Franz Wilhelm Metz
Franz Wilhelm Metz (born October 6, 1817 in Leipzig , † April 27, 1901 in Hanover ) was a German typesetter and gymnastics teacher. Known as the “Lower Saxony gymnastics father”, he was an early sponsor of recreational sports in Germany, similar to gymnastics father Jahn . He not only promoted gymnastics , but also figure skating and roller skating . However, in keeping with the zeitgeist, his target group was exclusively male.
Life
Franz Wilhelm Metz was born in Leipzig in 1817 as the son of the master shoemaker Adam Reinhardt Metz and his wife Rosine Otto. As a child, he showed particular skill in gymnastics. In 1836 the trained typesetter founded a gymnastics society with like-minded people. He became a board member, was also a gymnast and kit manager. From 1839 he also worked as a gymnastics teacher. In 1842 he went to Darmstadt and was a co-founder of the Darmstadt gymnastics community . He also trained as a fencing and swimming instructor. In 1846 he moved to Mannheim , where in 1847 the gymnastics club was dissolved by the police. So he came to Hanover in April 1848, where he was immediately elected first gymnast and instructor of the Association for Physical Education of 1848 .
Metz now campaigned for the establishment of gymnastics clubs for men in numerous places in the Kingdom of Hanover . From 1848 to 1866 he was officially the founder of youth gymnastics at the higher educational institutions in the Kingdom of Hanover, and among other things, initiated the construction of the first gymnasium in Hanover. Metz set up gymnasiums a. a. in Lüneburg , Bremen , Verden , Osnabrück , Leer , Emden , Osterode , Celle and Hildesheim , became an honorary member of several gymnastics clubs.
Metz also did gymnastics in large cities, introduced calisthenics in Hanover and, as a good skater, founded roller-skating and ice-skating in Hanover. The first ice rink club was founded here in 1868 , shortly afterwards Germany's first roller skating rink. As if that weren't enough, in 1869 Metz had a so-called velocipede (bicycle) built out of wood, which he rode to Hildesheim . In the country, the unfamiliar vehicle was allegedly pelted with stones. In the same year he organized a velocipede competition in Hanover and founded a velocipede club . He also trained lifeguards and allegedly saved 24 people from drowning himself.
The writer Ernst Jünger set a literary monument to Franz Wilhelm Metz when he dedicated a chapter to him in his school novel Die Zwille , published in 1973, with the title The Turnstunde , in which he describes Metz as a teacher.
Metz married in Hanover on November 11, 1855 Kunigunde Auguste Dorothee Ravenstein (1836–1922), the daughter of the Frankfurt bookseller and gymnastics teacher Friedrich August Ravenstein and Kartharine Habuza. The marriage had seven children.
Franz Wilhelm Metz died on April 27, 1901 in Hanover. His grave monument , financed from donations, can be found in the Hanover city cemetery in Stöcken .
Honors
For his services to sport in Lower Saxony , he was included in the Lower Saxony Sports Honor Gallery of the Lower Saxony Institute for Sports History.
literature
- KH Quietmeyer: Franz Wilhelm Metz, pioneer for all physical exercises, pioneer and organizer of gymnastics in the province of Hanover. Hanover 1902
- Lothar Wieser (Red.): Sport in Hanover. From the city's foundation to today , ed. from the Lower Saxony Institute for Sports History, 1st edition, Hoya: Niedersächsisches Inst. für Sportgeschichte, 1991, ISBN 3-923478-56-9 , p. 49f.
- Kurt Hoffmeister: pioneer - doer - winner of sport in Lower Saxony. 160 short portraits , Braunschweig, Wendentorwall 18: K. Hoffmeister, 1998
- L. Wieser: To keep the covenant for times that are more favorable for gymnastics. In: Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter , New Series 49 (1995), pp. 205f.
- Dirk Böttcher : METZ, (2) Franz Wilhelm. In: Dirk Böttcher, Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein, Hugo Thielen: Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2002, ISBN 3-87706-706-9 , p. 251; online through google books
- Dirk Böttcher: Metz, (2) Franz Wilhelm. In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , p. 439.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Dirk Böttcher: Metz, (2) Franz Wilhelm. In: Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon , p. 251; online through google books
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Metz, Franz Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Promoter of recreational sports in Germany |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1817 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leipzig |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 27, 1901 |
| Place of death | Hanover |