Justus Lion

Justus Carl Lion (born March 13, 1829 in Göttingen , † May 30, 1901 in Leipzig ) was a German educator and sports pioneer.

biography

education and profession

Lion was the son of a private scholar in Göttingen. He attends the Max Planck High School in his hometown. At the age of 16 he founded the first school gymnastics club in 1845. The school did not like to see gymnastics at the school and forbade union. After the revolution of 1848/1849 , which moved him very much, Lion wrote that "only the people, the working and non-dispossessed classes, is that element which must make, guide and rule life". He studied at the Georg August University of Göttingen and received his doctorate around 1860. He became a teacher in Göttingen and introduced school gymnastics . Afterwards he was a candidate for a school leaving office in Hildesheim , a private tutor in several positions and a teacher in Groß-Gerau .

In Bremerhaven

In 1858 Lion took over an apprenticeship with the subjects mathematics, natural sciences and gymnastics at the private school in Bremerhaven , which was a high school for boys as a secondary school in Bremerhaven until 1862 . He became the driving force behind the development of the sport, the "gymnastics father of Bremerhaven". He knew how to get the citizens and students excited about the new sports movement. In 1859 he managed to move 64 men on a dike hike and they founded the Gymnastics Club Bremerhaven (TVB), which later became the General Gymnastics and Sports Association (ATSB) and in 1972 the OSC Bremerhaven . Lion was elected chairman of the club. The first statute of the association said: "The purpose of the association is only physical exercise". He countered efforts that sport could only be settled in a military association. So the club split up and in 1860 a general gymnastics and defense club Bremerhaven was founded, which returned to the TVB in 1867. As early as 1861, the TVB had over 100 members. Lion succeeded in founding the Gau -Turnverband Weser-Ems in 1861 . His club later became a member of the German Gymnastics Association .

In Leipzig

In 1862 Lion became the gymnastics director of the municipal school system in Leipzig and head of the general gymnastics club in Leipzig (ATV). In 1863 he carried out a mass demonstration of calisthenics for 7,000 gymnasts at the German Gymnastics Festival taking place in Leipzig. From 1865 onwards the girls could also take part in the school race. As a later gymnastics inspector of the Saxon teachers' college and as royal commissioner , he was responsible for the acceptance of the gymnastics teacher exams. From 1866 to 1875 he published the Deutsche Turnzeitung and wrote on many topics. He wrote a guide for the operation of the orderly exercises . From 1892 to 1898 Lion was chairman of the ATV Leipzig 1845 (ATV). As a member of the five-man committee , he was also at the head of the German gymnastics movement.

Lion remained unmarried. He was buried in the Johannisfriedhof in Leipzig. The grave and gravestone have not been preserved.

Honors

• Lion was awarded the title of honorary professor.
• In 1898 he became honorary chairman of the ATV in Leipzig
• The Lionstraße in Leipzig since 1905 bears his name
• The Justus-Lion-Weg in Bremerhaven- Lehe has had his name since 1961.
• For his services to physical exercise and sport in Lower Saxony , he was accepted into the Lower Saxony Sports Honor Gallery of the Lower Saxony Institute for Sports History.

literature

• Harry Gabcke , Renate Gabcke, Herbert Körtge, Manfred Ernst: Bremerhaven in two centuries ; Volume I, pp. 80f. Nordwestdeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, Bremerhaven 1989, ISBN 3-927857-00-9 .
• Rudolf Gasch (ed.): Justus Carl Lion: His correspondence with Alwin Martens and other things from him. For the hundredth anniversary of his birthday. Publisher: Allgemeine Turnverein zu Leipzig, Leipzig 1929.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Document on the ATV website , accessed on January 13, 2013
2. ↑ Klaus Zisenis: Dr. Justus Carl Lion (1829-1901) - Bremerhaven “gymnastics father” and Saxon gymnastics inspector . In: OSC Bremerhaven .