Gymnast's cross

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Fresh, pious, happy, free ! Turner's cross freely based on Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

The Turner Cross is a graphically designed figurative mark or logo as well as a heraldic gammadium , which was created in 1844 by the engraver and printer Johann Heinrich Felsing (1800–1875) from Darmstadt , Hesse , in the Hessian state colors red and white (red logo on white Reason) was developed. The original logo according to the Deutscher Turner-Bund is now always square and forms an axially aligned Greek cross . It consists of four copies of the horizontally and vertically mirrored letter F in uppercase, which take up Turner's motto Fresh, Pious, Cheerful, Free .

history

The arrangement of the four Fs was not invented by Felsing. Instead, he took it well from a branch Roscher, a Prussian Two pence coin of the year 1693, the reign of the last Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia , Frederick III., Who from the year 1701 as I. Friedrich King of Prussia was.

The gymnast's cross proposed by Felsing as a general gymnast's symbol was rejected at the gymnastics day in Heilbronn in 1846 . Turner of the Jewish faith did not see themselves represented by the Christian cross also manifested in the Turner cross and later developed their own logo based on the Star of David ( Maccabi ). The gymnast's cross nevertheless developed into a symbol of the German gymnastics movement and the political conviction of gymnasts, their striving for unity, freedom and national independence , although there was never a corresponding resolution on the use of the gymnast's cross. Already in 1853 a coat of arms with the gymnast's cross was shown on the festival card of the gymnastics festival in Hanover , gymnastics clubs included it in their coat of arms.

Official gymnast's cross (variant) of the former civic umbrella organization Deutsche Turnerschaft (DT) until 1936

The fraternities and gymnasts who fled to the United States after the German Revolution of 1848/49 took the gymnast's cross with them and immediately founded their own gymnastics clubs. The term pious was dropped there after a few years, because it was repeatedly interpreted religiously and ecclesiastically, but the political orientation of these gymnasts was socialist. From 1880 the Turner motto changed in the New World, so that the Turner Cross did not exist there.

The umbrella organizations of gymnastics, which existed in parallel in Germany up to the Third Reich, the bourgeois-nationalist German Gymnastics Association (DT) and the socialist Arbeiter-Turn- und Sportbund (1919 to 1933), previously the Arbeiter-Turnerbund (ATB), used different versions of the gymnast's cross . While the classic gymnast's cross with the four Fs was carried out by the German Gymnastics Association and its subdivisions down to the club level (see figure on the left), the Workers' Gymnastics and Sports Association (ATSB) partially broke away from it. His logo only used the two upper two mirrored F's upside down and let them rest on a correspondingly widened T. An S wound through these three capital letters. The communist combat community for red sports unit (Rotsport), which split off from the ATSB in the final phase of the Weimar Republic , did not use the gymnast's cross, instead a stylized globe with degrees of longitude and latitude in front of it male athlete just going through a red target tape.

In 1933, in the run-up to the Berlin Summer Olympics (1936), a discussion arose as to whether the gymnast's cross or the Olympic rings should be used for the Berlin Olympics. The decision was made in favor of the five rings.

After the introduction of the Reichsflaggengesetz of September 15, 1935 (RGBl. I p. 1145), all German gymnastics clubs took over the swastika used by the National Socialists as the only symbol, and after the so-called Anschluss in 1938, the Austrian ones too.

After the Second World War , the club found its way back to the gymnast's cross very quickly, especially as the historical club crests and flags mostly contained this. In contrast, the associations needed a longer time to do this. At the German Gymnastics Festival in Munich in 1958, it was not used in the official festival newspaper, but a postage stamp issued by the Deutsche Bundespost took it up again.

symbolism

Turner's cross in a wreath of oak leaves made of gold-colored metal, near the Frankenstein mountain gymnastics festival in Hesse

The Turner Cross does indeed make a reference to Christianity , but also to Prussian military symbolism. The Turner Cross is visually very much based on the Iron Cross donated by the Prussian King in 1813 or the even older Balkenkreuz or Paw Cross of the Teutonic Order and the Prussian and German armed forces and therefore reminds of it.

In gymnastics there are references to fraternities and the revolution of 1848/49 . Combinations of the gymnast's cross with torch and sword symbolize enlightenment ( light / truth ) and struggle , with an owl the symbol of wisdom and vigilance, with a lyre the symbol for music and art , with oak leaves strength, masculinity , steadfastness or perseverance and victory - quite in the military sense. The combination with a laurel wreath or branch is also common. The laurel wreath stands for success , fame , victory, perfection and consecration , both in a sporting and patriotic-military sense. In the 19th, but also up to the first half of the 20th century, such combinations were often found on club flags and coats of arms. An example of this is shown in the postage stamp from 1958 shown in the picture gallery below: Oak leaves with a gymnast's cross.

"I have put together the saying in its four first letters in 4 F. I have combined them to form a symbol, ... they form like the gymnastics body - same strength, same shape, same strength on all sides, the square is equally strong everywhere, firmly in place standing at the four corners, take it as you want: it's the F from the FF. Do not forget that it is also the Christian sign. "

- Johann Heinrich Felsing, 1846

criticism

The Simplicissimus attacked the Turner cross repeatedly in his socially critical caricatures , so in 1922, 1923 and 1928. It was in the context of conservatism made and the German nationalist sentiments. A caricature on the occasion of the German Gymnastics Festival in Munich in 1923 , to which the Simplicissimus dedicated a special edition, targets the symbolic world of gymnasts. The drawings can be called up via the links given in the individual proofs.

Graphic design

Current official gymnastics cross of the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Official gymnast's cross of the Swiss Gymnastics Federation (STV), Aarau, Switzerland

Design changes to the gymnast's cross often provoke heated discussions, as it is important to weigh tradition against the freshness and modernity of sport that is demanded today. The Swiss Gymnastics Federation (STV) uses a very modern interpretation with a stylized F , while the Austrian Gymnastics Federation (ÖTB) does not use the gymnast's cross at all. Many gymnastics clubs still use it in their club crests, the gymnastics associations mostly in the context of their logo. Examples of this are the logos of the German Gymnastics Federation or the regional gymnastics associations. The gymnast's cross is still present on sportswear today.

Often it can also be found at club houses or club gyms, at municipal schools or gyms or on medals / plaques, certificates, trophies, in club newspapers and on the websites of gymnastics clubs and associations. At the top of the gable of the Heiligkreuz elementary school in Coburg , for example, the four Fs are placed in a wreath relief. Monuments to Friedrich Ludwig Jahn also take up the motif, of course his tomb in Freyburg an der Unstrut (see enlargement of the corresponding photo in the picture gallery).

Idol

In addition to its design manual, the German Gymnastics Association offers a logo world for print and web created by professional graphic designers, which German state associations, gymnastics clubs and gymnastics departments of sports clubs can use free of charge.

Variations

At the time of Felsing's design, some gymnastics clubs had already arranged the four Fs in the form of a swastika by placing the letters with their basic lines next to one another, for example the old Breslau gymnastics club or the Cassel men's gymnastics club founded in 1850 . This variant was adopted in Austria in 1889 , but designed in such a way that the cross struts of the letters F were forced into a curve, similar to the signet of the occult , anti-Semitic and völkisch Thule Society , to which later National Socialists also belonged. This was preceded by the distancing of the German Gymnastics Association (DT) from anti-Semitic behavior in the Turngau Lower Austria in 1888, which led to the establishment of the German Gymnastics Federation in Austria. A logo should be found for this that stood out from the previous one (source: Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Museum , Freyburg an der Unstrut).

Pictorial representations

literature

  • K. Wassmannsdorff: The “pious” in Turner's motto. In: DTZ. 21, 1866, p. 104.
  • Georg Hirth, F. Rudolf Gasch (ed.): The entire gymnastics - A reading book for German gymnasts. 2nd edition Lion, Hof 1893.
  • Friedrich Noack : Felsing, Heinrich (Johann H.) . In: Ulrich Thieme (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 11 : Erman-Fiorenzo . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1915, p. 378 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Martha Wertheimer: The gymnast's saying. In: DTZ. 65, 1920, pp. 211-212.
  • Simplicissimus. 1922, no. 18, p. 268.
  • Simplicissimus. 1923, h. 16, cover.
  • Simplicissimus. 1923, no. 16, p. 206.
  • Simplicissimus. 1923, no. 16, p. 207.
  • Simplicissimus. 1928, no. 11, p. 143.
  • Rudolf Gasch : Handbook of the entire gymnastics. Pichler, Vienna / Leipzig 1928.
  • Thilo Scheller: Customs, signs, greetings and costumes. In: The book of the gymnast youth. Moeck, Celle 1930.
  • Konrad Sczygiol (Ed.): Deutscher Turner-Bund, Its foundation. Frankfurt am Main / Tübingen 1950.
  • Franz Wilhelm Beck: German gymnastics. Limpert, Frankfurt am Main 1953.
  • Adolf Beyer: Darmstadt's art, culture and artists. Leske, Darmstadt 1955.
  • Deutscher Turner-Bund (Ed.) A good sign: The design of the DTB. Frankfurt am Main, no year (early 1980s).
  • Manuel Roth: The image of sport in the simplicissimus of the Weimar Republic (1919–1933). Thesis, Free University of Berlin, 1984.
  • Gertrud Pfister: Militarism in the collective symbolism of the German gymnastics association using the example of the Leipzig gymnastics festival in 1913. In: H. Becker (Hrsg.): Sport in the field of tension between war and peace. dvs, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1985, ISBN 978-3-923592-14-2 , pp. 64-80.
  • Gerhard Hauk: Collective symbols, myths and body images in films and festivals of the workers' culture and sports movement. In: J. Teichler (Ed.): Workers 'culture and workers' sport. dvs, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1985, ISBN 3-923592-18-3 , pp. 35-50.
  • The Felsings from Darmstadt 1797–1987, engraver - printer - publisher. Exhibition Kunsthalle Darmstadt: October 18 to November 15, 1987, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Kunstverein Darmstadt e. V. (Ed.), Ibid., 1987.
  • Ernst Erich Metzner: Fresh - Pious - Happy - Free. In: German gymnastics. 1990, H 3, pp. 26-29, ISSN  0343-5318 .
  • Peter Hüttenberger: symbols, emblems, names. In: The founding years of the German Sports Association. Volume 1, Deutscher Sportbund (Ed.). Hofmann, Schorndorf 1990, ISBN 978-3-7780-3820-8 , pp. 277-280.
  • Hajo Bernett: Turner's Cross and Swastika - On the History of Political Symbolism. In: Spectrum der Sportwissenschaften 4, 1992, H 1, p. 30, ISSN  1022-7717
  • Lothar Wieser: A wealth of forms and play of colors. In: L. Peiffer (Hrsg.): Illustrated history of the German gymnastics youth. Klartext, Essen 1992, ISBN 3-88474-020-2 , pp. 206-209.
  • Gertrud Pfister: German oaks, strong muscles, sporty women, collective symbolism of gymnastics and sports advertising. In: Floris van der Merwe (Ed.): Sport as Symbol, Symbols in Sport. Proceedings of the 3rd ISHPES Congress in Cape Town 1995. Academia, Sankt Augustin 1996, ISBN 3-88345-738-8 , pp. 153-169.
  • Michael Krüger: flags and colors. In: Floris van der Merwe (Ed.): Sport as Symbol, Symbols in Sport. Academia, Sankt Augustin 1996, ISBN 3-88345-738-8 , pp. 283-291.
  • Luigi Zangheri (Ed.): Gli accademici del disegno: elenco alfabetico. Olschki, Firenze (Florence) 2000, ISBN 88-222-4943-7 .
  • Gertrud Pfister: Fresh, Fromm, Happy, Free. In: E. Francois, H. Schulze (ed.): German places of memory. Volume II. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47223-0 , pp. 202-220.
  • Jan Schlürmann : 200 years of German gymnastics and gymnastics association symbolism as a mirror of the political history of German states and political ideologies, 1813–2013 . In: Yearbook 2013 of the German Society for the History of Sport Science e. V. (= Studies on the History of Sports, Volume 18), Münster: 2014, pp. 41–62.
  • General artist lexicon. Volume 38: Fejes – Ferrari from Kellerhof. Saur, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-598-22740-X , p. 122.

swell

Web links

Commons : Turnerkreuz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ General artist lexicon . Volume 38: Fejes – Ferrari from Kellerhof. Saur, Munich 2003, p. 122, ISBN 3-598-22740-X .
  2. ↑ DTZ. 1876, p. 128
  3. ↑ Coat of arms of the Workers' Gymnastics and Sports Association (ATSB) in the LeMO ( DHM and HdG )
  4. ↑ Logo of the combat group for red sports unit muenzauktion.com
  5. ^ Turner cross or five rings - the Olympic discussion in the spring of 1933. In: Sportpolitik. University of Potsdam.
  6. ↑ Nuremberg Laws. In: Meyer's Lexicon. 8th edition. Leipzig 194. Volume 8, Sp. 525.
    Peter Longerich: Politics of extermination. Piper Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-492-03755-0 , p. 622.
  7. ^ Hajo Bernett: Turner's Cross and Swastika - On the History of Political Symbolism. In: Spectrum of Sports Science. 4, 1992, H 1, p. 30, ISSN  1022-7717 .
  8. ↑ Gertrud Pfister: Militarism in the collective symbolism of the German gymnastics club using the example of the Leipzig gymnastics festival in 1913. In: H. Becker (Hrsg.): Sport in the field of tension between war and peace. dvs, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1985, pp. 64-80.
  9. ^ Association flag of the gymnastics club Wickrathhahn ( Mönchengladbach ) founded in 1907 with oak leaves and gymnast's cross
  10. ^ Simplicissimus. Vol. XXVII, no . 18  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 5.8 MB) Caricature by Karl Arnold , state of emergency. P. 268@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / swk-web1.weimar-klassik.de  
  11. ^ Simplicissimus. Vol. XXVIII, H. 16  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 10 MB) German Gymnastics Festival Munich. Caricature by Karl Arnold, Gut Heil !. Cover. Simplicissimus. Vol. XXVIII, H. 16  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 10 MB) Caricature by Karl Arnold, untitled, p. 206. Simplicissimus. Vol. XXVIII, H. 16  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 10 MB) Caricature by Karl Arnold, Housing shortage? P. 207.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / swk-web1.weimar-klassik.de  
    @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / swk-web1.weimar-klassik.de  
    @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / swk-web1.weimar-klassik.de  
  12. ^ Simplicissimus. Vol. XXXIII, no . 11  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 5.8 MB) Caricature by Karl Arnold, We have left a sweet consolation. P. 143.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / swk-web1.weimar-klassik.de  
  13. ↑ Manuel Roth: The image of sport in the Simplicissimus of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Thesis, Free University of Berlin, 1984.
  14. ↑ 4F Collection, Gymwear  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Deutscher Turner-Bund e. V., Frankfurt am Main.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / dtb-shop.de  
  15. ↑ Design manual (PDF; 1.5 MB) Deutscher Turner-Bund e. V., Frankfurt am Main.
  16. ^ The four Fs in a swastika arrangement on the building of the Eimsbütteler Turnverband , Julius-Sparbier-Platz, Hamburg, on flickr.com.
  17. ^ The four Fs in a swastika arrangement on the Leopoldsberg in Vienna, Austria