Moritz Kloss

Moritz Kloss (1818–1881)

Moritz Kloß ( also Kloss , born March 18, 1818 in Krumpa ; † September 1, 1881 in Dresden ) was a German educator and promoter of gymnastics .

Life

Kloß was born as the son of a teacher in the small town of Krumpa near Müelte . After attending the cathedral grammar school in Merseburg , he decided, at his father's request, to train as a teacher and from 1834 he attended the preparatory institute in Weißenfels. After successfully completing his degree and serving in the military, he began working as an assistant teacher in the seminary in Weißenfels. From 1840 he worked as a high school teacher in Zeitz .

A year later, Kloß decided to study further and began at the Philosophical Faculty in Berlin. Here he got to know Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and his ideas for gymnastics. After his return to Zeitz, after the lifting of the gymnastics ban in 1842, he led the newly introduced gymnastics exercises. At the same time he was a singing teacher at the grammar school and from 1844 cantor of the Zeitz Michaeliskirche .

In 1850, Kloß applied for the position of director of the newly founded gymnastics teacher training institute in Dresden. His request was granted by the Saxon Ministry of Culture on June 5, 1850 and Kloß was appointed the first director of the facility with a fixed annual salary of 600 thalers. In over thirty years as director of the first gymnastics teacher training center in Germany, he made great contributions to the upswing of the German gymnastics industry. In addition, from 1853 he was commissioned with the inspection of the entire school gymnastics in Saxony.

In addition to training future gymnastics teachers for elementary schools, he also wrote numerous books on the subject and was the editor of the "Yearbooks for the Art of Gymnastics" published from 1855 onwards. From 1860 he introduced special gymnastics exercises for girls, which made him the "father of girls' gymnastics". He spoke in favor of gender gymnastics, but declined exercises such as Leapfrog , vaulting and bars - and stretching exercises off for girls because of "higher risk of injury" for the school girls gymnastics.

"The boy should do gymnastics in major, the girl in minor ..."

- Moritz Kloß : (1871)

Publications (selection)

• New yearbooks of German gymnastics. Sheets for the affairs of the German gymnastics, primarily in its direction of education and health care ... Dresden (from 1855)
• Female home gymnastics. An easy-to-understand self-instruction that can be carried out in the house and room on health-related and medicinal physical exercise. As a contribution for women of all ages , Weber, Leipzig (1856)
• Dumbbell book for indoor gymnasts. A contribution to practical health care , Leipzig (1860)
• The soldier's gymnastics school. Systematic instructions for physical training , Leipzig (1860)
• Gymnastics in the girls' games. A selection of useful and suitable youth and movement games for mental and physical recreation of younger girls as well as contributions to a natural youth education . Dresden (1862)
• Instructions for giving gymnastics lessons. Initially for the elementary elementary schools of the Kingdom of Saxony at the instigation of the Royal Saxon Ministry of Cultus and Public Education, Dresden (1873)

Memorial plaque in Krumpa

Honors

• In 1875 he was awarded the title of professor
• 1884 memorial plaque on the house where he was born in Krumpa (renewed in 2006)
• 1912 Naming of Moritz-Kloß-Strasse in Dresden

Web links

• Beatrix Schulz: Prof. Dr. Moritz Kloss August 2006.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hans-Martin Moderow: Elementary school between state and church: the example of Saxony in the 18th and 19th centuries. (= History and Politics in Saxony. Volume 25). Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-11706-1 , p. 320 ff.
2. ↑ Karlheinz Kregelin: Dresden - The book of names of streets and squares in the 26er ring. Fly Head Verlag, 1993, ISBN 3-930195-01-1 .