On This Day (November 21)

By Joseph Candelaria

Gymnastics is a popular activity; if you've never heard of it, it's a combination of physical activities demanding both strength and coordination. Despite the fact that this sport is well-known throughout the world, we frequently ignore its origins. This brings us to the founding of the revolutionary and political group The Cincinnati Turngemeinde, which took place on November 21, 1848. The German word "Turnen," meaning "to practice gymnastics," is where the word "Turngemeinde" comes from. The founder of gymnastics, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, well known by his stage name "Ternvator," organized the Turnvereine, a team of boys from a Berlin grammar school who participated in physical education under Jahn's direction. Chanting patriotic slogans and singing traditional German anthems were used to incorporate the exercises with progressive political ideology.

The name "Turnen" was selected in relation to Napoleon's recent trip to Germany and Prussia with the intention of igniting a spark in German tradition. But promoting a military mindset amongst the population was the major objective. However, the monarchy at the time chose to pass a law against them because of the excerise's liberal nature. Even after the ban was abolished, many Turners were still forced to leave Germany because of political upheaval. That's how they ended up in America, and eventually established their own community in Cincinnati on this day in 1848. The Turners continued to practice the sport while celebrating their German heritage, and without them Gymnastics would not have been introduced here in the United States.

If you would like further reading on this topic, here are a few websites I suggest:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turners

https://special.ulib.iupui.edu/collections/german-american/mss038#:~:text=Over%20the%20next%20three%20decades,word%20for%20%E2%80%9Cgymnasts%E2%80%9D).

https://www.movementhealth.com.au/news/german-turnen-gymnastics-brief-history/