he determined to undertake the task of agitation for
reform.[94]
The pamphlet of 1881 was the first result of the decision. A second
edition, enlarged, was published the following year, and later a third
made its appearance. “Next to untarnished honor, health is the greatest
good on earth.” This is the motto with which he begins. While in England,
the home of open-air sports, many an old man has a youthful look, the
German schoolboy too often shows a pale, precocious face. What has become
of the games which freshen body and soul alike, and the school excursions
and long walks? Our modern pedagogy, he complains, has forgotten the
great outdoors. With thirty hours or more a week given to mental training
in stuffy classrooms, and only a pitiful two hours to gymnastics as the
sole counterpoise, the harmonious balance between body and mind cannot
fail to be disturbed. A sound body and good spirits must be recognized
as of equal value with a well-trained mind. Give the morning to the mind,
he says, and the afternoon to body and spirit, to what brings enjoyment
and strengthens the will to withstand the trials of everyday life. This
quality of courage and good spirits is vastly more important than the
training of the intellect now so excessively emphasized.
To coördinate and direct all efforts for improvement and reform Hartwich
proposed the organization of a _Zentralverein für Körperpflege in Volk
und Schule_—a permanent national body which should hold itself aloof
from all political, sectarian, and other factional discussions, should
unite all classes of society for the common end, and should allow
complete independence in the sections which it was to comprise and
entire freedom of organization in the different cities. The separate
sections established in town and country were to be bound together by the
common purpose to promote care of the body and its active exercise. The
following divisions were suggested: (1) For gymnastics, (2) for skating,
(3) for school interests, (4) for bathing, swimming, and rowing, (5)
for games and festivals suited to both old and young, (6) a section to
serve as a propaganda working through the public press, and (7) a medical
section.
The appearance of “Woran wir leiden,” which was widely read and quoted
throughout Germany, led at once to a lively discussion of the claims of
the body and the value of open-air exercise, and to a great accession
of popular interest in these subjects. Men of letters, government
officials, and others in high position rallied to the support of
Hartwich, and Gustav von Gossler, Prussian minister of public worship and
instruction, invited him to an interview (November 4, 1882). Meanwhile
the _Zentralverein_ became a reality—it was formed in Düsseldorf, March
6, 1882—and in this and the following year local societies (_Vereine für
Körperpflege_) were organized in Witten, Bonn, Barmen, and Hagen, in each
case with an address from Hartwich as part of the program at the initial
gathering.[95] Playgrounds were secured and equipped in Düsseldorf,[96]
Bonn, Witten, Berlin (Park bei Treptow) and other cities; much continued
to be written on school conditions in general and on brain forcing in
particular; and a number of handbooks of games made their appearance.
Bremen and Chemnitz opened playgrounds in 1884, and public games were
introduced in Dresden, Salzburg, Darmstadt, and Frankfort-on-the-Main. At
the sixth national _Turnfest_ of the German _Turnerschaft_, in Dresden,
July 19-21, 1885, there was an exhibition of games by schoolboys and
girls.
To keep members of the _Zentralverein_ in touch with the movement and
furnish newspapers with reports and items of information Hartwich had
started a periodical, _Körper und Geist_, to be issued at irregular
intervals. Only five numbers were actually published, the first in the
spring of 1883 and the last in April of 1886. In his address at the
organization of the society he had referred to the educational value
which the English attribute to their games, and to the obligatory school
games in Brunswick. He wrote to Koch at Brunswick, requesting a few lines
from him on the subject of English games for German playgrounds, having
in mind already as part of the program for his _Volks-_ and _Kinderfeste_
competitions in running, swimming, throwing the spear and the discus,
wrestling, football, cricket, etc. Koch replied under date of November 1,
1883, with a recital of his own experience.[97]
The _Vereine für Körperpflege_ were largely confined to Rhenish Prussia
and Westphalia, a fact explained by the support which newspapers in these
provinces, and notably the _Kölnische Zeitung_, gave to the movement. The
membership, in both size and character, and the sums contributed fell
short of what had been expected, and proved that a considerable portion
of the public remained to be won over. Some teachers of gymnastics were
hearty and loyal in their coöperation, but not a few _Turnvereine_ and
leaders in the national _Turnerschaft_ adopted an attitude of apathy, or
of positive opposition. “Into the open” was the cry of Hartwich, and he
seemed to them to ignore, or not to appreciate, the solid achievements
of the followers of Jahn and Spiess. There were many, too, who protested
against the importation of English games and athletic sports in seeming
disparagement of German _Turnen_ and native games. The early and tragic
death of Hartwich—he was shot in a duel and died December 1, 1886—brought
with it the collapse of the _Zentralverein_, for no other leader
possessed of equal skill and courage came forward to take his place.
Elsewhere in Germany, however, new adherents were at work, and the
movement which had begun in Brunswick and been greatly extended by the
Düsseldorf judge was soon to become national in its scope. One state, and
that the leading one, had already given its official sanction. Gustav von
Gossler (1838-1902), Prussian minister of public worship and instruction
in the years 1881-1891, himself trained in gymnastics as a schoolboy in
Potsdam and Königsberg, an expert fencer in his university days, a good
oarsman and a strong swimmer and skater, had been an interested listener
at the sessions of the ninth national convention of German teachers
of gymnastics, held in Berlin, June 7-9, 1881, while he was still
under-secretary. There the first morning was taken up by two papers which
urged the necessity of systematic use of games and school excursions on
foot as a supplement to formal gymnastics, and by a discussion which led
to the adoption of recommendations to that effect.[98] In the following
November Hartwich’s pamphlet appeared, and a year later von Gossler, as
we have seen, invited him to an interview; but before this took place
the minister had already issued (October 27, 1882) his momentous “Order
relating to the provision of playgrounds for the promotion of gymnastics
in the open air and to stimulate participation in active games.”[99]
He begins by saying that when gymnastics was first made an integral part
of the instruction in higher and lower schools, effort was naturally
directed toward securing room indoors where the exercises might be
carried on without regard to season and weather. But the playground is
not less valuable, and he sums up impressively the beneficial influence
it may exert on the entire life of the pupil, concluding with these
words: “The school must foster play as an expression of youthful life
salutary for body and mind, for heart and soul alike, along with the
increase in physical strength and skill and the ethical effects which
attend it, and this must be done not merely now and then, but as a matter
of course and in a systematic way.” Attempts in this direction have been
few and scattered hitherto. He then refers to the books of GutsMuths and
Jahn and to some recent works, mentions a number of suitable games, calls
attention to certain articles which contain useful hints, and among them
one of Koch’s on the history and organization of the Brunswick school
games, and suggests at some length practical ways of carrying out the
purpose of the order. School excursions, swimming, and skating are also
recommended. Other ministerial orders and announcements which followed
within the next few years touch upon every phase of gymnastics and games,
and for girls as well as for boys and young men.
While the von Gossler _Spielerlass_ of 1882 met with general approval and
exerted a stimulating influence felt beyond the bounds of his own state,
the immediate and visible results were disappointing. One experiment
which it inspired was, however, momentous in its consequences. The scene
was Görlitz, in Prussian Silesia, and the prime mover, soon to become a
national figure, was Emil von Schenckendorff (1837-1915), formerly member
of the city council and now member of the Prussian chamber of deputies.
He had spent ten years in the army (1855-1865) and nine in the telegraph
service (1867-1876), resigning from each on account of impaired health,
and having made his home in Görlitz occupied himself altogether, for the
balance of his life, with public affairs in city, state, and nation.[100]
[Illustration: FIG. 31.—Emil Theodor Gustav von Schenckendorff
(1837-1915).]
In Sweden, in 1872, August Abrahamson (1817-1898) had opened a sloyd
school for boys on his estate at Nääs, about eighteen miles from
Gothenburg, under the direction of his nephew, Otto Salomon (1849-1907),
and in the autumn of 1874 a training school for teachers of that branch
of education was added. Adolph Clauson-Kaas (1826-1906) had made
societies for home industry popular in Denmark. Von Schenckendorff
was familiar with both movements, and in his desire to provide some
counteragent to the one-sided mental exertion of the schools organized
in 1881 the Görlitz Manual Training Society (Verein für Handfertigkeit)
and opened a workshop for boys. He was also, that same year, one of
the founders of the German Central Committee for Manual Training and
Home Industry (in 1886 the name was changed to _Deutscher Verein für
Knabenhandarbeit_). As early as 1882 he was in communication with
Hartwich at Düsseldorf, approving his efforts and asking advice with
regard to the introduction of games among the young people of Görlitz.
In 1883 he persuaded the Görlitz Manual Training Society to add this
new form of activity to its program. With the hearty coöperation of
his friend Gustav Ernst Eitner (1835-1905), director of the city
_Gymnasium_, a beginning was made with boys from the lower classes of
that school, who met for the purpose on Wednesday afternoons. Soon
the pupils of the intermediate classes became interested, and in the
spring of the following year the older boys, who viewed the innovation
with indifference at the start, were gradually drawn into the ranks
of players. _Oberturnlehrer_ Friedrich Wilhelm Jordan (1842-1896) and
several younger teachers in the _Gymnasium_ assumed the direct oversight
of the games. The next step was to make provision for the elementary
schools, and thus the movement spread from year to year, and methods
of organization and administration were perfected, until not only the
school children, but older boys and young men and even adults had been
reached by the efforts of the society. Annual _Spielfeste_ helped to make
the playing of games more and more a matter of habit among the entire
populace.[101]
An opportunity to bring the results of all this experience to the
attention of German teachers generally was afforded by the fortieth
national convention of philologists, held in Görlitz, October 1-5, 1889.
Eitner realized that in spite of widespread desire for a revival of
games in the schools few teachers were familiar with them, or knew how
to set about introducing them among the children, and these in turn had
forgotten how to play. He thought it would be of service to show the
Görlitz plan in actual operation, and so arranged for an exhibition of
games as a part of the program for the second afternoon. The applause
which greeted the spectacle was gratifying. One of the visitors deplored
the fact that in his home there was no one capable of introducing and
directing a similar plan, and he therefore proposed that there should be
started in Görlitz a teachers’ course in games for such persons as were
interested in the subject, in order to diffuse a knowledge of it more
widely. Von Schenckendorff took up the idea with enthusiasm, readily
secured the approval and support of Minister von Gossler, and it was
arranged that Eitner should undertake the direction of such a course with
the assistance of _Oberturnlehrer_ Jordan.
After careful preparation on the part of these two men the first course
was given during the week of June 9-14, 1890, and a second September
1-6. In the following year there were two more, June 22-27 and August
31-September 5. The total attendance for the four weeks, not counting
about 30 who remained for a few days only, was 120 teachers, of whom 82
were from various parts of Prussia (Silesia 48, Posen 11, Pomerania 2,
East Prussia 4, Brandenburg 3, Hannover 4, the province of Saxony 2,
Westphalia 1, Hesse-Nassau 3, and the Rhine province 4), 2 from Baden,
1 each from Saxony, Oldenburg, Lauenburg, Thuringia, and Anhalt, 30
from Austria (13 of these from Vienna), and 1 from Russia. There was
no tuition fee. Each morning of the week Eitner lectured for an hour
on the theory of games in general and discussed individual ones in
some detail, with demonstrations of the apparatus used, until about 60
had been covered, including 34 ball games. Then followed two hours of
practice under Jordan, and in the afternoons between four and six o’clock
there was a demonstration of the methods employed in the different
city schools. A much wider audience was reached by Eitner’s manual
of games,[102] six editions of which were called for in the year of
publication (1890), a seventh in 1891, and an eighth in 1893.
Meanwhile other measures looking toward nationwide agitation and
instruction were being taken. As a preliminary step it was desirable to
ascertain the exact present status of the games movement in Germany, and
for the collection and tabulation of such statistical information von
Schenckendorff was able to secure the services of a man who had already
made an important contribution in the realm of physical education.
Hermann Raydt (1851-1914), born in the Prussian province of Hannover,
educated in the Lingen _Gymnasium_ of which his father was rector and in
the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Göttingen, was from 1878 till
1892 teacher (_Oberlehrer_) in the _Gelehrtenschule_ at Ratzeburg, a town
twelve miles southeast of Lübeck. In 1886, as the first appointee under
the terms of the Bismarck-Schönhausen foundation for the advancement of
teaching, he travelled in England and Scotland, studying especially the
methods of education and manner of life in the English public schools.
The results of his observations were embodied in an interesting and
stimulating volume[103] published three years later, in which he proposes
an adaptation of the English playground to German school conditions. The
book appeared at an opportune moment and met with a favorable reception
everywhere. The Prussian ministry of instruction warmly recommended it
to the attention of all higher schools and teachers’ colleges. It also
brought Raydt into communication with von Schenckendorff, who persuaded
him to undertake the task already mentioned. The Görlitz Society for
the Promotion of Manual Training and School Games bore the expense of
the investigation, and in April of 1890 circulars were sent out to
all German cities with a population of 8000 or more asking what had
already been done in the way of games and playgrounds, and whether the
authorities were inclined to welcome their introduction. Two hundred and
seventy-three replies were received. Raydt studied these carefully and
made them the basis of another volume[104] which appeared early in the
following year.
The time for organized endeavor on a large scale had evidently arrived.
Von Schenckendorff therefore invited a number of prominent men—leaders
in the German _Turnerschaft_, pioneers in the games movement, and
persons of influence—to meet in Berlin on May 21, 1891, and then and
there the “Central Committee for the Promotion of Games in Germany”
(_Der Zentral-Ausschuss zur Förderung der Volks- und Jugendspiele
in Deutschland_) was formed. The thirteen in actual attendance
included Director Bier of the Dresden _Turnlehrer-Bildungsanstalt_,
_Unterrichtsdirigent_ Euler of the Berlin _Turnlehrer-Bildungsanstalt_,
Goetz and F. A. Schmidt of the Committee of the _Deutsche Turnerschaft_,
Koch and Hermann from Brunswick, Raydt from Ratzeburg, von
Schenckendorff, and teachers or public officials from Hamburg, Hannover,
Magdeburg, Rendsburg, and Stralsund. After an opening address by von
Schenckendorff, and a general exchange of views it was agreed that
the committee type of organization, with great freedom of action, was
preferable to an association bound by a constitution and a fixed program.
Three sub-committees of seven members each were decided upon, and the
chairmen of these together with the officers of the Central Committee
were to constitute a board of directors. Von Schenckendorff was the
unanimous choice for chairman of the Central Committee, Schmidt of Bonn
was elected vice-chairman, Raydt corresponding secretary or business
manager, Koch treasurer, Eitner of Görlitz chairman of the sub-committee
on games for boys, Hermann of Brunswick chairman of the sub-committee on
games for girls, and Schmidt of Bonn chairman of the sub-committee on
games for older persons (_Volksspiele_). The Central Committee itself,
in its original form, was composed of thirty-five men, whose names
are attached to the formal summons to the German people (“_Aufruf zur
Förderung der Jugend- und Volksspiele in Deutschland_”) prepared at the
Berlin meeting.[105]
A good idea of the methods adopted by the Central Committee, and the
results of its work during the twenty years 1891-1911, can be gained
from a review of that period which von Schenckendorff, still chairman,
prepared and published in 1912.[106] The Committee has endeavored from
the start to supplement and support the work of individuals or local
organizations and to prepare the way for the actual introduction of games
into any community. Its membership is limited to one hundred, selected
from men and women in all parts of the empire who have had experience
and met with success in the field of physical education. Besides games
in the narrower sense, it aims to foster all forms of active exercise
in the open air, such as excursions on foot, swimming, rowing, skating,
skeeing, bob-sledding, etc. There were the following sub-committees in
1912: (1) Technical, (2) on public exhibitions of games (_Jugend- und
Volksfeste_), (3) on the German universities, (4) on continuation and
professional schools, (5) on promotion of national defense (_Wehrkraft_)
through education, (6) on country children and youth, (7) on excursions
(_Wandern_) and winter exercises in the open air, and (8) on measures for
increasing the physical fitness of girls and women. The activities of the
Central Committee may be classified in three main groups, as follows:
information, constructive work proper, and indirect measures.
_Information._ To bring its work to the attention of the public at
large the Committee has made use of the organs which mould and give
expression to public opinion, _i.e._, about three hundred newspapers and
other periodicals—political, social, pedagogical, and medical, as well
as those published in the interest of physical education and athletic
sports. It possesses also two organs of its own, the semi-monthly _Körper
und Geist_, started in 1892 (April 1) under the title _Zeitschrift für
Turnen und Jugendspiel_,[107] and a year-book[108] averaging more than
three hundred pages. In addition to these a long list of pamphlets
and small volumes have been issued. The first of a series of national
congresses in the interest of games was held in Berlin, February 3 and
4, 1894, and others have followed, in different parts of the empire, at
intervals of one or two years.[109] Persons whose official position
gave them an influence which might be of great value in furthering the
objects of the Committee were approached directly. In this way permanent
relations have been established with about five thousand town and city
authorities, district magistrates and school inspectors, provincial
school commissioners, heads of institutions for the training of teachers,
and members of state ministries of instruction.