Pedagogical reformer and fervent nationalist known as the "father of gymnastics" or Turnvater and founder of the turnverein (gymnastic club) movement.
Brooding upon the humiliation of Germany by Napoleon he set about to restore the morale of his countrymen by promoting the development of their physical and moral powers through gymnastics.
Jahn presented his theories espousing an aggresive cultural nationalism in his work Deutsches Volkstum (1810, German Nationality). With a contemporary the poet Ernst Moritz Arndt, he called for a renewal of the ancient Teutonic civilization and a sentimental glorification of the German people.
Jahn opened his first turnverein in Berlin (1811) where he taught the young gymnasts to regard themselves as members of a kind of guild for the emancipation of their fatherland. Their dress was a version of ancient Germanic clothing -gray tunic, open collar, with dagger on hip- and they wore their hair long.
Two years later he helped form the Lützowsche Freikorps (Lützow Corps) and commanded one of its battalions. After the Napoleonic Wars ended he returned to Berlin where he became a state teacher of gymnastics.
Jahn, an outspoken democrat and a rugged eccentric suffered in the reaction of 1819. His activities were suppressed, his gymnasium closed and he was arrested and detained for six years. After his acquittal he received the Iron Cross (1840) and later was elected to the German national parliament (1848).
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