The National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise (german: Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, abbreviated NSRL) was the
umbrella organization for sports and
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 ...
in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. The NSRL was known as the German League of the Reich for Physical Exercise (german: Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, abbreviated DRL) until 1938. The organization was expanded to Austria after
that country's annexation by Nazi Germany.
The NSRL was led by the ''Reichssportführer'', who after 1934 simultaneously presided over the German
National Olympic Committee
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...
. The NSRL's leaders were
Hans von Tschammer und Osten (1933–1943),
Arno Breitmeyer
Arno Breitmeyer (19 April 1903, in Berlin – 20 April 1944) was a German sport official. He began his sports career as a successful competition rower. In 1933 he became editor of the sports section of the ''Völkischer Beobachter'', the Nazi Par ...
(1943–1944) and
Karl Ritter von Halt (1944–1945).
History
Preliminary organizations: Effects of the Nazi takeover
The
1916 Summer Olympics
The 1916 Summer Olympics (german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1916), officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were scheduled to be held in Berlin, German Empire, but were eventually cancelled for the first time in its 20-year history due to ...
had been awarded to Berlin, but were canceled because of the duration of World War I. The ''Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Olympische Spiele'' (DRA or DRAfOS) ''"German Imperial Commission for Olympic Games"'', was the German Olympic Sports organization at that time. In 1917 the "German Imperial Commission for Olympic Games" was renamed
Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen
Deutscher is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Alma Deutscher, British musician and composer
*Drafi Deutscher, German singer and composer
*Guy Deutscher (linguist)
*Guy Deutscher (physicist)
*Isaac Deutscher, British jou ...
(DRA, sometimes also DRL or, more rarely, DRAfL: "German Imperial Commission for Physical Exercise"). The name change reflected Germany's protest against the fact that Germany and other
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
were being excluded from the "Olympic family" which was dominated by the
Entente Powers
The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...
.
The Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen was led by
Theodor Lewald
Theodor Lewald (18 August 1860 – 15 April 1947) was a civil servant in the German Reich and an executive of the International Olympic Committee. He was the President of the Olympic organising committee for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berli ...
and
Carl Diem was its Secretary General. Even though it saw itself as the pan-German umbrella organization for sports, it did not represent all types of sports and sports associations of Germany. A great number of sport clubs, especially those stemming from industrial workers' background, had not joined the DRA.
![Olympic Fire in Berlin 1936](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Olympic_Fire_in_Berlin_1936.jpg)
After the
Enabling Act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to car ...
, which legally gave Hitler dictatorial control of Germany in March 1933, all sports organizations connected to the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
, the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
, and even to the church, were banned. This ban affected especially the sports clubs of industrial workers, most of which were called to split up on their own ''(Selbstauflösung)'' before the first semester of 1933 was over. The more conservative nationalistic and bourgeois clubs were allowed to subsist into the following year.
On April 12, 1933 Theodor Lewald gave in to the Nazi authorities and resigned as leader of the German Sports Office after it was revealed his paternal grandmother was Jewish. The Nazi minister of the interior,
Wilhelm Frick, interfered with the process of the election of a new Sports leader, and the decision was made by a hurriedly instituted three-man commission. Thus, in April 1933, Hans von Tschammer und Osten, a figure formerly unknown in German sports, was named ''Reichskommissar für Turnen und Sport'' (Commissioner for Gymnastics and Sports of the Reich). Von Tschammer, however, would keep his predecessor in a high position in the sports body, and years later he would appoint Theodor Lewald as president of the Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games.
Hans von Tschammer und Osten was a
SA group leader and promoter of
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
. In the name of ''
gleichschaltung
The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...
'' he disbanded the ''Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen'' on May 5, 1933 (officially on May 10). Von Tschammer was then elevated to ''Reichssportführer'' on July 19 and the whole sports sphere in Germany was placed under his power.
Sports and propaganda in Nazi Germany: The Aryan ideal
The Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (DRL) was established on July 27, 1934, as the official Sports governing body of Nazi Germany. It would quickly become a formidable system within the German nation.
After the DRL's foundation all other German sport associations gradually lost their freedom and were coopted into the DRL as mere units ("Fachämter"). Even the most prestigious ones, like the
German Football Association
The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...
(DFB) lost their independence. Von Tschammer's goal was to build a formidable Nazi sports body to which all German sports associations would be submitted. His vision was that physical exercise would ''"improve the morale and productivity of German workers"'' as well as making sports a source of national pride for the Germans. Sporting skills were made a criterion for school graduation as well as a necessary qualification for certain jobs and admission to universities.
Among the controversial measures taken by the Sports Office of the Reich at the time, the staging of the massive
Reichssportfest event on
Trinity Sunday was a decision that shocked devout
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
In 1935 journalist
Guido von Mengden, was named public relations officer of the Reich Sports Office. He became the personal advisor and consultant of the ''Reichssportführer'' in 1936, and subsequently became the chief editor of ''
NS-Sport'', the official organ of the Reich Sports Office.
Other DRL/NSRL publications included ''Dietwart'', a sports magazine with excellent illustrations and ''Sport und Staat'' (Sports and State), a massive four-volume
Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...
report on the organized sports activities in Nazi Germany. ''Sport und Staat'' was made by Arno Breitmeyer and Hitler's personal photographer
Heinrich Hoffmann Heinrich Hoffmann or Hoffman may refer to:
Hoffmann
* Heinrich Hoffmann (photographer) (1885–1957), German photographer
*Heinrich Hoffmann (author) (1809–1894), German psychiatrist and author
* Heinrich Hoffmann (sport shooter) (1869–?), Germ ...
. This lavishly illustrated work had many pictures and information about the various Nazi organizations, i.e.
SA,
NSKK,
Bund Deutscher Mädel
The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (german: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. ...
,
Hitler Jugend
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
, etc. Printed in 1934 by the publishing house of the German Sports Aid Funds, a branch of the DRL, only volume one and two of a planned series of four volumes were published.
The aims of the promotion of sports in Nazi Germany included hardening the spirit of every German as well as making German citizens feel that they were part of a wider national purpose. This was in line with the ideals of
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
(11August 177815October 1852) was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist whose writing is credited with the founding of the German gymnastics (Turner) movement as well as influencing the German Campaign of 1813, during which a coalition of ...
, the "Father of physical exercises", who connected the steeling of one's own body to a healthy spirit and promoted the idea of a unified, strong Germany. A more controversial aim was the demonstration of
Aryan physical superiority.
Von Tschammer's impressively staged events of sports pageantry not only enhanced the physical activity, but also the nationalism of Germans.
Nordic aesthetic beauty and commitment to
Germanic ideals of race went hand in hand during the Nazi era, and von Tschammer und Osten implemented a policy of racial exclusion within sports. Athletes of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
origin were excluded from participation in relevant sporting events.
1936 Olympic Games: Zenith of the Nazi Sports Office
In 1936 Hans von Tschammer und Osten, as the head of the Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, played a major role in the structure and coordination of the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
in Berlin. The Olympic Games, the first in history to have
live television
Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand) ...
coverage, provided an ideal setting to showcase the Nazi regime and what Hitler deemed to be his exploits.
As Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games, Carl Diem, the former secretary of the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (DRA), the forerunner of the DRL/NSRL, became the chief organizer of the Berlin Olympic Games. Diem held high posts in the Reichs Sports office even after the Olympics, being named leader of the Foreign Department of the Nationalsocialist Sports Office in 1939 by the ''Reichssportführer''. As such Carl Diem was responsible for the issues of German athletes in foreign countries, as well as for the international affairs of the NSRL.
Von Tschammer trusted the organization of the
Fourth Winter Olympics in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...
to
Karl Ritter von Halt, whom he named President of the Committee for the organization of the Winter Games. As a result of the prestige acquired in this event, Karl Ritter von Halt would be elected member of the Executive Committee of the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) in 1937, a post von Tschammer craved but was not able to obtain.
The
German eagle with the
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
on the chest, worn as a badge by the athletes of the
1936 German Olympics team, became the official symbol of the Nazi Sports Body; "the swastika on the eagle's chest displays ... the ideology of the DRL" ''("Das Hakenkreuz aber, welches der Adler in seinen Schwingen trägt, bekennt, aus welcher Gesinnung ... im DRL gearbeitet wird)''.
The verbal salutation "Heil Hitler!" was introduced by von Tschammer on December 12, 1936 as the official formal salutation by members of German sport organisations in the sport events that would be organized from that date onwards. The
Nazi salute had already been introduced three years before by
Josef Klein. On March 17, 1937, all German athletes were called by Hans von Tschammer und Osten to join the
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
.
In 1937 two cricket (Germanized into "Kricket" by the DRL) matches between a German team and a British team from
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
took place in Berlin.
Expansion of Germany: Beginning of the decline
Austria's
annexation
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
by Germany in March 1938 brought the budding
Austrian Nationalliga to an early end. Numerous football teams were disbanded and some players fled the country. All Austrian sports associations were absorbed by the system of the DRL as Gau XVII section under ''Gaufachwart'' Hans Janisch. The Hitler salute was introduced as compulsory before and after every game. Finally, the operation of junior sports teams was handed over to the local
Hitlerjugend units.
Despised by Nazis as unworthy of a true German, professionalism in sports was outlawed by the DRL in May 1938.
Felix Linnemann
Felix Linnemann (20 October 1882 – 21 March 1948) was the fourth president of the German Football Association, the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), serving from 1925 to 1945.
Biography
Felix Linnemann was born and grew up at the edge of the Lü ...
, the German Football Association (DFB) president, was one of the greatest campaigners for amateurism in sports in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the already powerless German Football Association was finally wound up.
Following the 1938
Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
and the liquidation of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
as a state, the ethnic
Sudeten Sudeten may refer to:
* Sudeten Mountains
* Sudetenland
* Sudeten Germans
German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in ...
German football teams played in the
Gauliga Sudetenland
The Gauliga Sudetenland, was the highest Association football, football league in the ''Sudetenland'', the predominantly German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia that were awarded to the German Reich on 30 September 1938 through the Munich Agreemen ...
. The NSRL formed two groups in 1939, which were raised to three in 1941. None of these teams were able to make it to the final stages of the
German football champions.
Czech clubs continued to play their own
Bohemia/Moravia championship A separate Gauliga for the Czech teams of the
territories occupied by Germany,
Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren
The Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren, was the highest football league in the parts of Czechoslovakia occupied by Germany on 15 March 1939 and incorporated in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German:''Protectorat Böhmen und Mähren'') from 194 ...
, was formed by the NSRL in 1943.
The last big sports event organized in its trademark grandiose style by the NSRL was the ''
Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest'' (German Gym and Sports Celebration) in
Breslau (now Wrocław) in July 1938. This highly nationalistic sports event commemorated the 125th anniversary of the
German Wars of Liberation
In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...
against
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and the first award of the
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
in the city of Breslau itself in 1813.
On December the 21st 1938, a decree was issued by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
changing the name of the Reich Sports Body to Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (NSRL), thereby "elevating it to an organization served by the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
". This name change meant that the NSRL would be "placed under" the Nazi Party. Its seat would be the Haus des Deutschen Sports (House of the German Sports) in the
Reichssportfeld
The Olympiastadion (; en, Olympic Stadium) is a sports stadium at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was originally built by Werner March for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100 ...
(Sports Field of the Reich) in Berlin.
Twilight and end of the Nazi Sports Office
![NSRBL Hängefahne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/NSRBL_H%C3%A4ngefahne.svg)
World War II radically altered the role of the NSRL in Germany and the areas under its leadership. The
military re-armament and dire war preparations would make the influence of physical exercises in Nazi German society wane in favour of militarism. The massive sports pageantry events in the large cities, carefully organized to arouse nationalistic fervor, were replaced by military parades of German warriors. Successful sportsmen found it increasingly difficult to compete with frontline war heroes in capturing the attention of the German public.
Even though the NSRL continued playing a big role in sporting activities among the youth for a few years, the atmosphere had changed. Many Germans were subjected to
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
and left for the different fronts, so the NSRL concentrated in training and staging local or regional events for younger athletes. Already in 1940 monetary funds for organizing sporting venues, such as the prestigious
Kiel Week sailing competition, were not forthcoming. Contributors felt emboldened to deny funds to the formerly influential branches of the Nazi Sports Office owing to the war-related shifting of priorities.
Albert Oeckl - sein Leben und Wirken für die deutsche Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
/ref> During this time the NSRL sold lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
tickets as a source of self-financement.
Von Tschammer's influence and power within the NSDAP also began rapidly eroding despite having been a committed topmost Nazi leader. He would, however, never witness Germany's defeat and humiliation in the war, for he died from pneumonia in Berlin in March 1943. Arno Breitmeyer
Arno Breitmeyer (19 April 1903, in Berlin – 20 April 1944) was a German sport official. He began his sports career as a successful competition rower. In 1933 he became editor of the sports section of the ''Völkischer Beobachter'', the Nazi Par ...
, a fellow SA officer became the new ''Reichssportführer''.
As the war dragged on, a huge number of members of the many branches of the NSRL, among them youngsters in their early teens, had to go to fight to the fronts. Since players were not available, except in shoddily organized military sports events in scattered frontline locations, sports life in Germany came practically to a standstill. The last ''von Tschammer und Osten Pokal'' football trophy was played in Vienna in 1943 and the following two years plunged the NSRL into irrelevance. The once mighty Nazi Sports Body had to give up its weight and its position of pride long before the war was lost.
On May 31, 1945, after Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as "Law number five", this Denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
decree disbanded the NS Reichsbund für Leibesübungen along with all its facilities and departments.
The disbandment of the NSRL meant that all the sports organizations of Germany had to be established anew during the postwar reconstruction
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
of both West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and the DDR
DDR or ddr may refer to:
*ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language
*DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany
*DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India
*' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former East ...
. Even after German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990, there has never been such a powerful and all-encompassing sports organization in Germany as the DRL/NSRL was at its height.
Structure
As a sports governing body seeking to control and integrate all sport activities in Germany, the DRL/NSRL provided a highly organized structure. This structuralization, whose nationalistic seriousness was often outright theatrical, was in line with the Nazi Party's goal of reminding Germans constantly that they were members of a large extended country. According to Paragraph 2 of the DRL's Statutes: ''The purpose of the League of the Reich for Physical Exercise is the training of the body and character of Germans grouped together in member organizations through planned physical exercises and care of the national conscience (Volksbewußtsein) in the spirit of the National Socialist state''.
Regarding method and purpose, and keeping aside the ideology, the well-ordered and solemn DRL/NSRL system proved itself efficient. The 1936 Summer Olympics, as well as other key events, provided ample opportunity to test the good organization that the Sports Body of the Reich was able to provide. The NSRL's obvious competence succeeded in instilling a spirit of unity and pride among the German sportsmen and women as well as their supporters. Moreover, even if not duly credited, many of the NSRL's systemic improvements in sports are still in use in today's sports organizations.
By Sport
Besides the departments above, certain competences of the NSRL as a league were served by sports federations some of which still exist:
''(1) The "Summer Games" include the following games known collectively as " Turnspiele" in German: Schlagball
Schlagball is a German bat-and-ball game that was popular up until the 1950s in Germany.
Rules
Two teams of 12 players contest the right to bat or field. The batting team tries to score by hitting the ball, which is thrown up by themselves, and ...
(a German bat-and-ball sport), Fistball, (closely related to korfball
Korfball ( nl, korfbal) is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless bask ...
), Schleuderball and Ringtennis.''
By region
The regional structure of the NSRL followed the Nazi Party model. Often two or more gaue
''Gau'' (German , nl, gouw , fy, gea or ''goa'' ) is a Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or current province. It was used in the Middle Ages, when it can be seen as roughly corresponding to an English shire. The adm ...
were included in one region where it was expedient to do so.
''(1) Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
, Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
and the Province of Saxony
The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
It was formed by the merge ...
. — (2) Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
, Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
and Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...
. — (3) The Palatinate and (from 1935 onwards) the Saar Region. — (4) Austria from 1938 onwards.''
Distribution of members
By January first 1937, the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen had 45,096 Associations with 3,582,776 active members (of whom 517,992 were female and 3,064,784 male). On April 1, 1939, there were 44,622 Associations with 3,668,206 active members (of whom 526,084 were female). The sports practiced were the following:
''Numbering according to Departments and Departmental Federations.''
Events
Championships in the individual types of sports were duly organized by the corresponding associations and federations. Among the events directly organized by the NS Reichsbund für Leibesübungen the most important were:
* The 4th Deutsche Kampfspiele, July 23–29, 1934, in Nürnberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
* Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest, July 26–31, 1938, in Breslau
Trophy names
* The name of today's DFB-Pokal, ( Deutscher Fußball-Bund-Pokal or German Football-Federation Cup), first contested in the 1934–35 season, was known between 1935 and 1943 as ''Tschammer-Pokal'' after then "Reichssportführer" (Sports Chief of the Reich) Hans von Tschammer und Osten.
* The amateur Länderpokal
The Länderpokal (English: ''States Cup'') is the oldest cup competition of the German Football Association. It came into existence as the ''Kronprinzenpokal'' (English:''Crown Prince Cup'') but has changed its name various times since. The cup is ...
(DFB), first established in 1909, was known between 1935 and 1942 as ''Reichsbundpokal''.
See also
* 1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...
* 1936 Winter Olympics
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...
* The Death Match
* Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund
* Gauliga
* Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
* Yacht-Club von Deutschland
The Yacht-Club von Deutschland (YCvD), "Yacht Club of Germany", was a yacht club platform established in 1937 during Nazi rule in Germany.
History
The Sports Office of the Reich (DRL/NSRL) was founded in July 1934. As a result of its activity ...
Notes and references
* ''Schlag nach! Wissenswerte Tatsachen aus allen Gebieten''. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig, 1st ed. 1938 (German version reference)
* ''Schlag nach! Wissenswerte Tatsachen aus allen Gebieten''. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig, 3d ed. 1941 (German version reference)
Further reading
Anti-Semitism at the 1936 Olympics
* Arno Breitmeyer & Heinrich Hoffmann, ''Sport und Staat. Im Auftrage des Reichssportführers'' (2 vols.). .
* Carl Diem, ''Das Olympiadebuch'', Leipzig.
* Werner Gärtner, ''Volk in Leibesübungen. Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest, Breslau 1938''. Commissioned by the Reichssportführer.
* Heinrich Hoffmann, ''Die Olympischen Spiele 1936'', 1936.
* Willi Fr. Könitzer, ''Olympia 1936'', published by the Reichssportverlag, Berlin 1936.
* Friedrich Mildner, ''Olympia 1936 und die Leibesübungen im Nationalsolzialistischen Staat'', Buchvertrieb der Olympiade, Berlin 1936 (2 vols).
* Konrad Sczygiol (Hrsg.), ''Deutscher Turner-Bund. Seine Gründung'', Frankfurt/Tübingen 1950.
* Dieter Steinhöfer, ''Hans von Tschammer und Osten; Reichssportführer im Dritten Reich'', Berlin/München/Frankfurt a. M. 1973,
* Guido Von Mengden, ''Umgang mit der Geschichte und mit Menschen'', Verlag Bartels & Wernitz.
* Paul Wolff, ''Was ich bei den Oympischen Spielen sah'', Karl Specht Verlag, Berlin 1936.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund Fur Leibesubungen
Defunct sports governing bodies in Germany
Nazi Party organizations
1934 establishments in Germany
Sports organizations established in 1934
Organizations disestablished in 1945
Sports governing bodies