FRIEDRICH LUDWIG JAHN

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist whose writing is credited with the founding of the German gymnastics movement as well as influencing the German Campaign of 1813, during which a coalition of German states effectively ended the occupation of Napoleon's First French Empire. Brooding upon what he saw as the humiliation of his native land by Napoleon, Jahn conceived the idea of restoring the spirits of his countrymen by the development of their physical and moral powers through the practice of gymnastics. The first Turnplatz, or open-air gymnasium, was opened by Jahn in the south of Berlin in 1811, and the Turnverein (gymnastics association) movement spread rapidly. His admirers know him as Turnvater Jahn, roughly meaning "father of gymnastics" Jahn, and he popularized the four Fs motto "frisch, fromm, frohlich, frei" ("fresh, pious, cheerful, free"). Young gymnasts were taught to regard themselves as members of a kind of guild for the emancipation of their fatherland. The nationalistic spirit was nourished to a significant degree by the writings of Jahn. A man of a populistic nature, rugged, eccentric and outspoken, Jahn often came into conflict with the authorities. The authorities finally realized he aimed at establishing a united Germany and that his Turner schools were political and liberal clubs and he was imprisoned for several years.