Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2000-0110-500, BDM, Gymnastikvorführung

The Saxon Greeting, or ''Sachsengruss'', is a gymnastic routine made famous by the Werk Glaube und Schönheit (Faith and Beauty Society), an organisation set up 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 ...

for young women aged between 17 and 21, and part of the

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 ...

(League of German Girls). The routine involved rhythmic dancing and knee bending exercises specifically designed to show off the female physique, and the dancers wore short white gymnastic outfits similar to those of the Women's League of Health and Beauty in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In the years prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the society often toured outside Germany giving displays in other countries. The ''Sachsengruss'', or ''Saroquette'', is also a type of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

bred in Germany before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Rose: Sachsengruss
/ref>

Notes and references

Hitler Youth Gymnastics in Germany {{gymnastics-stub