Elm mountain gymnastics festival

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Elm mountain gymnastics festival
DTB gymnast's cross
sports Athletics
gymnastics
Attendees international
meeting July
Duration one day
place Elm im Tetzelstein ,
Königslutter / Schöppenstedt
district Helmstedt / Wolfenbüttel
state Lower Saxony
founding August 19, 1866
organizer Elm Committee
management Norbert Haase
Website ntb-infoline.de
The round lawn on the Tetzelstein , place of the award ceremonies

The one-day traditional Elm mountain gymnastics festival in the Elm on the Tetzelstein between Königslutter and Schöppenstedt in the state of Lower Saxony is historically the second oldest mountain gymnastics festival held in Germany and has been held since 1866 until today.

program

The Elm-Bergturnfest is internationally open to participants, children, young people, adults and senior citizens. Participating groups and clubs can put on gymnastics or dance shows and performances. Individual competitions are about the walking prizes of the Lower Saxony Minister of Culture.

The organizer is the Elm-Bergturnfest e. V. An Elm committee formed by him designs and organizes the events for the Braunschweig gymnastics district.

sports

At the Elm mountain gymnastics festival, athletics and gymnastics as well as the following sports disciplines are offered

history

On Whit Monday, May 20, 1866, the gymnastics club of the Braunschweig Craftsmen's Association and the men's gymnastics clubs from Braunschweig , Helmstedt , Jerxheim , Königslutter and Schöppenstedt set out on a joint hike in the Reitlingstal of the Elm. During the excursion, the gymnastics supervisor of MTV Braunschweig , Medical Councilor Gustav Mack, presented the idea of ​​holding an annual gymnastics competition in the great outdoors. The clubs present brought this proposal to the Braunschweig district turntag on July 11, 1866, where it was approved. The first competition of this kind took place on August 19, 1866 on the Reitling. This was the hour of birth of the Elm-Bergturnfest, the historically second mountain gymnastics festival in Germany after the Feldbergfest in the Hessian Taunus .

In the years that followed, the venue did not remain constant, but changed between Reitling and Luttertal near Königslutter. It was not until 1887 that a "law for Elm gymnastics" stipulated that the place on the Tetzelstein should be the festival site of the Elm mountain gymnastics festival "for ever". There, on the historic connecting road from Schöppenstedt to Königslutter, a kiosk was opened in 1884. It was the forerunner of a forest restaurant that made the square a popular destination from 1894.

From 1887 to 1930 the Elm-Bergturnfest was a purely men's event, so-called honor maidens serve more as an ornament. They were allowed to collect oak leaves and use them to wind wreaths for the successful gymnasts.

During the First World War , most gymnasts were deployed as soldiers at the front and the Elm mountain gymnastics festival was suspended.

From 1931 girls and women were also allowed to take part in the Elm mountain gymnastics festival. After the group of participants expanded in this way, the competition facilities were gradually expanded.

Memorial stone from 1926 for the founder of the Elm mountain gymnastics festival, Medical Councilor Gustav Mack at the Tetzelstein -Lichtung

In 1926, a boulder south of the roundabout was dedicated as a memorial stone to the founder of the Elm mountain gymnastics festival, Medical Councilor Gustav Mack. A plaque attached to it bears the engraving under the gymnast's cross :

"The founder of the
People's competition
Medical Council
Dr. med. G. Mack
in grateful memory n
his faithful gymnasts
Tetzelstein, August 5, 1926 "

As early as 1928, a 100-meter running track was leveled northeast of the monument, which was a step forward compared to the previously used uneven forest paths with a high risk of injury and the road. By 1936 a total of five tracks, nine tracks for the shot put , nine systems for the long jump and six systems for the high jump had been built .

The Second World War put the Elm-Bergturnfest on hold, most gymnasts were deployed in the war, many women in war-important production companies.

In 1958, a 50-meter running track was built south of the forest restaurant, and throwing and jumping facilities were relocated to the forest area south of the parking lot created in 1935 in order to reforest the Tetzelstein. Today only one of these systems has remained there.

In 1991 another smaller plaque was placed below the engraved plaque on the memorial stone for Gustav Mack. It shows two gymnasts' crosses and the inscription:

"Renewed thanks
At the 125th Elm-Bergturnfest Am Tetzelstein
on September 8, 1991
in reunified Germany
The gymnasts "

The year 2002 was a tough turning point for the Elm mountain gymnastics festival. Due to the decreasing number of participants and a high financial deficit, the Braunschweig gymnastics district decided to suspend the event. To maintain the Elm-Bergturnfest, the organizers founded the Elm-Bergturnfest e. V. , which operates new concepts, fundraising and strong public relations.

Name and method of counting

The name Elm-Bergturnfest does not correspond to the historical name of the event. At first there was talk of a gymnastics competition, later of the Elm competition, then of the people's gymnastics in the Elm. The idea of ​​competition to determine the winner was new for gymnastics at that time, which was otherwise more about achieving the specified minimum performance.

The consecutive numbering of the Elm mountain gymnastics festivals does not correspond to historical truth. The count starts with the first Elm mountain gymnastics festival in 1866, but does not take into account the fact that, for example, no Elm mountain gymnastics festivals took place during the war years. In 2015 it was 149.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 144th Elm-Bergturnfest 2010  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on: turnkreisbraunschweig.de@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.turnkreisbraunschweig.de  
  2. ↑ Tetzelzeitung spring 2009 on: braunschweig-touren.de (PDF file; 1.8 MB)
  3. ^ Festive newspaper of the Braunschweig gymnastics district for the 125th anniversary of the Elm mountain gymnastics festival in 1991
  4. ^ Antje Fenner & Arnd Krüger : The history of the mountain gymnastics festivals in Lower Saxony, in: Hans Langenfeld (Hrsg.): Contributions to the history of sports in Lower Saxony. Part 1: 19th century . (= Series of publications by the Lower Saxony Institute for Sports History , Vol. 13) Hoya: NISH 1999, 127 - 135.
  5. ↑ http://www.elmbergturnfest.de/Ausschreibung_Elm-Bergturnfest_2015.pdf

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 11 ′ 45.3 "  N , 10 ° 47 ′ 28.3"  E