Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

All centipedes are predators. They kill their prey with poisonous claws attached to their heads. The Giant Centipede is 30cm long and kills small mammals and reptiles. It is extremely painful to be bitten by one.

In 1811, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778-1852) invented gym. A German nationalist known as the Father of Gymnastics, he invented the parallel bars, the rings, the balance beam, the vaulting horse and the horizontal bar.

The German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was of peasant stock and was persistently mistaken by both students and colleagues at Marburg University for either a janitor or a heating engineer.

Martin Luther (1483-1546), the man who is often credited with starting the Protestant Reformation, was the son of a miner. He was a law student at Erfurt University in July 1505 when he was struck by lightning and thrown to the ground. Seeing this as a sign from God, he vowed on the spot to become a monk, which he did two weeks later.

See other: Quite Interesting Facts

2 Bundesliga

SSV JAHN REGENSBURG 3 (Sembolo 24 55 Müller J-M 44)

FC ST PAULI 0

Att 12,181

£1=€1.21

Entry €18 (Stehplatz/ Terrace)

Programme €1

Wimple/Pennant €8

Pin/Badge €4

I sometimes think that organised groundhops ought to be graded in terms of how hard work they are. Grade 1 would be a gentle 3 games in a day on the coach, whereas the last Welsh hop (11 games in 3-and-a-bit days) would be, perhaps a Grade 8. This trip, 6 games in two countries in 3 days covering over 900 miles would definitely be a Grade 10!

The idea was Lee West’s, seeing that his team St Pauli had a Friday evening fixture at Regensburg. He then found cheap flights to and from Birmingham to Frankfurt, so he was joined by Graeme, Martin and I and so we found ourselves at a Car Hire station at the Frankfurt airport, with a beast of an itinerary!

From there it took around 3 hours to drive to South-Eastern Germany, to Bavaria and the medieval city of Regensburg. The city is famous for its beautiful pure German Gothic cathedral and medieval bridge. Astronomer and mathematician Johanes Kepler hailed from here, and Oskar Schindler lived here after World War II until his eventual emigration to Argentina. Our first stop was to stop at the Jahnstadion to buy tickets for the evening’s game, as St Pauli are quite a pull at Zweite-Liga level.

From there it was a short drive to the eastern outskirts of Regensburg to the Etap hotel. There I learned a groundhopping top tip. All Etap rooms are the same, consisting of a double bed with a single bunk at right-angles above it. Since it was Lee who booked the room, he got the double, and I got to sleep in a bunk bed for the first time in over 25 years! If you don’t like climbing a ladder to get into bed then an Etap is not for you. I rather enjoyed the novelty!

With parking at the city centre-based ground at a premium we took the train into Regensburg Hauptbahnhof, and after having a meal, strolled though the exquisite old town to the stadium. Outside, representatives of the Bürgermeister (Mayor) were handing out postcards confirming that this will be the Regensburg’s last season at the Jahnstadion. A new ground is being built on the site of local side TSV Oberisling with a 15,000 capacity, and should be ready for next season.

None of which answered my question of why the “Jahn” prefix? That it transpired was after Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, whose ideas on sport and gymnastics greatly influenced German sport in the 19th century.

At the game security was tight. Martin had an apple confiscated in case he threw it (!), and it was clear that the 12,500 stadium capacity was going to be reached.  We found a decent vantage point just to one side of the half way line and surveyed the scene. The club’s elevation to the second division has meant an increase was needed from just the seats in the main stand. That need has been satisfied with a temporary stand behind one goal, all other areas are open terracing, something to consider when there’s rain. Some enterprising employees of the brewery behind the away end made good use of the scissor-lift to see the game, and in the tower block behind me a window provided a vantage point for fans with a banner stating, “Section for those banned!”

They were no trouble and sadly for Lee, neither were the visitors. Shorn of many of the better players from last season such as Moritz Volz, they barely provided a test for a rampant Regensburg side. In particular defender Marcus Thorandt had no answer to the movement of Regensburg forward Francky Sembolo. He collected a brace and may well have completed his hat trick if he hadn’t collected a stupid booking for waving an imaginary card at Thorandt after being fouled. Thorandt was booked for that foul, but Sembolo was quickly withdrawn. There was no point in risking him further with the tie won.

The St Pauli fans got behind their team but they were also keen to make a point to the DFB, the German Football Association that the kick off time was highly inconvenient for a team based in Hamburg, some 700km and 7 hours drive away. They unfurled a banner that was certainly to the point! I’ve included it in the pictures and I apologise if it offends! Trust me, it isn’t pretty!

With managerless St Pauli utterly lacking in any kind of threat, star striker Marius Ebbers was sacrificed, the thinking being that with the game was lost, keep your best player injury-free for battles yet to come. We stayed to watch the Regensburg celebrations after the final whistle, before retracing our steps, buying some beer as we went. That was because back at the hotel our friend Andreas from Stuttgart was waiting after attending a nearby Landesliga game. He’d booked in to the Etap as the next day required an early start…….

German Liga. 3

SSV Jahn Regensburg 03 v Weder Breman II 02 (att – cica 3000)

Städtische Jahnstadion, Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany

Team Talk. Regular readers of this blog will know that, despite its south London focus, the Pigeon Stands has from time to time strayed beyond what can strictly by regarded as the southern boundary of the M25. We know this is a bit self indulgent but we have nowhere else to write about visits to foreign places like France, Italy, and Yorkshire.

In keeping with this we could not help ourselves when the chance arose for a Christmas time blog about the German lower leagues. The focus of this trip was SSV Jahn Regensburg, the main team in Regensburg, Bavaria.

The football club formed part of a multi-disciplinary sports club that was originally founded back in 1886 with the football club itself starting around 1907. “Jahn” refers to Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, whose ideas of gymnastics greatly influenced German sports in the 19th century, so much so that he is often referred to as “the father of gymnastics”.

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn - not to be confused with Santa

In 1924, the football players (and apparently the swimmers) had had enough of the gymnasts, and left to form a break away club. The football club eventually became an independent club in its own right in 2000.

Arguably the club’s biggest success was winning the 2nd Oberliga Sud, what was the second division in Germany, in 1953. More recent achievements include winning the Bavarian Cup in 2010 and 2011.

Notable amongst the current bunch of Regensburg players is attacking midfielder Tobias Schweinsteiger (AKA Schweinsteiger II), older brother of Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Schweinsteiger I and II

Jahn have played in the the 3.Liga since it started in 2008. This is the third division of football in Germany between 2.Bundesliga and the semi-pro Regionalliga.

Today’s game was with Weder Breman II, the second team of the Bundasliga outfit. Jahn lay in second place in 3.Liga at the beginning of the day and could go top of the league with a win if other results went their way. A win for Jahn seemed likely as Weder Breman II were languishing at the lower end of the league.

Park the bus. Jahn have played at Städtische Jahnstadion, which is located in one of the smarter suburbs of the City, since 1926. The ground can easily be reached from the City centre on foot in about 20 mins (which includes a pleasant walk through the City park). Alternatively there are frequently buses.

Home Advantage. Like all good tourists I did some homework before the game, eager to learn the songs and customs that would allow me to blend effortlessly in with the Bavarian crowd. Luckily YouTube came to my rescue by hosting a video posted by no less than the Jahn Ultras (video below).

I made every effort to learn this song, and even asked a German speaker to translate some of the key words for me so that I could (1) understand what made the Ultras tick and (2) to make sure that I was not swanning around Regensburg singing anything deeply offensive.

As we approached the ground about half an hour before kick off it was clear that my hard work was going to pay off as this very same song could be heard blasting from the tannoy within 50 metres of so of the ground. I felt instantly at home.

We picked the tickets up from the club shop close to the main entrance on the west side of the ground. The shop is an open shed and looked like something between a Christmas market stall and the new shop at Dulwich Hamlet (shameless plug – open most match days selling fine pink and blue wares). The range of Jahn branded merch on sale was something else – my favorites being a teddy figurine in a football strip and the somewhat confusing looking salt and pepper dispenser.

The main entrance is through a brightly painted turnstile behind the stand. Once inside you head down a short walkway with walls decorated with Pannini sticker style pictures of the currently playing squad before finally arriving pitch side.

Main turnstile

The vast majority of the 11,800 capacity is given over to standing room, which is set out as concrete steps that run almost continuously along the east side of the pitch and both ends. The standing areas are entirely open to the elements (i.e. probably a bit grim if it rains).

East side

East end

Seats can be found in the impressive and largely covered stand on the west side of the pitch (although beware if paying for a seat, the front ten of so rows are uncovered). The stand also includes a VIP area which frankly is not much different to the rest of the stand. Complementary Jahn foam seat cushions are also available for everyone.

West side

A major feature of the pitch at Städtische Jahnstadion is that it stands in the shadow of a large brewery. This is exciting and convenient for anyone wanting to combine a football and brewery tour into an afternoon. The Bischofshof Brewery has been in Regenburg since at least 1649 and is actively involved in local life – including sponsoring yearly ironman contests and formally crowning a “beer queen” on the last day of the beer festival.

Brewery

All hail the queen of beer

The main crowd noise came from the 50 or so Regensburg Ultras, who were stood parallel with the centre circle on the east side of the pitch, beneath the clock. These guys were great and did a fantastic job of getting behind their team, led by a fella with a megaphone. I was unsure before the game what the German version of the Ultras would be like. It is fair to say that, if German football supporters like a sing song, the Ultras REALLY like a sing song. They belted out tune after tune (all different) for 90mins solid. Easily the best of these was “Jahn Regensburg… JA, JA, JA, JA, JA, JA, JA, JA, JA!!!!” to the chorus of On the Floor by Jennifer Lopez (see 1min 45sec on the video below if, like me, you have not heard this).

The Ultras

Prawn Sandwiches. Lovers of beer in big glasses and ham sarnies are VERY well catered for at Jahn. There is a burger (ham) van in each corner of the pitch. But the big draw here (particularly on cold December afternoons) is the bar. Located under the main stand the bar fantastically set out like a proper German beer hall. Bar service looked incredibly swift, partly because of the sheer efficiency of the staff (one pre-pouring and one taking money) and partly due to the restricted choice of one type of beer (Bischofshof of course). Ham sarnies were also available from a basket at the end of the bar.

An important thing to note about the bar is not to sit in the area marked “stammtisch”. This is reserved for the longest serving regulars of the bar. Sitting here will surely get you a bashing or at the very least a few disapproving glares.

Bar bouncer? Definitely not to be confused with Santa.

…and the game. Before the game the teams lined the tunnel with young kids as mascots. Each kid (bar one) got a high five from his/her player. The teams entered onto the pitch to Europe’s the Final Countdown. Coincidently we had watched Europe perform live on German TV the night before – yes they are still together. The Final Countdown finished and was blended effortlessly into pumping techno music. I am told that the techno was a reworking of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. The players must have been so pumped at the start of the game – I know that I was.

The game itself was actually a fairly forgettable. Regensburg took the lead very early on with a goal that was very scrappy. After this the home team struggled to string a couple of passes together and slowly allowed Weder Breman II to get into the game. Even the Ultras could not get these guys going. I was not at all surprised when the away team scored towards the end of the first half.

In the second half Regensburg were much better, due largely to putting a second striker on. This allowed Schweinsteiger, who had been playing on his own up front, to drop into midfield a bit more to get things going. Two more goals were to follow for Regensburg and one for Weder Breman II

Man of the Match. Despite there being a few candidates for this I have to choose the Regensburg Ultras. Firstly, they posted a video on YouTube that allowed me to get into the swing of things early. Probably more importantly they were truly relentless in the support of their team and were a real credit to the club on this occasion.

Post-match rub-down. Well worth a visit if you happen to be down this way. A fine football ground, friendly people, and close to brewery… I need say no more than this.

Jahns Mitstreiter im Anliegen, die deutsche Jugend physisch auf Vordermann zu bringen, um sie für die körperlichen und geistigen Herausforderungen des Militärdienstes vorzubereiten, waren Ernst Eiselen (links abgebildet), mit dem zusammen er im Jahre 1816 Die Deutsche Turnkunst herausgab, und der Magdeburger Friedrich Friesen. Beide Turner verdienen Beachtung auch in Hinsicht auf ihre Einflüsse auf die Ausbildung des Deutschen Hiebfechtens.

Nach Jahn ist das Fechten „eine wesentliche Hauptübung, und zur vollständigen Turnerbildung ganz unentbehrlich. Dazu muss es nach deutscher Art [d.h., nach Kreußler’scher Methode] auf Hieb und Stich, und beides links und rechts getrieben werden.”

Frisch, fromm, fröhlich, frei: Jahn'scher Turner mit (Manschett-)Korbschläger

Der bis dahin übliche Fechtbetrieb ist Jahn jedoch ein Dorn im Auge. Insbesondere nimmt er Anstoß an der akademischen Tradition, eine auf den Zweikampf zugeschnittene und daher stark vereinfachte Form der Fechtkunst zu propagieren: „Es hat der Kunst als solche geschadet, dass sie als Selbsthilfe und Kampfschirm ausschließlich betrachtet wurde. So hat sich jeder besondere Kampfbrauch in die Kunst gemischt. (…) Durch Stichblätter wie Suppenteller, durch Sturmhüte, Riesenstulpen, Schlaghosen und Stiefeln wie Löscheimer ist sie an den hohen Schulen sehr ausgeartet.”

Ein Blick auf die studentischen Stammbuchblätter dieser Zeit bestätigt, dass Jahn hier insbesondere studentischen Usus des Stoßfechtens mit dem alten Tellerrapier aufs Korn nahm.

„Siegfriedgestalt von großen Gaben und Gnaden”

Obwohl Jahn selbst keine detaillierten Fechtübungen in seiner Deutschen Turnkunst einschließt, spielte insbesondere die Hiebfechtkunst im Pantheon der deutschen Turner bald eine besondere Rolle. Schlüsselfigur ist hier Friedrich Friesen, ein Lehrer an der Plamann’schen Anstalt (wo später auch Otto von Bismarck die Schulbank drücken sollte). Jahn beschreibt Friesen als „ein[en] aufblühende[n] Mann in Jugendfülle und Jugendschöne, an Leib und Seele ohne Fehl, voll Unschuld und Weisheit, beredt wie ein Seher; eine Siegfriedgestalt, von großen Gaben und Gnaden, den jung und alt gleich lieb hatte.”

Diese überschwängliche Beschreibung ist zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Entstehung bereits ein Nachruf auf den toten Freund: Friesen fiel am 15. März 1814 in Frankreich.

Nach Jahn war Friesen nicht nur generell athletisch bewandert, sondern auch „ein Meister des Schwerts auf Hieb und Stoß, kurz, rasch, fest, fein, gewaltig und nicht zu ermüden, wenn seine Hand erst das Eisen fasste.”

Bereits vor der Ankunft Jahns in Berlin war Friesen im Jahre 1808 an der Gründung einer Fechtergesellschaft im Rahmen der Märkisch-Berlinischen „Kammer” des Tugendbundes beteiligt. Ernst Eiselen, der als in der französischen Methode ausgebildeter Fechter dieser Gesellschaft beitrat, kommentiert:

“Dieser Fechtboden wurde bald und oft von Fechtmeistern und starken Fechtern aus allen Schulen besucht, wobei denn die Gesellschaft nicht ermangelte, alle diese fremden Arten zu prüfen und aus jeder das Beste anzunehmen. Friesen brachte das Ganze in eine Ordnung und stellte selbst diese neue Art auch am reinsten in der Ausübung dar.”

Diese Fechtgesellschaft löste sich 1812 vorübergehend auf und stellte ihre Räumlichkeiten den Jahn’schen Turnern zur Verfügung. Als Eiselen aber ein Jahr später krankheitshalber vom Militär ausgemustert wurde, nahm er den Fechtbetrieb umgehend wieder auf. Da sich die Deutschen Turner stark im Widerstand gegen Napoleon engagierten, litt der Fechtsaal in den Kriegsjahren allerdings weiterhin an Personalproblemen: Mitglieder leisteten begeistert ihren Militärdienst, welchen jedoch viele — so auch Friesen — nicht überlebten.

Das Fechten der Berliner Turnschule wurde in den ersten Jahren ausschließlich direkt von erfahrenen „Vorfechtern” auf Neulinge weitervermittelt, ähnlich wie sich auch das studentische Schlägerfechten seit 200 Jahren fortgepflanzt hatte. Erst im Jahre 1818 fasste Eiselen, der sich als von Friesen „eingeschlagen” bezeichnet, die schriftlichen Fragmente und die praktischen Anweisungen seines Lehrmeisters in einem kleinen Büchlein zusammen, das in kleinster Auflage publiziert wurde (Dieses Buch ist heute so selten, dass mir lediglich drei Exemplare davon bekannt sind). Durch die 1819 verhängte „Turnsperre” fand es zur Zeit seiner Veröffentlichung auch wenig Beachtung, bis es 1882 in Regie des Heidelberger Turn- und Kampfsporthistorikers Dr. Karl Wassmannsdorff neu verlegt wurde.

Nach den Freiheitskriegen wuchs die Zahl der Fechter wieder an: Im Jahre 1818 hatte Eiselens Fechtboden 30 voll ausgebildete Mitglieder und 60 Anfänger, wobei der Andrang so groß war, dass lediglich die mangelnde Räumlichkeit einer weiteren Ausweitung entgegenstand: Es konnten jeweils nur acht oder neun Paare von Fechtern gleichzeitig fechten. Die Übungen konnten zudem nur bei Tageslicht stattfinden, was gerade in den Berliner Wintern die zeitlichen Gegebenheiten stark kompromittierte.

Systematik

Warum einfach, wenn's auch langatmig geht: Neue deutsche Terminologie zum Hiebfechten

Das „Einschlagen” durch Friesen und seine Vorfechter scheint jedoch nicht übermäßig komplex gewesen zu sein. Wassmannsdorff gibt an, dass Eiselen in den Monaten Februar und März 1812 ausgebildet wurde — eine für die Erlernung eines Fechtsystems extrem kurze Zeitspanne!

Im Sinne der dutschen “Kulturrevolution” bemühten sich Turner und Fechter, fremdsprachige Fachwörter durch deutsche Neuprägungen zu ersetzen. Ob diese notwendigerweise eine Verbesserung darstellten, sei dahingestellt. So benennt Eiselen die Hiebe nach ihrer Handposition. Aus der guten alten Hochterz wird ein „Hochkammhieb”, aus der Hochquart ein „Hochristhieb”, die Prim zum „Speichhieb”. Die verwendeten Waffen sind ein mit der modernen Paukglocke identischer „Hiebfechtel”, bzw. der vom Berliner Fechtmeister W. Lübeck entworfene „Bügelfechtel”, der das komplexe Bügelgefäß des Hiebes rigoros verknappte (Das Wort „Rappier”, bis dahin der akzeptierte deutsche Terminus für eine stumpfe Übungswaffe, war als Lehnwort natürlich zu „welsch”!).

Hauptcharakteristikum der Friesen-Eiselen’schen Methode ist jedoch das Schlagen der Hiebe aus den sogenannten „flachen Lagen” — welches der frühen Schlägerpraxis entlehnt ist (mehr dazu später) und im weiteren die Grundlage für das spätere Fechten aus der Verhängten Auslage bildet. Die Fechter dürfen die Mensur („das Maß”, d.h. den Fechtabstand) durch Vor- und Zurückweichen variieren. Ferner befürwortet Eiselen eine Schrägrichtung des Ausfalls. Die Hiebe selbst werden so ausgeführt, dass sie als Halbmesser eines Kreises mit Mittelpunkt im Zentrum der gegnerischen Brust gerichtet wurden. Dieses entspricht der bereits 1570 bei Joachim Meyer dargestellten Methode, die, auf den Kopf des Gegenpaukanten reduziert, identisch ist mit der „Einteilung des Kopfes als Scheibe” der modernen Schlägerpraxis.

Wie auch beim Schlägerfechten definiert Eiselen Deckung und Parade als synonym, wobei der Arm bei der Deckung wenig oder gar nicht aus der (flachen) Auslage bewegt wird. Ähnlich den Frühphasen des Schlägerfechtens wird eine Deckung allerdings reaktiv erst mit dem Angriffshieb des Gegners angesetzt. Die Ökonomie von Bewegung und Kraftaufwand erinnert an Liam Keeley’s Charakterisierung japanischer Schwertkampfsysteme:

„Meiner Meinung nach sind die wünschenswerten Eigenschaften eines effektiven Kampfsystems Effizienz der Techniken; Ökonomie der Techniken — alle überflüssigen Bewegungen werden vermieden; Knappheit der Techniken — die absolute Anzahl der Techniken ist sorgfältig begrenzt; und ein hoher Grad von Integration der Techniken innerhalb des Systems.”

Friedr. Ludwig Jahn

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, 1778 – 1852

Genau aus dieser Erkenntnis heraus versuchten die Alliierten im Zuge der “Umerziehung” der Deutschen und versuchen ihre heutigen Helfershelfer den Traditionsfluß der Deutschen abzubrechen und ein die Tatsachen anerkennendes Geschichtsbild zu verhindern. Sogar Sondergesetze, Verbote und gesellschaftliche Ausgrenzung von Kritikern müssen dabei Hilfsdienste leisten..

In Britain, a new word, jingoism, was coined to describe this mood of public enthusiasm for aggressive nationalism or imperial expansion. In the early twentieth century, the growing rivalry of European powers divided the continent into two armed camps, the Triple Entente, comprising Britain, France, and Russia, and the Triple Alliance, containing Germany, Austria, and Italy. When world war eventually broke out in August 1914, after a prolonged arms race and a succession of international crises, it provoked public rejoicing in all major cities of Europe. Aggressive and expansionist nationalism reached its high point in the inter-war period when the authoritarian or fascist regimes of Japan, Italy and Germany embarked upon policies of imperial expansion and world domination eventually leading to war in 1939.

What distinguished this form of nationalism from earlier liberal nationalism was its chauvinism, a belief in superiority or dominance, a term derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, a French soldier who had been fanatically devoted to Napoleon. Nations were not thought to be equal in their right to national self-determination. Rather, some nations were thought to possess characteristics or qualities which made them superior to others. Such ideas were clearly evident in European and American imperialism, which was justified by an ideology of racial and cultural superiority. In nineteenth century Europe, it was widely believed that the ‘white’ peoples of Europe and America were intellectually and morally superior to the ‘black’, ‘brown’, ‘yellow’, and ‘Indian’ peoples of Africa, Asia, and the colonies.

Indeed, Europeans portrayed imperialism as a moral duty; colonial peoples were the “white man’s burden”. Imperialism supposedly brought the benefits of civilization and in particular Christianity to the less fortunate and less sophisticated peoples of the world.

More particular forms of national chauvinism have developed in Russia and Germany. In Russia, this took the form of pan-Slavism, sometimes called Slavophile nationalism, particularly strong in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Russians are Slavs, enjoying linguistic and cultural links with other Slav peples in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Pan-Slavism reflects the goal of Slavic unity, which the Russians believed to be their historic mission. In the years before 1914, such ideas brought Russia into deepening conflict with Austro-Hungary for control over the Balkans. The chauvinistic character of pan-Slavism was derived from the belief that the Russians were the natural leaders of the Slavic people, and that Slavs were culturally and spiritually superior to the peoples of Central or Western Europe. It was anti-Western and anti-liberal.

Germany’s nationalist chauvinism was born out of the experience of defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. Writers like Fichte and Jahn reacted strongly against France and the ideals of its Revolution, emphasizing instead the uniqueness of German culture and its language, and the racial purity of its people. After unification in 1871, German nationalism developed a pronounced chauvinistic character with the emergence of pressure groups like the pan-German League and the Navy League, which campaigned for closer ties with German-speaking Austria, and for a German Empire, her “place under the sun”.

(to be continued… on the American Empire and the nature of nationalist chauvinism)