Homburg gymnastics community 1846

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The Homburg Turngemeinde 1846 e. V. , HTG for short , is a sports club from Bad Homburg vor der Höhe .

The club, founded in 1846, is the oldest and largest popular sports club in the Hochtaunus district .

sports

HTG offers a wide range of sports in a total of 21 departments, some of which are Bundesliga teams. In addition to classic ball sports, this also includes a department for integrative sports in cooperation with local schools and public institutions. The following are offered in detail:

history

founding

Club gymnastics began in Homburg in 1844. At that time, a gymnastics society was established, which "mainly entertained gymnastics" in a member's garden in the evenings. As a result of the death of this member, the society ceased its activities in the same year.

A real gymnastics club with an elected board and written statutes was established in 1846, mainly as a result of the special benevolence that gymnastics enjoyed from the Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, Philip , governor of the Mainz fortress . Landgrave Philipp sent two NCOs from the Homburg hunters to the Müller gymnasium in Mainz, where they trained to be gym instructors. After their return, they introduced regular gymnastics lessons to the Homburg military. One of the same "Franz Denfeld" from Kirdorf founded the "Homburg Turngemeinde" with 23 like-minded people on May 1st, 1846. The young club grew rapidly. On June 18, 1846 he was confirmed by the Landgrave's government. Adam Sadtler was elected as the first speaker, while Georg Scheller was Säckelwart. For the third Feldberg Festival on June 12th, the club appeared with music.

"Serenissimus" had allowed the music corps of hunters in gymnastics costume to move with the club to the Feldberg.

In the same year Homburg Jungfrauen presented the association with a self-embroidered flag (still in the original possession of the association today). The symbols on the flag are the cross that gymnasts have wielded in their coat of arms since the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon. The sword is intended to encourage youth to fight valiantly when enemies threaten the fatherland. The torch is supposed to illuminate victory. The owl is the symbol of vigilance and the oak is the symbol of power and strength.

Landgrave Philipp died on December 15, 1846. He not only played an important role in founding the association, but was also available as a tireless advisor and helper in all cases.

After that the association experienced various restrictions on the part of the authorities, but developed more and more flourishing, supported by the favor of the fellow citizens.

Milestones in HTG history

At the fourth Feldberg Festival in 1847, six members of the gymnastics community won prizes. In the summer of 1849 a large folk festival took place in Homburg. Gymnastics father Jahn , then a member of the German National Assembly in Frankfurt , appeared at the same and gave a speech. Landgrave Ferdinand , who had taken over the affairs of government last year, viewed the German national sentiment and the, albeit peaceful, gatherings of gymnasts with the greatest suspicion. Although the association stayed away from the political movement of that time, it fell victim to the reaction that soon followed. The management of the sixth Feldbergfest was entrusted to the association by the main committee. The necessary invitations had already been issued when Landgrave Ferdinand, who had taken over the rule last year, definitely forbade the Homburgers to participate. The association was informed on February 17, 1852: in accordance with the rescripts of the Landgravial State Government II. Deputation that Se. Landgrave Highness Ferdinand saw himself prompted by the highest special order to order the dissolution of the existing gymnastics clubs in the Landgraviate, especially in this city. The third gymnastics association in Homburg in 1862 was called the “ youth club ” for political reasons . A request to the government to rename the youth club to "gymnastics club" a few months after it was founded was refused. At the 11th Feldbergfest in 1863, the association successfully participated. The association was officially dissolved on September 18, due to a procession that it had made through the city on the occasion of the 5th Mainthal Singing Festival. The founding day of the current “Homburg Gymnastics Club” (today Homburg Gymnastics Community) is July 1, 1869. In 1870, the club was given the flag of the former “Homburg Gymnastics Community”. Georg Schudt was elected first speaker. The association founded a fencing department in 1881. 32 members left the club in 1888 and founded a new club: the gymnastics club "Vorwärts". The association celebrated the 25th anniversary of its existence in 1894 with the general participation of the citizens, and in the same year it was granted the rights of a legal person by the highest decree.

The Homburg gymnastics club joined the newly created "Mittelrheinischen Spielverband" (Middle Rhine Game Association) in 1900, which strived to promote gymnastics and youth games as much as possible while strictly observing gymnastics principles. Fistball was particularly popular in Homburg. You achieved remarkable achievements in this sport. The Homburg fistball players won many first places. The playground behind the Luisenbrunnen, which the City of Homburg's magistrate made available to the club, served the club as a playground.

Former Jakobskirche, from 1905 to 2012 the HTG gymnasium in Dorotheenstrasse 5

The association grew and grew, the gym building fund, which had existed for a few years, was well filled, and so the question of purchasing a hall could be approached seriously. The reformed church on Dorotheenstrasse , which had been used by the Catholic community for years, stood empty and seemed to be a suitable home. Years of extreme thrift and the willingness of the members to sacrifice made it possible to pay the purchase price of 28,000 gold marks. The donation of a strip of land adjacent to the church also allowed the association to make the necessary extension. In 1908 the club took an active part in the competitions with 70 gymnasts and was able to achieve some good places. Two years later a snowshoe department was established.

Memorial stone for gymnastics father Jahn in front of the new HTG sports complex on Niederstedter Weg

In 1912, the club took the sedan celebration , which was common in Germany at that time, as an opportunity to set a memorial stone for gymnastics father Jahn on its own property (still well preserved today). The First World War suddenly stopped the further development of gymnastics clubs in Germany. As soon as the war broke out, many members had to go to the soldiers. Many of the older members did not return from the war and so the hope and responsibility for the next few years lay in the hands of the youth. The years after the war brought the association an unexpected increase in members. Games and folk gymnastics grew everywhere. On October 21, 1922, the long-awaited inauguration of the new sports field at the freight yard (today Frolingstrasse) took place. The site came into the private ownership of the association through donations of land and purchases. The members had made up their minds to further expand the course in self-help. Funds were raised through share certificates and donations. The last few years have been particularly successful for the gymnasts from Homburg. They excelled in particular at the various mountain festivals. Game operations expanded a lot after the war. The club had a football department and played fistball, handball and drum ball very successfully. The association received its own newspaper in 1926.

At the general meeting on September 22nd, 1929, after a lengthy discussion, it was decided to dissolve the previously independent gymnastics department and to join the women and gymnasts as full members with all rights to the club. Two spokespersons were elected, who from now on belonged to the main board. Difficult years began for the liberally structured gymnastics clubs, such as the Homburg gymnastics club. The club management changed constantly. Nobody wanted to run the club under the changed conditions. In the end, they found F. Kofler, a man more closely connected to gymnastics than to politics, who led the club until 1945. All gymnastics and sports clubs were merged in the large National Socialist Reich Association for Physical Exercise (NSRL). The two Homburg clubs merged in 1934 and from that day on they called themselves again "Homburg gymnastics community". In 1938, the NSRL created a uniform statute for all associations in Germany. According to the leadership principle of the NSDAP, the first chairman now had to call himself “club leader”. The Aryan paragraph was introduced. From 1940 the club leader could no longer be elected by the members. He was "ordered" by the sports district leader. Despite all these difficulties, the Homburg gymnastics community still tried to lead a somewhat successful "life of its own", not least thanks to its own sports facilities. The gym on Dorotheenstrasse was hit by fire bombs in 1942. Major damage could be prevented by members who happened to be present. Since there were no independent clubs in Germany under the National Socialists and sport in particular was totally politicized, the occupying powers ordered the dissolution of all clubs in 1945. The HTG, however, simply continued to exist illegally and after its official re-establishment in 1947 it had already achieved some valuable sporting successes. So z. B. at the district gymnastics festival in Homburg in 1946.

It was not until 1954 that the long-awaited decision came that the hall would be returned to the association nine years after the end of the war. American soldiers had previously played sports there. The number of members has increased 200+ from around 3000 to around 3250. 160 years of HTG were celebrated on the occasion of the topping-out ceremony for the new sports park. The 30th anniversary of the dance sport department was also celebrated. The Feri-Sportpark in Niederstedter Weg was opened in 2007.

HTG today

As an association of the city of Bad Homburg, HTG is involved in many different fields. For example, it offers "sporty" afternoon care with the Bad Homburg high schools, as well as sports for people with disabilities in cooperation with the Bad Homburg community. Over the past few years, HTG has received several awards for its work and has been certified by various associations.

Inclusive sport

In a specially established I-Sport department, children, adolescents and adults with disabilities are given sporting support. Specific exercise offers, taking into account the developmental characteristics of the participants, are the basis of the offer. All trainers are supported by supervisors from Lebenshilfe Bad Homburg.

Training hours in I-Judo and I-ball sports are offered, which in turn cover all common ball sports such as soccer, handball and basketball.

ThinkSport

The DenkSport concept offers parents afternoon care for children in the club. After school, a balanced meal is offered along with drinks containing electrolytes, also for the following homework time and the sports lesson. As part of the DenkSport, a wide variety of sporting activities are offered every two weeks.

successes

The HTG successfully operates a league and competitive sport in many departments. Among other things, successes in German championships as well as European and world championships were achieved.

Judo

The judo department of the club fights today in the 2nd Bundesliga, as well as in the regional and major leagues. Individual judoka were and will be appointed to the German national team.

  • In the past, HTG provided numerous German champions (excerpt from 1980) in their classes in 1980, 1985, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2015
  • A number of medals have also been won at European and World Championships.

basketball

The sixth WNBL season since it was founded in 2009 opened in 2015. The Rhein-Main Baskets syndicate has been part of it since the beginning .

As a result of the good youth work in recent years, there are also 6 players from HTG Bad Homburg in the junior Bundesliga team.

Sports facilities

In 2007, the new Feri-Sportpark opened on the grounds of the HTG tennis facility in order to meet the requirements for the number of members of the association in the medium term and thus relieve the old Jakobskirche in the city center. In this way it was also achieved that a large part of the club's life takes place centrally in the premises belonging to the club. Compared to the use of municipal facilities, scattered all over Bad Homburg, this offers a considerable advantage in terms of organization and convenience for those responsible and members.

The constructed building offers a single-span hall on the ground floor, as well as matching changing rooms and sanitary facilities. The martial arts dojo with a visitor gallery as well as conference and seminar rooms are located on the first floor . The Italian restaurant, also located on the ground floor, is operated by an external contractor.

Shortly after the opening of the sports park, planning began on a much larger extension. The building, named Feri-Sportpark 2, opened in 2014 without any major delays.

The new building was built directly onto the existing building, but offers considerably more space. A new, large two-field hall is located on the first floor, so that all other facilities such as the office, fitness and wellness rooms and the two dance halls are pram-friendly and handicapped-friendly at ground level. At the same time, several grass tennis courts and another sand tennis court were opened. In line with the new facilities, there is a large parking lot in front of the building.

The tennis facility with eight clay courts and several beach volleyball fields had been around for a long time.

With the now modern facilities, the Jakobskirche could be sold. In addition to the contribution to the financing of the new Feri-Sportpark 2, this also means considerable financial relief for the association in the future, since the building is a listed building, which is linked to many obligations and conditions.

This was also an advantage for members, as the location in Bad Homburg's old town made the parking situation much more difficult.

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