Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Memorial

The Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Monument is located in Forest Park on a trail that’s tucked between Art Hill and the World’s Fair Pavilion. It’s probably one of the least visited places in the park and really isn’t worth trying to find unless you’re just wandering around the park. I’d never heard of the guy, but I often ride my bike past this monument and had always wondered what it was for. Finally, I stopped one day and took some photos so I could research it later.
So it turns out that Friedrich lived from 1778 to 1852. He was from Germany and was a gymnastics educator. Apparently, he is known as the «father of gymnastics», and created early versions of the balance beam, parallel bars and horizontal bars. It also sounds like this guy has some controversy over his political views. It said that in 1810, as a nationalist, he advocated Germany’s maintaining of its own language and culture against foreign influence. About 100 years later in 1941, Peter Viereck wrote a book about the «Roots of the Nazi Mind» and called Friedrich «the spiritual founder of Nazism». However others point out that his calls for nationalism were during a different time when Germany was occupied by foreign armies under Napoleon.
I can’t find any connection between St. Louis and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. It looks like the memorial was dedicated by the American Turners which is an organization that «encouraging people of all ages to be mentally and physically active». This group has German roots and was perhaps popular with St. Louis’ large immigrant population. The monument was dedicated in 1913 and rededicated in 1972.
Ok, so I’ve spent way too much time on this review! Whatever the history of this guy, I like the area around the monument and the way it’s kind of hidden on the side of a hill overlooking the lazy river. It’s a good area to relax, watch the paddle boats putter by, and perhaps take in a little bit of history.