Friedrich Ludwig Jahn biography
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, (born Aug. 11, 1778, Lanz, Brandenburg, Prussia—died Oct. 15, 1852, Freyburg an der Unstrut, Prussian Saxony), the German “father of gymnastics” who based the turnverein (gymnastics membership) motion in Germany. He was a fervent patriot who believed that bodily schooling was the cornerstone of nationwide well being and energy and essential in strengthening character and nationwide identification.
Jahn studied theology, historical past, and philology (1796–1802) on the universities of Halle, Frankfurt an der Oder, Göttingen, and Greifswald. He spent the subsequent years tutoring, travelling, and attending courses at Jena and Göttingen. In 1809 he settled in Berlin, the place he held a number of instructing positions at secondary colleges. There he started a program of outside bodily train for college students. He invented the parallel bars, the rings, the stability beam, the horse, and the horizontal bar, which turned customary gear for gymnastics. He established a powerful following amongst each youths and adults and in 1811 opened his first gymnastics membership.
In 1813 Jahn joined the volunteer Lützow corps and commanded its third battalion till after the autumn of Napoleon in 1815, returning then to Berlin and resuming work as a state trainer at his gymnastic membership. Deutsche Turnkunst zur Einrichtung der Turnplätze (A Treatise on Gymnastics, 1828), written with Ernst Eiselen, was printed in 1816. In the politically reactionary local weather of 1819, Jahn got here beneath suspicion for his outspoken nationalistic views and powerful affect on youth, and the federal government arrested him, closed his gymnastic membership, and imprisoned him for nearly a 12 months. After his launch he was confined to town of Kolberg till 1825, when he was given his freedom. He was forbidden, nonetheless, to dwell in a metropolis with a college or a secondary faculty, and so he moved to Freyburg an der Unstrut, the place he lived the remainder of his life. Jahn was awarded the Iron Cross for army bravery in 1840. Two years later a nationwide ban on gymnastics, which had been in impact since 1819, was lifted. He served within the nationwide parliament (1848–49).
Jahn wrote a vigorous protection of cultural nationalism, primarily based on his investigation of the German language and tradition, Das Deutsches Volkstum (“German Nationality”; 1810).