Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

was born in the village of in Brandenburg, Prussia. He studied theology and philology from 1796 to 1802 at the universities in , , and . After the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt in 1806, he joined the Prussian army. In 1809, he went to Berlin where he became a teacher at the and at the Plamann School. Brooding upon what he saw as the humiliation of his native land by Napoleon, conceived the idea of restoring the spirits of his countrymen by the development of their physical and moral powers through the practice of gymnastics. in 1811, and the (gymnastics association) movement spread rapidly. The conflict resulted in the closing of the in 1819 and arrest. Kept in semi-confinement successively at , and at the fortress in Kolberg until 1824, he was sentenced to imprisonment for two years. The sentence was reversed in 1825, but he was forbidden to live within ten miles of Berlin. He therefore took up residence at on the , where he remained until his death, except for a short period in 1828, when he was exiled to on a charge of sedition. While at , he received an invitation to become professor of German literature at Cambridge, Massachusetts, which he declined, saying that "deer and hares love to live where they are most hunted." In 1840, was decorated by the Prussian government with the Iron Cross for bravery in the wars against Napoleon. In the spring of 1848, he was elected by the district of Naumburg to the German National Parliament. died in 1852 in Freyburg, where a monument was erected in his honor in 1859. popularized the four Fs motto ", , , " ("fresh, pious, cheerful, free") in the early 19th century. ==Works==

bill from 1922 issues in Among his works are the following: • (, 1806), • (, 1810), • (Frankfurt, 1814), • (Berlin, 1816) • (Naumburg, 1828), • (, 1833), and • (, 1863). A complete edition of his works appeared at in 18841887. See the biography by (Berlin, 1894), and , by (Munich, 1895). == Contribution to physical education ==

exercises in an English translation of Treatise on Gymnasticks, 1828 promoted the use of parallel bars, rings and the high bar in international competition. Follen opened the first college gymnasium and the first public gymnasium in the US in Massachusetts in 1826 at Harvard College and in nearby Boston, respectively. A memorial to exists in St. Louis, Missouri, within its Forest Park. It features a large bust of in the center of an arc of stone, with statues of a male and female gymnast, one on each end of the arc. The monument is on the edge of Art Hill next to the path running north and south along the western edge of Post-Dispatch Lake. It is directly north of the St. Louis Zoo. On the plaque below his bronze bust, is given credit as "The Father of Systematic Physical Culture". Other memorials to are located in , Germany; Vienna; and Cincinnati, Ohio's Inwood Park in the Mount Auburn Historic District. An elementary school in Chicago, is named after . == Criticism ==

In his own time was seen by both supporters and opponents as a liberal figure. He advocated that the German states should unite after the withdrawal of Napoleon's occupying armies and establish a democratic constitution under the monarchy, which would include the right to free speech. As a German nationalist, advocated maintaining German language and culture against foreign influence. In 1810 he wrote, "Poles, French, priests, aristocrats and Jews are Germany's misfortune." At the time wrote this, the German states were occupied by foreign armies under the leadership of Napoleon. Also, was "the guiding spirit" of the fanatic book burning episode carried out by revolutionary students at the Wartburg festival in 1817. Scholarly focus on the of thought started in the 1920s with a new generation of interpreters like and . explicitly linked with National Socialism. The equation by the National Socialists of ideas with their world view was more or less complete by the mid-1930s. in which he characterized invention of gymnastics as an explicitly political project, designed to create the ultimate citizen by educating his body. claimed was the spiritual founder of Nazism who inspired early German romantics with anti-Semitic and authoritarian doctrines, influencing and finally, the Nazis. In a review of Viereck's book observed that portrait of cultural trends supposedly leading to Nazism was "a caricature without resemblance" relying on "misleading shortcuts." response in the same issue points out that it is clear from remarks that did not read far into the book. ==See also==