Friedrich August Wilhelm Theodor Hermann (14 September 1835 – 20 February 1906) was a German
physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
instructor. He, along with
Konrad Koch, introduced the game of
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
to Germany from England in 1874.
He is known as the
Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...
"Father of Physical Education." Hermann also wrote and published poetry in the
Low German
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language.
Early career
Hermann grew up in
Lehre
Lehre is a municipality in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The current population is 11,539 and is situated approximately southwest of Wolfsburg, and Braunschweig.
The municipality received the name of Lehre on June 10, 88 ...
, near Braunschweig, and studied to become a teacher. While studying in
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...
at the Great School he learned physical education and became an avid gymnast.
Teaching and sports
He became a school teacher in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
and completed additional training as a gym instructor. He moved on to become a physical education teacher at several schools and became dedicated to the
Braunschweig men gymnastics club. He also set up an exercise organization outside Braunschweig.
Hermann was a proponent of exercise and physical education and in 1862 he wrote "Über die Notwendigkeit der Leibesübungen (On the Necessity of Physical Exercise)" striving to win a popular social opinion of physical education. He began volunteering at Martino-Katharineum High School in 1864 and became a teacher in 1869. In 1874 after visiting a number of public schools in England, Hermann returned with a
soccer ball
A football (also known as football ball, soccer ball, or association football ball specifically in the United Kingdom) is the ball used in the sport of association football. The name of the ball varies according to whether the sport is called " ...
. Along with Konrad Koch, he introduced and held the first
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
match in Germany.
Soccer was then included in the physical education curriculum at Martino-Katharineum. Hermann instituted the weekly "sedan-competitions" which was an afternoon of games and sports. After 1878, all classes at the school were required to attend and participate. These include numerous sporting events, including
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
.
Hermann's son Ernst, who was studying in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, told him about the game of
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
and in 1896 he led the initial attempt at bringing the game of basketball to Germany. The first game of basketball in Germany was played in Braunschweig. It wasn't until a couple decades later that the game gained popularity. He invented a number of different sports and also set up gymnastic teacher training in Wolfenbüttel. All high school physical education in Braunschweig have been set up according to his plans. In 1887, he continued his ceaseless efforts he was named the Braunschweig physical education superintendent.
In addition to writing rule books, he also wrote several books.
Awards and honors
He is known as the "Father of Physical Education" in Braunschweig.
His efforts won recognition beyond Braunschweig: He was chairman of the 'German Gymnastics Association' and belonged to the executive committee of the 'Central Committee on Public and Youth Games in Germany.'
For his services to sports in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
, he was inducted in 1988 into the Hall of Fame in the Lower Saxony Institute of Sport History.
Selected works
* ''Ueber die Nothwendigkeit der Leibesübungen für die Jugend. Ein Wort an Aeltern und Freunde der Jugend für die Einführung des Turnunterrichts in die Schulen unseres Landes''. Grüneberg, Braunschweig 1864.
* ''Erenst un Snack. En lüttjen Pack. Plattdeutsche Gedichte in niedersächsischer Mundart''. Wagner, Braunschweig 1895.
* ''Fest im Takt. Leichte Tonstücke, Sing- und Tanzweisen zum Gebrauch beim Turnunterricht''. Berlin 1895.
* ''Dei Mumme-Prowe''. Limbach, Braunschweig 1898.
* ''Das Sedanfest in Braunschweig''. Voigtländer, Leipzig 1899.
* ''Handbuch der Bewegungsspiele für Mädchen''. Teubner, Leipzig 1905.
See also
*
Basketball in Germany
Basketball is a popular sport in Germany, and is played on both the amateur sports, amateur and professional sports, professional levels. Basketball has a long history in Germany, with its popularity having developed slowly. Today, basketball is o ...
*
Football in Germany
Football (or "soccer") is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, link=no or ) is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members (roughly eight percent of the popul ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermann, August
People from Helmstedt (district)
Sportspeople from Braunschweig
People from the Duchy of Brunswick
19th-century German educators
Writers from Braunschweig
German non-fiction writers
19th-century German poets
19th-century German male writers
1835 births
1906 deaths
Sport in Braunschweig
Male non-fiction writers