Gerhard Vieth

Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth (1796); Engraving by JSL Halle

Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth (born January 8, 1763 in Hooksiel ( reign of Jever ), † January 12, 1836 in Dessau ) was a German teacher and gymnastics teacher. He implemented didactic reforms shaped by the Enlightenment and worked primarily for the recognition of a new physical education.

Life

Summary

The son of a lawyer and bailiff attended the provincial school (today Mariengymnasium ) in Jever between 1777 and 1781 , then from 1781 to 1786 he studied law, political science, camera studies, mathematics and physics at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and the University of Leipzig . The studies were interrupted by a job as a Hofmeister, initially in Zerbst, and later in Leipzig. After a brief activity as a lawyer, he was appointed to the Hochfürstliche Hauptschule in Dessau in August 1786, where he initially taught all subjects. In 1799 he became director of the school, a year later professor of mathematics, and in 1819 school councilor. Throughout his life, he kept in touch with the teachers of the neighboring, Europe-wide known Dessau reform school Philanthropinum , which was considered to have failed in 1793 and was dissolved.

In 1793 Vieth married his former maid Henriette Dorothee Beibler. The connection resulted in eleven children.

Childhood and youth

Gerhard August Anton Vieth was born on January 8, 1763 in Hooksiel in the Jever domain in Oldenburg.

The father Julius Eberhard Vieth had a job as in the rule Jever bailiff get later, he also worked as a dike inspector in order to earn a living for his family of eight. In the same year of employment, Julius Vieth married Katharina Auguste Gerdes, the only daughter of the chief preacher from Waddewarden . The young woman gave birth to a total of eleven children, of which Gerhard Ulrich Anton was the first to survive. He was followed by two brothers and three sisters.

The mother cared for the welfare of her eldest son with great devotion throughout her life. In a letter to him, she reported how touched she and his father were when he was born and how she nursed him back to health during a "bad rash" at home. She always seems to have been the loving mediator between father and son. This emerges from various letters, for example when it comes to Gerhard's fiancée: “As you made it clear to you to marry her, I (...) argued violently with him about it, he would like to give his consent [...]. "

Before attending the scholarly school at the age of 14, he was already receiving lessons from a private tutor. In the subjects Italian and French he taught his father, also Gerhard discovered his love for mathematics, meanwhile, earlier instructions. He spent his free time in nature, hiking or in his parents' garden. His musicality was also encouraged by his committed parents. His father taught him the first pieces on the violin , and he also received lessons from a deaf carpenter from Sengwarden.

In 1777 Gerhard attended the learned and provincial school (today Mariengymnasium) in Jever for four years. The main subjects were Latin and Greek. Since the math lessons were probably not sufficient, the father paid him additional private lessons. Overall, it seemed difficult for the lovingly brought up Gerhard to get used to the prevailing educational methods. He complained to his parents about the unbearable treatment, and once he even fled to his parents as a result. Thereupon the mother wrote to the eleven year old Gerhard that he should “run his business with more mindfulness” because he had already brought enough “unrest” into the family. Gerhard Vieth later described his school as "spoiled".

Academic years

The father chose the Georgia Augusta University in Göttingen for his eldest son to study. At that time, the university was still very young and was characterized by its freedom of teaching and censorship, which it granted its teachers, as well as the freedom to practice religion for Reformed people and Catholics . It was considered elitist and particularly distinguished, and was mainly attended by the nobility; this made them all the more attractive to the young men of the rising bourgeoisie. Thirty years earlier, the father himself had also studied law , mathematics and the art of surveying there , and now he was able to help his son set up his timetable and choose the courses.

In the spring of 1781, Gerhard set out on the long journey to Göttingen by stagecoach. It was difficult for him to say goodbye to his family and his homeland; in his letters he would later often speak of homesickness and how much he missed his beloved parents. During his studies in Göttingen, Gerhard was always in dire financial straits. He moved in the circle of professors and nobles and was forced to design his clothing and leisure activities accordingly. In order to increase his social standing and to be able to deal better with sources later, he studied English and French diligently in the evenings. But the lavish lifestyle of the noble society exceeded the budget that his parents were able to provide. Adel students had to pay double the fee for middle-class students for riding and fencing lessons, but the general cost of living was still very high.

In the spring of 1782 a government official from the noble family von Nostitz from Jeverland asked Gerhard whether he wanted to accompany his son to the university in Leipzig as court master . Gerhard was torn this way and that; On the one hand, he was flattered by the offer, and the prospect of coming to Leipzig appealed to him; on the other hand, he was not yet in a position to teach, since in his opinion his knowledge was too one-sided and insufficient. His parents advised him to take this step, his mother wrote: “Your assignment is important for you, your parents and your siblings”. Ultimately, Gerhard decided to take on the job, ultimately also with regard to the first self-earned money. He lived for a while on an estate owned by the von Nostitz family in Zerbst , where he was supposed to prepare the family's son, who had previously visited the philanthropist in Dessau, for his time in Leipzig. On September 29, 1782, while passing through to Leipzig, he visited the Philanthropin in Dessau for the first time. During his time in Leipzig, Vieth studied law, camera sciences , mathematics and physics, and he was active in vaulting , fencing and ice skating. Vaulting, as a forerunner of apparatus gymnastics, was part of fencing back then, as it was associated with various jumps over obstacles. But the offer of the university, which at that time was less geared towards research, as Vieth knew it from Göttingen, seemed less to attract him than the advantages of social life in aristocratic circles. He and his pupil regularly attended Gewandhaus concerts, the opera and theater performances, in order to familiarize the young man, who still seemed clumsy, with behavior in the relevant circles.

During this time, his debt increased steadily, as the investments in clothing and accommodation as well as the various social ventures far exceeded his court master's salary and the money that his parents regularly sent him was again insufficient. In addition, Vieth had to take out loans; In a letter to his father, he reported on the early repayment of half of a loaned sum.

But Vieth increasingly noticed that in these circles only money and the resulting power counted. He was downright disgusted by the superficiality of that social class. He also criticized this basic attitude in a character study that he carried out on his pupil. Vieth said that he could not have done anything with him because he had not accepted anything, probably for the reason that his fortune was large enough to get through the world unabashedly.

In July 1784, the privy councilor von Nostitz resigned his court master at Easter 1785. On the one hand, it was a relief for Vieth, since his work did not seem to bear fruit, but on the other hand, plans for the future that provided for another year of study in Göttingen were also invalid. as he could not expect any further financial expenses from his parents. His years of study ended without an exam and he had to return to his parents' house because of the financial shortage.

Years as a teacher and school principal

In August 1785 he was accepted into the ranks of the lawyers of the city of Jever. However, his job seemed to be rather unsatisfactory for him and living in his parents' house was not a permanent solution either.

So Vieth applied for a position as a teacher at the Philanthropin in Dessau . However, since there was no vacancy there, Carl Gottfried Neuendorf , the then director of the secondary school in Dessau , offered him a position as a teacher of mathematics, French and drawing.

At that time, Anhalt-Dessau was the only country in Germany that had had a state-pedagogically controlled school system for more than a decade, in which clerical influence had been greatly reduced. The Dessau Prince Leopold III. Friedrich Franz had recognized the advantages of the new philanthropic upbringing for his principality.

On August 7, 1786, Vieth began his work at the secondary school, especially since he had a guilty conscience towards his parents, who still had to support him financially despite four years of study. He believed that he could not refuse the offer of 300 thalers. His homesickness, however, tormented him very much and Neuendorf reported to the father that "the son felt very unhappy and was only in Dessau with half his soul."

In the course of time, however, he realized that his students trusted him and proudly reported on his educational successes.

After a long-standing relationship with Henriette Dorothee Beibler, the daughter of the school clerk, Gerhard asked the prince for permission to marry and for a house marriage, since the girl was already pregnant with their daughter. The parents were initially against this connection because his chosen one was employed as a maid and did not correspond to Gerhard's class. But Gerhard was convinced of Henriette's kindness of heart and her natural, common sense. He saw in her a friend for life and a good mother and housekeeper. The long and happy marriage resulted in eleven children. The meager salaries that civil officials received were barely enough to support the family, so Vieth had to regularly ask the prince for money. The dependence on princely graces, which Gerhard already knew from his parents' house, now also affected his family.

In addition to his work in school, Vieth published mathematical treatises in specialist journals, mathematics books and, in 1794, the first part of his encyclopedia attempt at an encyclopedia of physical exercises . The second part appeared in the following year in 1795 and the third in 1818. As a result, it gained recognition beyond the borders of Dessau. In doing so, he consciously placed himself in the tradition of the French encyclopedists, whose work on sport mainly included parties, riding and fencing. However, the constant hard work also ensured that his parents did not meet their daughter-in-law or their grandchildren.

Neuendorf died in 1799 and Vieth was his successor, initially as principal of the secondary school; He also took over the inspection of part of the other schools in the principality. During his tenure, however, powers that Neuendorf still had were withdrawn and he and his office were again placed under the supervision of the consistory .

The death of Neuendorf left a big gap; the clerical reform opponents saw this as their chance to reverse the philanthropist school reforms and restore the old conditions. Vieth had to grapple with hostile accusations, his decisions and proposals were in principle questioned or even rejected. When he suggested that the reading book Der Kinderfreund by Friedrich Eberhard von Rochow be reissued, the conservative consistorial councilor and superintendent Simon Ludwig Eberhard de Marées , who was appointed inspector for Vieths Prima , made a counter-proposal to the prince. He recommended abolishing the child friend as teaching material and instead reintroducing the "formerly customary gospels and epistle books [...], this would be the wish of many compatriots and the understanding of the older children themselves." Vieth's rights have been restricted more and more over time. In order to strengthen his position and to recognize his achievements, Prince Franz appointed him professor of mathematics in 1800. During his tenure, however, his financial worries did not diminish, as he now had to pay for the education and care of his children. In response to requests, the prince repeatedly granted partial amounts for the education of the children and the general livelihood of the family. So it was not only for Vieth, but also for most of the teachers in the country. This enabled the prince to be sure of their submissive loyalty.

Even if the philanthropic and reforming character of the secondary school could no longer be pursued so strongly after Neuendorf's death, Vieth made an effort to continue his official business in the sense of Neuendorf. He kept Neuendorf's lesson plan as far as possible. Due to the rapidly growing number of pupils, which could have been due to the quality of the school on the one hand, but also to the fact that students were exempted from compulsory military service, Vieth introduced the school leaving examination on February 18, 1816 . After the death of Prince Franz in 1817, nothing stood in the way of the consistory converting the school according to their ideas. They wanted a separation between the middle school and the scholarly school in order to restore a class character for the nobility and the upper middle class . Vieth did not agree with this restructuring. For this reason the consistory had to find another place for Vieth. They applied for his appointment to the school council and a member of the newly established Ephorates . That council consisted of three members and only had an advisory role for internal school decisions. The prince agreed and the higher rank brought Vieth an annual salary bonus of 50 thalers. He lost his direct influence on everyday school life. However, he retained his teaching post as a professor of mathematics.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the secondary school on October 5th and 6th, 1835, Vieth appeared in public one last time to give the main school speech. He died on January 12th after a long illness.

The pedagogue

Vieth was considered an enlightener , growing up in a religious family, he was confronted early with the effects of the feudal- absolutist arbitrary rule in his homeland. The father worked hard and diligently in the civil service and often received no salary for several years. The parents sacrificed their own wealth in order to provide the eldest son with a good education. This probably resulted in his attitude that people of every class should have a good education:

"This class of people, and it is the largest one, should be taken care of in schools, and it would be a very substantial and necessary improvement if that were to happen."

In Göttingen, Vieth became acquainted with true free spirits. In his letters he raved to his father about the learning and intelligence of his professors. He was particularly impressed by the mathematician Professor Kästner , who graciously looked after his students and did not look down at them arrogantly, as Vieth knew from his school days. With Feder , professor of philosophy , he came into contact with educational treatises for the first time. Feder, who dealt extensively with Rousseau's Emil and had published a treatise on pedagogical practice, pleaded in his work not to train children to be precocious scholars at the expense of their health, but to educate them holistically through daily exercise of body and mind. Vieth tried to convey this principle in the second part of his encyclopedia . In a comment in which he regretted that Prussia had banned the distribution of the Jenaische Allgemeine Literaturzeitung and other educational literature , it became clear how much he appreciated intellectual freedom. In his great school speech in 1835 he quoted Rousseau's famous words about the connection between body and mind, the mutual exercises of which are used for relaxation.

As a teacher, he asked the prince to have Friedrich Eberhard von Rochow's child friend reprinted. His suggestion that the reading book by Friedrich Philipp Wilmsen , an encyclopedia of non-profit knowledge, be introduced as reading material for the pupils was successful. Vieth also adopted the enlightened educational methods of the Philanthropinum for his own school. During his time as a teacher and director of the secondary school in Dessau, he took the view that violence was not a means of punishing students for naughty behavior, but rather that one had to keep them from doing those stupid things through a meaningful occupation of body and mind. In an article published in the Allgemeine Anzeiger der Deutschen in 1826, he defended the model school against its numerous critics with the words:

“Was the breeding in Philanthropin slack and weak? Was the method a game method? Is it a dull and slack discipline if one does not punish youthful offenses with rest, stick and carcer, but prevents them through supervision, and when they happen, brings the guilty to repentance through presentations? - Does it mean dull and slack discipline when one treats young people with love, like the father his children, when one speaks to them in the tone of the civilized world without forgiving anything and honors young people in young people ? Well! so I confess to this dull and slack breed [...]. "

He called the secondary school in Dessau “the first public higher education institution in which philanthropism came to reality”.

The teacher should treat his students with respect and be like a second father to them. He must first acquire the trust of his students, he should always treat his students with "seriousness and kindness". The school should promote the “own diligence” and “own thinking” of the students. In addition, Vieth insisted that the relationship between the school and the parents should be very close, since in the end we all pull together.

Neuendorf was also an opponent of punishment; he had directed the school with great determination and always believed in the good in people. He must have been a role model for Vieth, since after Neuendorf's death he tried to continue the school in his sense. Vieth himself saw his achievements in the fact that pedantic school discipline had given way to humane treatment and the subjects of mathematics, physics, but also music and gymnastics had received greater attention during his tenure; he explained this in his great school speech.

He made great strides in the field of foreign language pedagogy, the top priority of which, according to Vieth, was clarity. On his initiative, English and Italian became independent subjects at the Hauptschule.

Work and services

Today Vieth is best known for advocating the general promotion of so-called physical exercises , which he was the first to describe scientifically and systematically. Along with Johann Christoph Guts Muths and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , he is counted among the gymnasts in Germany . He recognized the benefits of guided, regular movement sequences early on, as, in his opinion, they could improve a person's health and strengthen their body , muscles and self-confidence. He saw another function of physical exercise in the "prevention of abuse of the sexual instinct". He complained that "only the mind" was allowed to rule the educational institutions and advised the establishment of sports facilities in public schools , stadiums , swimming pools and riding arenas, where, according to his ideas, vaulting , fencing and dancing should also be practiced.

Vieth was one of the first educators to come up with a methodology for physical education . The exercises, which should preferably be done in the great outdoors , should focus on variation and variety. The load rhythm always had to be considered , taking into account the age , condition , physique , strength and temperament of the respective athlete. He also included accident prevention in his considerations. Vieth - like Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who was later clearly influenced by him - placed great emphasis on discipline and military order.

In addition to his physical education works, he published textbooks on arithmetic , geometry and physics as well as an introduction to astronomy for young readers.

Central plant

The three-volume series Attempt at an Encyclopedia of Physical Exercises is considered the best-known and outstanding work by Vieth .

part 1

The first part is entitled Contributions to the History of Physical Exercise . It contains a collection of historical sources and travel reports that provide information about the physical exercises of foreign or long-extinct ethnic groups. With this volume, Vieth was the first to write a cultural-historical treatise on physical exercises. In the introduction Vieth writes about the naturalness of physical exercise:

“Physical exercises were undoubtedly already practiced in the most ancient times; this is in the nature of things. [...] Even the child strives to make use of his small strength. [...] Left to their own devices, [...] do everything in small ways that raised the Olympic champion to a demigod. "

Volume 2

The second part appeared in 1795 under the title System der physical exercises . It contains detailed instructions for a wide variety of physical exercises and their correct implementation. The second volume is divided into “passive” and “active exercises”. By "passive exercises" Vieth understands activities such as: sitting, lying, bathing, rubbing or carrying. He subdivides the “active exercises” into the genre of the “exercises of the senses” and the “exercises of the limbs”. He deals extensively with the health of all age groups, from correctly rocking the baby to the correct lying down of sick adults. In the course of his encyclopedia , Vieth keeps coming back to the "toughening" of the human and especially the youthful body. In a separate section he describes, for example, the problem of softness: "The warm baths are [...] a facility of luxury and softness". The natural man, on the other hand, is not effeminate. The simplicity with which he lives is thus a means against indolence, softness and lust. For example, he writes about lying:

“Since lying down is such a comfortable thing, it is not surprising that so many events have been held for it among refined and effeminate people. [...] For the common worker his poor litter is a more refreshing bed than for the sybarite his rose petals [...]. "" A harder bed that does not warm up [...] would give the young man's body the necessary rest [...] without indolence To promote softness and lust. "

His treatise is so detailed that he even deals with the question of whether one should plunge into the water while bathing, or rather go in, whether cold or warm water is preferable, whether with the feet or the head first and how long one should then bathe. In his treatise, too, Vieth does not disregard the subject of personal hygiene: With the quote "Our body is constantly evaporating, [...] the surface of the skin therefore needs to be cleaned often for that reason." Vieth complains that the Germans think of cleanliness had been lost and only recently “thanks to insightful doctors, the healing habit could be brought back into use”. "There aren't very many bathing houses in Germany [...], their general introduction would be very welcome."

Volume 3

The third part only contains additions to the parts already published. It appears in 1818 and thus closes the trilogy.

reception

Vieth received recognition above all for the detail of his work and the entertaining way in which it is formulated. Neuendorf praised the completeness at Vieth, who in contrast to Gutsmuths not only reports from his personal practice:

"But for the sake of scientific completeness, Vieth also describes the so-called 'passive exercises' [...] on 47 pages." Vieth's Encyclopedia also contains "an excellent treatise on vaulting, [...] [he] describes with delightful vividness [...]." "

Even Friedrich Ludwig Jahn knew to report the merits of Vieth: "Thankfully we still think of our foreman Vieth and Gutsmuths."

Gerhard Vieth memorial stone at PSV 90 Dessau-Anhalt eV

Memorial plaque in Hooksiel

Afterlife

In 1880, the Oldenburg Turngau had a memorial plaque attached to Vieth's birthplace in Hooksiel . The house burned down in 1929, but the plaque was salvaged. Streets in his place of birth and in Dessau are named after Vieth.

For his services to sport, Vieth was accepted into the gallery of honor at the Lower Saxony Institute for Sport History in 1988.

Since 1995 the Turnkreis Anhalt / PSV 90 Dessau-Anhalt eV has organized the annual Vieth memorial race .

literature

Primary literature

• Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth: Attempt of an encyclopedia of physical exercises. 3 vol., Berlin 1794, 1795, 1818.

Secondary literature

• Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, Ernest Wilhelm Bernhard Eiselen: The German art of gymnastics presented for the establishment of the gymnastics fields. Berlin 1816.
• Gustav Krüger: In memory of Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth. Dessau 1885.
• Gerhard Lukas: Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth. His life and work. Berlin [GDR] 1964.
• Edmund Neuendorf: History of the more recent German physical exercise from the beginning of the 18th century to the present. Volume 1, Dresden 1932.
• Karl Peters: GUA Vieth. The career of a Jeverlander to an important schoolboy and gymnastics teacher. Jever 1962.

• Carl Euler :  Vieth, Gerhard Ulrich Anton . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 39, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1895, pp. 682-684.

Web link

• Literature by and about Gerhard Vieth in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Friedrich-Wilhelm Schaer: Administrative and official history of the dominions Jever, Varel and Kniphausen . Holzberg, Oldenburg 2001, ISBN 3-87358-397-6 .
2. ↑ Arnd Krüger : The professors for riding teaching. The beginnings of the organized science of sport. In: Stadium. 12/13 (1986/87), pp. 241-252.
3. ↑ Johannes Thiemer: Foreword. In: Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth: Attempt of an encyclopedia of physical exercises. Reprint of the 1795 edition. Limpert, Dresden 1930, pp. V-XVI, here: SV
4. ↑ Arnd Krüger: Valentin funnel's heirs. The theory-practice problem in the physical exercises at the Georg-August University (1734–1987). In: Hans-Günther Schlotter (Hrsg.): The history of the constitution and the departments of the Georg-August-Universität zu Göttingen. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-525-35847-4 , pp. 284-294.
5. ↑ Louis Burgener (ed.): Les "sports" dans les encyclopédies de Paris et d'Yyverdon . Slatkine, Geneva 1987, ISBN 2-05-100827-2 .
6. ↑ De Marées quoted. after Gerhard Lukas: Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth. His life and work. Berlin [GDR] 1964, p. 121.
7. ^ Gerhard Lukas: Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth. His life and work. Berlin [GDR] 1964, p. 66.
8. ↑ Edmund Neuendorf: History of the more recent German physical exercise from the beginning of the 18th century to the present. Volume 1, Dresden 1932, p. 312.
9. ↑ Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, Ernest Wilhelm Bernhard Eiselen: The German art of gymnastics for the establishment of the gymnastics areas presented. Berlin 1816, SV

• ( V ) Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth: attempt of an encyclopedia of physical exercises. 3 vol., Berlin 1794.

1. ↑ p. 366.
2. ↑ p. 1f.
3. ↑ p. 96.
4. ↑ p. 97.
5. ↑ p. 108.
6. ↑ p. 90.
7. ↑ p. 91.
8. ↑ p. 108.
9. ↑ p. 105f.
10. ↑ p. 107.
11. ↑ p. 114.

• ( L ) Gerhard Lukas: Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth. His life and work. Berlin [GDR] 1964.

1. ↑ p. 51.
2. ↑ p. 298f.
3. ↑ p. 298f.
4. ↑ p. 260.
5. ↑ p. 54.
6. ↑ p. 208.
7. ↑ p. 210.
8. ↑ p. 56ff.
9. ↑ p. 240f.
10. ↑ p. 73f.
11. ↑ p. 270.
12. ↑ p. 245.
13. ↑ p. 84f.
14. ↑ p. 99.
15. ↑ pp. 92-96.
16. ↑ p. 131.
17. ↑ p. 256f.
18. ↑ p. 102.
19. ↑ pp. 111-113.
20. ↑ p. 113.
21. ↑ pp. 295, 301, 305.
22. ↑ pp. 114-138.
23. ↑ p. 210.
24. ↑ p. 289.
25. ↑ p. 348.
26. ↑ p. 348.
27. ↑ p. 128.
28. ↑ p. 128f.
29. ↑ p. 128f.
30. ↑ p. 136f.