General German Gymnastics Festival 1863

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Bird's eye view of the fairground area

The 3rd General German Gymnastics Festival with around 20,000 participating active gymnasts took place from August 1st to 5th, 1863 in Leipzig . The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Nations .

History and planning

Leipzig 1863, the fairground at the bottom left

Immediately after the end of the 2nd  German Gymnastics Festival , the committee of the German gymnastics clubs in Berlin decided in September 1861 that the third event of this kind should take place in Leipzig in 1863. Originally Nuremberg and the Saxon trade fair city were considered for the event . It was decided to go to Leipzig to commemorate the Battle of Nations that had taken place there 50 years earlier. In addition, the General Gymnastics Club of Leipzig, which was founded in 1845 and has a large number of members, was a respected organizer .

On October 18, 1861, the Leipzig city council decided to provide an area of ​​21 acres (equivalent to almost 120,000 square meters ) on what was then Connewitzer Chaussee for this purpose . In addition, the city granted the festival committee founded on January 17, 1863 a loan of 75,000 thalers (the expenditure ultimately amounted to 68,000 thalers, the income 50,500 thalers). By this time, the Leipzig Turnrath, commissioned by the committee of the German gymnastics clubs , had already done organizational preparatory work and developed the main features of a festival program. In addition to a main committee, there were seven sub-committees that were entrusted with special tasks (for finance , construction , economic , housing , gymnastics, festival police and administrative matters). The gymnastics committee was headed by Justus Lion . The housing committee organized almost 14,000 free individual accommodations for the 16,000 or so gymnasts from abroad, and mass accommodations were available for 2,000 participants. Numerous regional railway companies of the German Confederation offered free return journeys or special discounts on presentation of the participation card, the Royal Saxon War Ministry provided around 3,000 woolen blankets for the mass quarters.

As admission fee for visitors to the festival grounds and the Festhalle five were Neugroschen (one visit) or a Taler ( Abonnnementpreis set), grandstand seats cost an extra.

  • Participation card for gymnasts

  • Admission ticket for the fairground (subscription)

  • Entrance ticket for the fairground (single visit)

  • Festival sign for the gymnast

Fairground and festival hall

Portal decoration of the festival hall
Site plan of the fairground

South of the city below the Zeitzer Tor , the fairground was laid out on a slightly elevated area on the road to Connewitz (today's location between Koch- and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße , roughly at the height of Kurt-Eisner-Straße). It took about 30 minutes to walk from the city center to the fairground. The facility was only completed shortly before the opening of the gymnastics festival. The actual gymnastics area was divided into five areas (an inner area for calisthenics and four surrounding areas) and was 500 cubits long and 360 cubits wide, which corresponds to about 283 by 203 meters. A wooden multi-storey Steigerhaus was built on the square . There were streets for the visitors around the square. On the west side of the facility, two large grandstands were built with a view of the gymnasium, which offered space for 5,000 spectators. Sales stalls were built to the east and south of the square .

An imposing festival hall was built on the northern side of the square , the designs came from the Leipzig architect and member of the building committee Constantin Lipsius . The richly decorated and mostly wooden structure was 400 cubits (226 meters) long and 60 cubits (34 meters) wide. The central nave was 34 cubits (about 19 meters) high, the two flatter side aisles 20 cubits (about 11 meters). The front and back were equipped with large rows of windows, the lower ones decorated with fabrics and the upper ones with stained glass . The main front towards the gymnasium was marked by four towers with pyramid- roof- shaped flag structures. The two outer corner towers, almost 30 meters high (45 meters with a flag structure) were equipped with a staircase and a viewing platform halfway up. The two centrally located 55 cubits (around 31 meters, with a flag structure 47 meters) high towers framed the portal of the festival hall. A clock in the left tower indicated the hours, one in the right the minutes. Above the high main entrance were three allegorical panel paintings by Heinrich Leutemann , the upper end of the portal was a colossal statue depicting Germania and eight cubits high (about 4.50 meters) , created by the Leipzig sculptor Ludwig Albrecht.

In addition to the large ballroom, which had around 6,000 seats, the building housed two large kitchens that were run by four Leipzig restaurateurs . During the gymnastics festival, 250 waiters provided entertainment for the guests.

The fairground was the first temporary sports facility for major events in Germany.

The gymnastics festival

The festival hall on the fairground
Leipzig gymnasium, 1863

August 1st

The first event of the festival took place in a room of the largest gymnasium in Germany, built in March 1863, on the corner of Turnerstrasse and Leplaystrasse, where the committee of the German gymnastics clubs met . The first day was mostly used for the arrival of the gymnasts. Special trains were sometimes used to travel to the five Leipzig train stations , so four large trains from Berlin arrived in Leipzig in the evening at intervals of 10 minutes. Members of the housing committee and local gymnasts led the participants from the train stations to the decorated town hall , where the instructions for accommodation, signs and plans were distributed. The club flags were brought to the rifle house for temporary storage, and the official welcome event took place here in the evening, at which Leipzig Mayor Carl Wilhelm Otto Koch gave the opening speech.

Schützenhaus Leipzig, around 1835

August 2nd

As early as 5 a.m., various music corps marched through the city to wake up the gymnasts. August 2nd was officially declared a gymnastics day and had a conference character. Almost all day long, a conference with around 300 members of German gymnastics clubs took place in the large hall of the shooting club, under the leadership of the committee of German gymnastics clubs , of which Ferdinand Goetz was the managing director . At 1 p.m., a feast with around 6,000 participants was held in the festival hall under the honorary chairmanship of Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust . B. Moritz Busch , Roderich Benedix and Emil Adolf Roßäßler . The fairground was used intensively all day long by those gymnasts who did not take part in the conference in the Schützenhaus.

3rd August

The focus of this day was a big pageant with all participating gymnasts towards the festival area. The pageant started around noon on Augustusplatz and led through almost all of the major streets in downtown Leipzig. B. from Amsterdam , Basel , Chur , London , Melbourne , Pisa , Zurich or Hoboken . It took him about 90 minutes to pull past a viewer. Ferdinand Goetz gave the address after the train arrived at the fairground. Then in the afternoon there was a large exhibition gymnastics, in which between 7,000 and 10,000 gymnasts took part. A gymnast gave the 26 calisthenics from the Steigerhaus. From 9 p.m. a night maneuver by the gymnast fire brigade was carried out on the fairground , the Steigerhaus , which had been prepared with Bengali fire , supposedly went up in flames and was extinguished by the gymnastics fire brigade.

Award ceremony after the free-style gymnastics and competition on the fairground

4th of August

From 9 a.m., the participants of the local ATV Leipzig 1845 moved to the fairground in order to then organize a two-hour free and show gymnastics on various devices (including on the horizontal bar and on the horse ). After a second large feast in the hall, a multi-hour free-style gymnastics and competition with a subsequent assessment and award ceremony by the chairman of the committee of the German gymnastics clubs , Theodor Georgii , took place on the gymnastics area . These competitions were made up of disciplines from athletics . In a race , the participants had a range of 574 Rhenish foot to cover (about 180 meters), while putting the stone had a had a 1/3 inch hundredweight (about 16.5 kg) heavy ball being pushed, besides, there was the discipline long jump and High jump . A wreath made of oak leaves was presented to the winners . In the evening Heinrich Joseph von Collins Regulus was performed for the participants in the gymnastics festival in the Leipzig City Theater .

5th of August

In the early morning of the last day of the festival, the gymnastics fire brigade excercized on the fairground from 6 a.m. Numerous gymnasts left the city on that day, so that only about half of the registered participants took part in the celebrations to commemorate the Battle of Nations. At around 10 a.m., the train that had started two hours earlier in downtown Leipzig arrived at the fairground. After a speech by Heinrich von Treitschke , there was a celebration in memory of the Battle of Nations. A sudden violent storm prevented the planned conclusion of the gymnastics festival with an inspection of the battlefield and an evening fireworks display . The foundation stone of the new spherical monument in Marienstraße had already been laid that day in the presence of numerous gymnasts , at the grave in the Johanniskirchhof the festival participants from Königsberg honored the captain of the Landwehr battalion there, John Motherby , who fell in Leipzig on October 19, 1813 .

General

On all days of the gymnastics festival, music and concert events took place in various locations (garden of the Schützenhaus, festival area and hall) , including a performance by around 1,000 members of Leipzig men's choirs on August 2nd . During the events on the fairground, the Leipzig gymnastics fire brigade provided the festival police. Most of the shops in the festively decorated city were closed during the gymnastics festival so that as many residents as possible could take part in the celebrations. The first verifiable photograph of a winner at a German gymnastics festival was taken in Leipzig, it shows the Merseburg gymnast Ludwig Bethmann, who emerged as the winner of the race on August 4th.

A total of about 20,000 active gymnasts and guests from 14 countries took part in the 3rd German Gymnastics Festival, including about 4,600 gymnasts from Saxony and over 1,100 from Austria . During the festive season, more than 150,000 people stayed in the city, which itself had about 85,000 inhabitants at the time. A plaque to commemorate the event on the market side of the Old Town Hall , unveiled on the last day of the festival, was restored on the occasion of the German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig in 2002 and attached to the house where Ferdinand Goetz was born.

  • Impressions from the Illustrirten Zeitung

  • Arrival of the gymnasts at the town hall

  • The Leipzig gymnastics drummers corps

  • humorous portrayal of the gymnast's quarters

  • Fairground

  • View of the fairground

  • Interior view of the festival hall

  • Pageant in the market

  • pageant

  • Gymnast fire brigade and festival police

  • Celebration of Allgäu gymnasts

  • Turner from Munich

literature

  • The German gymnastics festival in Leipzig. Detailed description of the festival and faithful reproduction of the speeches. According to the reports of the "Berliner Abend-Zeitung" completed by their reporter . Herrmann, Berlin 1863, SWB online catalog 356202402 .
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Ebeling (Ed.): Complete and accurate description of the festival of the third general German gymnastics festival in Leipzig on August 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th, 1863 . [nine numbers under the inside title: The observer. Daily chronicle of the Third General German Gymnastics Festival ]. Verlag der Schulbuchhandlung, Leipzig 1863, SWB online catalog 311853595 .
  • The gazebo. Illustrirtes Familienblatt 11 (1863), No. 22, pp. 346-350; No. 30, pp. 475-477; No. 34, pp. 542-544; No. 35, pp. 556-560; No. 36, pp. 567-569; No. 37, p. 588 f; No. 38, pp. 603–605, ZDB -ID 2578256-3 ( digitized 1st half volume , digitized 2nd half volume from Google Books, accessed on May 15, 2019)
  • Georg Hirth, Eduard Strauch (Hrsg.): Sheets for the third general German gymnastics festival in Leipzig, 2nd to 5th August 1863 . [13 numbers with a supplementary number from 1864]. Keil, Leipzig 1863-1864, ZDB ID 48753171X .
  • Illustrirte Zeitung 41 (1863), No. 1048, pp. 73 f, 76-82, 84, 88; No. 1050, pp. 109, 111-118, 120-122, ZDB ID 2652100-3 .
  • Leipzig gymnast leader. Escort to the third German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig on August 2-5, 1863 . Weber, Leipzig 1863, SWB online catalog 398009023 ( digital copy from SLUB Dresden , accessed on May 15, 2919).
  • MJ London (Ed.): Directory of names of the 20,000 gymnasts of the III. German gymnastics festival in Leipzig 1. – 5. August 1863. In addition to the description of the festival and a speech by Professor v. Treitschke . Vollrath, Leipzig 1863, SWB online catalog 409510343 ( digital copy of SLUB Dresden, accessed on May 13, 2019).
  • Plan of the third German gymnastics festival in Leipzig from August 2nd to 5th, 1863 , ed. from the festival committee. Wiede, Leipzig 1863, SWB online catalog 356202607 .
  • Gymnastics guide for the third general German gymnastics festival in Leipzig on August 1st to 5th, 1863. An illustrated handbook for locals and festival visitors . Priber, Leipzig 1863, SWB online catalog 398149666 ( digitized version of SLUB Dresden, accessed on May 13, 2019).
  • Gymnastics Festival Calendar 1863. Program covering all the festivities at the Third German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig . Waldow, Leipzig 1863, ZDB -ID 2581126-5 .
  • Karl Markert: The III. German gymnastics festival 1863 in Leipzig . In: Georg Merseburger (Hrsg.): Leipziger Calendar. Illustrated yearbook and chronicle . Merseburger, Leipzig 1913, pp. 149-165, ZDB -ID 546526-6 .
  • Volker Rodekamp (Ed.): SPORT: LOOK. German Gymnastics Festival 1860–2002 , Leipzig City History Museum, Sports Museum. Leipzig 2002, DNB 96455030X .
  • Gymnastics festivals. The city as a stage . In: Volker Rodekamp (Ed.): On the move. Milestones in the history of sports in Leipzig (topic M. 20). Leipzig 2018, ISBN 978-3-910034-80-8 , p. 134 f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Turnführer 1863, p. III.
  2. ^ Karl Markert, 1913, p. 151.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Trapp , Heinz Wallerus: Handbook of dimensions, numbers, weights and the calculation of time . 5th edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-15-010587-0 , p. 253.
  4. ↑ a b Karl Markert 1913, p. 164.
  5. ^ Karl Markert 1913, p. 152.
  6. ↑ Turnführer 1863, p. IV, IX f.
  7. ↑ Fairground regulations . In: Plan of the third German gymnastics festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 16.
  8. ↑ a b Karl Markert 1913, p. 153.
  9. ^ The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig. II. The ballroom and the festival hall . In: Illustrirte Zeitung 41 (1863), No. 1048, p. 78.
  10. ↑ a b From the festival area . In: Georg Hirth, Eduard Strauch (Ed.) 1863, p. 13.
  11. ↑ a b c A look into the festival hall and the fairground . In: Leipziger Turner-Führer 1863, p. 58 ff.
  12. ↑ Wolfgang Trapp, Heinz Wallerus: Handbook of dimensions, numbers, weights and the calculation of time . 5th edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-15-010587-0 , p. 251.
  13. ↑ The festival hall; the fairground; the guests . In: The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig 1863, pp. 29–31.
  14. ↑ Construction of the fairground . In: Friedrich Wilhelm Ebeling (Ed.) 1863, No. 1, p. 3.
  15. ↑ Hth .: For National Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig . In: The Gazebo . Issue 30, 1863, pp. 475-476 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).
  16. ^ The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig. II. The ballroom and the festival hall . In: Illustrirte Zeitung , 41, 1863, No. 1048, p. 82.
  17. ↑ Gymnastics festivals. The city as a stage . 2018, p. 134.
  18. ^ Wolfgang Metz: Where Leipzig got in motion. The first gyms in the city . In: Volker Rodekamp (Ed.): On the move. Milestones in the history of sports in Leipzig (topic M. 20). Leipzig 2018, ISBN 978-3-910034-80-8 , p. 99 f.
  19. ↑ Travel and Arrival . In: The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 2.
  20. ↑ General plan . In: Plan of the third German gymnastics festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 3.
  21. ↑ a b The reception . In: The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 7.
  22. ↑ a b c The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig. VIII. The first feast day . In: Illustrirte Zeitung 41 (1863), No. 1050, p. 114.
  23. ↑ The negotiations of the gymnastics day . In: The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 13 ff.
  24. ^ Karl Markert 1913, p. 156.
  25. ^ Karl Markert 1913, p. 158.
  26. ↑ From the festival city . In: Friedrich Wilhelm Ebeling (Ed.) 1863, No. 4, p. 34.
  27. ^ Karl Markert 1913, p. 159.
  28. ↑ From the festival area . In: Friedrich Wilhelm Ebeling (Ed.) 1863, No. 5, p. 42.
  29. ^ The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig. IX. The second feast day . In: Illustrirte Zeitung 41 (1863), No. 1050, p. 118.
  30. ↑ a b Karl Markert 1913, p. 160.
  31. ↑ Wolfgang Trapp, Heinz Wallerus: Handbook of dimensions, numbers, weights and the calculation of time . 5th edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-15-010587-0 , p. 249.
  32. ↑ Train and gymnastics regulations . In: Plan of the third German gymnastics festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 13.
  33. ^ Karl Markert 1913, p. 161.
  34. ↑ a b General plan . In: Plan of the third German gymnastics festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 4.
  35. ^ The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig. X. The third and fourth feast days . In: Illustrirte Zeitung 41 (1863), No. 1050, p. 122.
  36. ↑ a b Karl Markert 1913, p. 161 f.
  37. ^ Concert regulations . In: Plan of the third German gymnastics festival in Leipzig 1863, p. 3.
  38. ^ Karl Markert 1913, p. 155.
  39. ^ The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig. V. The festival police . In: Illustrirte Zeitung 41 (1863), No. 1048, p. 88.
  40. ↑ a b c 3rd general German gymnastics festival in Leipzig, 1st - 5th August 1863 . In: Volker Rodekamp (Ed.) 2002, p. 13.
  41. ↑ Thomas Schnitzler: Between political manifestation and athletic gymnastics. On the change in the German gymnastics festival culture in the Empire, shown at the two major Leipzig events of 1963 and 1913 . In: Volker Rodekamp (Ed.) 2002, p. 60.
  42. ↑ MJ London (Ed.) 1863, p. 1 ff.
  43. ^ The German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig. IX. The second feast day . In: Illustrirte Zeitung 41 (1863), No. 1050, p. 115.
  44. ↑ Frauke Gränitz: Data and facts on the history of the city of Leipzig (sources and research on the history of the city of Leipzig 5). Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2013, ISBN 978-3-86583-721-9 , p. 25.