Ommo Grupe and the genesis of sports science in West Germany

ABSTRACT

Ommo Grupe (1930–2015) was referred to as the ‘Nestor of German sport pedagogy and sport science’ in various obituaries. The paper considers the life and work of Ommo Grupe, which he dedicated to sports and sport science in West Germany against the background of the development of West Germany until the German reunification of 1989/1990. Grupe represented a common knowledge and sense in West Germany concerning sport and physical education. Sport should be free, human and democratic, united in this spirit, independent of the state and based on fundamental principles as recorded in the Olympic Charter, and on the traditions of European enlightenment and New Humanism. Physical education and sport science as a ‘Querschnittswissenschaft’ (cross-sectional science) should be taught, researched and established as an interdisciplinary subject in the cultural and academic contexts of life at universities and in schools. This paper considers the development of West German sport(s), sport(s) science(s) and physical education, reflected in the life and work of Ommo Grupe. It is based both on Grupe's books and writings, on original documents, and not least on experiences and knowledge deriving from my own joint work with Ommo Grupe in Tuebingen.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical education
• sports science
• federal republic of Germany
• biography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Among others see Michael Krüger, ‘Ommo Grupe und seine Vision des Sports. Ein Nachruf [Ommo Grupe and his vision of sport. An obituary]’, Sportwissenschaft 45, no. 2 (2015): 55–56, DOI: 10.1007/s12662-015-0365-0. Further, obituaries are cited at the Website of the Institute for Sport Science of Tuebingen, https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/wirtschafts-und-sozialwissenschaftliche-fakultaet/faecher/fachbereich-sozialwissenschaften/sportwissenschaft/institut/arbeitsbereiche/sportoekonomik-sportmanagement-und-sportpublizistik/team/emeriti/ommo-grupe/ (accessed July 24, 2023).

2 Fritz Dannenmann, Ommo Grupe, Nestor der Sportwissenschaft [Nestor of Sports Science]. Ein Film von Fritz Dannenmann (Videoband im AVZ der Pädagogischen Hochschule Heidelberg) (2001).

3 The text of his farewell lecture was edited in a special issue by the publisher Karl Hofmann in Schorndorf where most of his books and book series had been edited. The title was Vom Institut für Leibesübungen zum Institut für Sportwissenschaft. Nostalgische Erinnerungen und kleines Resümee nach vierzig Tübinger Jahren (1999). The mentioned scholars Jens, Küng and Bausinger were both representatives of the intellectual post-war elites of the FRG and they were also well-known internationally. Hans Küng's conflict with the Catholic church and his international project of world ethos were respected worldwide.

4 Ommo Grupe, Vom Sinn des Sports [Meanings of Sport] (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 2000). Except for this late publication, the most relevant books written by Ommo Grupe were the Grundlagen der Sportpädagogik (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 1969), and Bewegung, Spiel und Leistung im Sport (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 1982). In these main publications, he developed his concept of sport and physical education.

5 Empfehlungen zur Förderung der Leibeserziehung in den Schulen [Recommendations for the Promotion of Physical Education in Schools] (1956): [Joint Declaration of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder, the Municipal Central Associations and the DSB]. Ed. by the Working Group for the Promotion of Physical Education (Bonn, 1956).

6 Ommo Grupe, Vom Sinn des Sports, 2000.

7 University Archive in Tuebingen (UA Tuebingen); Historical Archive of the City of Cologne; Lower Saxony State Archive (LSSA); Grupe estate in the Central Archive of Württemberg (HSTA Stuttgart).

8 Norbert Elias, Involment and Detachment (Oxford: Blackwell, 1987).

9 A theory of a generational approach in sociology and history was based by the work of Karl Mannheim, Das Problem der Generationen, Kölner Vierteljahrshefte für Soziologie 7 (1928): 157–85, 309–30, influenced by the experiences of the First World War and its generation which was called in German the ‘Frontgeneration’.

10 This information was given by the Lower Saxony State Archive (LSSA).

11 Hartmut Gabler and Ulrich Göhner, eds., Für einen besseren Sport. Ommo Grupe zum 60. Geburtstag [For a Better Sport. Ommo Grupe on his 60th Birthday] (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 1990).

12 LSSA AU Dep. 14, No. 2502, run 1948–1950.

13 Michael Buddrus and Karl Heinz Jahnke, eds., Deutsche Jugend 1933–1945. Eine Dokumentation (Hamburg: VSA-Verlag, 1989).

14 Michael Krüger, Rieder, Hermann, in Baden-Württembergische Biographien VIII (Baden-Württemberg biographies, VIII), ed. Martin Furtwängler (Ostfildern: Jan Thorbecke, 2022), 313–15; Michael Krüger and Josef Ulfkotte, eds., Impulse für die Sportgeschichte. Hans Langenfeld zum 80. Geburtstag [Impulses or Sports History. On the Occasion of the 80th Birthday of Hans Langenfeld] (Hildesheim: Arete, 2012); Hajo Bernett, Hans Jochen Teichler and Berno Bahro, Nationalsozialistische Leibeserziehung. Eine Dokumentation ihrer Theorie und Organisation (Texte – Quellen – Dokumente zur Sportwissenschaft), 2nd ed. (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 2008). The coining experience of this generation, exemplified on Hajo Bernett, is described by Berno Bahro and Hans Jochen Teichler, Hajo Bernett und das Kriegsende 1945, STADION 40, (2015): 207–20.

15 Hans-Peter Schwarz, Helmut Kohl. Eine politische Biographie (2. Auflage) (München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 2012). The quote became a winged word during the old Republic of Bonn. See Maren Röger, Gnade der späten Geburt, in Torben Fischer and Matthias N. Lorenz (Hrsg.), Lexikon der “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” in Deutschland. Debatten – und Diskursgeschichte des Nationalsozialismus nach 1945 (Bielefeld: Transcript, 2007).

16 The historian Heinrich August Winkler called this ‘The long way to the West’. See Heinrich August Winkler, Der lange Weg nach Westen (München: Verl. C.H. Beck, 2002).

17 At the end of his life, Grupe had often criticised in internal talks the fact that sports and especially sport sciences did not open sufficiently careers for female scholars and sports officials. Paradoxically, he was among those who were responsible for the lack of participation and power of women in sports, sport politics, and not least sport science.

18 For further and detailed information on Alfred Petzelt, see the archive ‘Bildungsforschung’ of Jürgen Rekus: https://www.bildungsforschung.de/Archiv/archiv.html (accessed July 24, 2023).

19 Jürgen Dieckert, Die Turnerjugendbewegung (Hofmann: Schorndorf, 1968); Horst Ueberhorst, Edmund Neuendorff. Turnführer ins Dritte Reich (Berlin: Bartels & Wernitz, 1970).

20 Peter Kauder, ‘Alfred Petzelt 1886–1967. Ein Lebenslauf’, Vierteljahrsschrift für wissenschaftliche Pädagogik, no. 3 (1990): 360–80.

21 Ausschuss Deutscher Leibeserzieher (Committee of German Physical Educators) (ADL), ed., Spiel und Wetteifer. Beiträge von den Kongressen für Leibeserziehung 1958 in Osnabrück und 1961 in Göttingen (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 1970), 59–72.

22 A four-volume biography of Diem was written by Frank Becker. Respecting the context after 1945, see especially volume IV. Frank Becker, Den Sport gestalten: Carl Diems Leben [Shaping Sport: Carl Diem's Life (1882–1962)], 4 Bände (Duisburg: Universitätsverlag, 2011–2013).

23 Eduard Spranger, Psychologie des Jugendalters [Psychology of Adolescence] (Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer, 1953).

24 See the documents and letters in the Historical archive of the city of Cologne and the Carl- und Liselott Diem Archive at the German sports university.

25 Ommo Grupe, ‘Aufgaben und Ziele der Leibeserziehung in einer gewandelten Schule [Tasks and Aims of Physical Education in a Changed School]’, Vierteljahresschrift für wissenschaftliche Pädagogik 40 (1964): 115–33.The article was later published in a monography, titled Leibliche Erziehung in einer gewandelten Schule (Ratingen: Henn, 1967).

26 The ‘Habilitation’ (higher doctorate) was a qualifying work (in fact a book) that was generally needed to apply for a (full) professorship in earlier times before various reforms of the Universities. In the meantime, the habilitation has been abandoned, and is a thing of the past. A scholar with ‘Habilitation’ but without a professorship is called ‘Privatdozent’.

27 See the documents in the University Archive of Tuebingen (UA Tuebingen, estate Bock).

28 Ommo Grupe, Sport und Leibeserziehung. Sozialwissenschaftliche, pädagogische und medizinische Beiträge (München: Piper, 1967) (Sport and Physical Education. Social scientific, pedagogical and medical contributions), edited with Hans Erhard Bock and Helmuth Plessner.

29 Ommo Grupe, Grundlagen der Sportpädagogik (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 1969).

30 Regrettably, the standard work on the Munich Olympics by Schiller & Young leaves out a chapter on this key congress on modern sport(s) science(s). Kay Schiller and Christopher Young, Munich 1972. Olympic Games under the Sign of Modern Germany (Göttingen: Wallstein, 2012).

31 Ommo Grupe et al., eds., Sport in the Modern World – Chances and Problems. Papers, Results, Materials. Scientific Congress, Munich, August 21 to 25, 1972, with the collaboration of Helmut Baitsch, Hans-Erhard Bock and Martin et al. Bolte (Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1973).

32 The journal was founded in 1971. Since 2017 its title was changed in ‘German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research’. The journal is supported by both the German Ministry of the Interior and the German Olympic Sports Association, the umbrella organisation of the German Sports clubs. Both institutions are institutional editors of the journal. https://www.springermedizin.de/sportwissenschaft/7939986 (accessed December 27, 2023).

33 Allen Guttmann, Sports. The First Five Millennia (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2004).

34 Hermann Bausinger, Sportkultur (Tuebingen: Attempto, 2006).

35 Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning, Quest for Excitement. Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process (Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1986); Michael Krüger (Hrsg.), Menschenbilder im Sport (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 2003).

36 Dieter Jütting and Michael Krüger, eds., Sport for All. Idea and Reality (Münster: Waxmann, 2017).

37 Helmut Digel, ‘Twenty Years of the Journal “Sportwissenschaft” – Authors and Personnel Networks’, Sportwissenschaft 22, no. 4 (1992): 440–66.

38 See Michael Krüger, ed., Menschenbilder im Sport (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 2003).

39 Michael Krüger and Eike Emrich, Sportwissenschaft: quo vadis? Ein Beitrag zur Genese und Struktur der Zeitschrift Sportwissenschaft im Kontext aktueller universitärer Entwicklungen. Sport und Gesellschaft 9, no. 3 (2012): 245–77.

40 Ommo Grupe and Wolfgang Huber, eds., Zwischen Kirchturm und Arena. Evangelische Kirche und Sport [Between Steeple and Arena. Evangelical Church and Sport] (Stuttgart: Kreuz, 2000).

41 Ommo Grupe and Dietmar Dietman Mieth, eds., Lexikon der Ethik im Sport (Hofmann: Schorndorf, 1997).

42 Martin Hörrmann, Religion der Athleten (Stuttgart: Kreuz-Verlag); Pierre de Coubertin, Die Philosophischen Grundlagen des modernen Olympismus, in Coubertin, P. d. [1935]. Pax Olympica. Weltsendung des Reichssenders Berlin am Sonntag, den 4. August 1935 mittags. [Vorolympische Kampagne in drei Sprachen]. Berlin-Charlottenburg: Organisationskomitee für die XI. Olympiade Berlin 1936 e.V. See also Michael Krüger, ‘Gymnastics, Physical Education, Sport, and Christianity in Germany’, The International Journal of the History of Sport (2018): 1–18. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2018.1496084.

43 Respecting this development, see Michael Krüger, Sportwissenschaft: Zur Geschichte einer Querschnittswissenschaft, in Grundlagen von Sport und Sportwissenschaft. Handbuch Sport und Sportwissenschaft, Band 1, ed. Arne Güllich and Michael Krüger (Springer, Wiesbaden, 2022), 39–58.

44 Michael Krüger, ed., Erinnerungskultur im Sport. Vom kritischen Umgang mit Carl Diem, Sepp Herberger und anderen Größen des deutschen Sports (Berlin: LIT, 2012); M. Michael Krüger, ed., Der deutsche Sport auf dem Weg in die Moderne. Carl Diem und seine Zeit (Berlin: LIT, 2009).

45 See the anthology of texts and original documents ‘100 Jahre Sporthochschule 1920–2020’, ed. Stefan Wassong, Ansgar Molzberger und Heike Ackermann (Köln: Sportverlag Strauß, 2020).

46 Becker, Carl Diems Leben (2011–2013); Krüger, Erinnerungskultur im Sport 2012.

47 Karlheinz Gieseler, ed., Menschen im Sport 2000. Dokumentation des Kongresses ‘Menschen im Sport 2000’, Berlin, 5.–7.11.1987 (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 1988).

48 Manfred Ewald, Ich war der Sport. Wahrheiten und Legenden aus dem Wunderland der Sieger. Manfred Ewald interviewt von Reinhold Andert (Berlin: Elefanten Press, 1994).

49 Gabler and Göhner, Für einen besseren Sport [For a Better Sport], 1990.

50 Deutscher Sportbund, ed., Die Gründung des Deutschen Sportbundes. Wege aus der Not zur Einheit [The Founding Years of the German Sports Federation. Ways out of adversity to unity]. 2 volumes (Schorndorf: Hofmann, 1990).

51 The term ‘Zeitenwende’ was used by the current German chancellor Olaf Scholz in his speech in the German Parliament on 27 February 2022, after the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. The term means a fundamental change in politics due to revolutionary incidents. The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the German reunification also constituted just such a ‘Zeitenwende’, the first after the end of the Cold War.

52 The role of West German Sports medicine is analysed in the work of Michael Krüger, Stefan Nielsen, Christian Becker and Lukas Rehmann, Sportmedizin zwischen Sport, Wissenschaft und Politik – eine deutsche Geschichte. Ein Forschungsprojekt zur Geschichte der Sportmedizin (Hellenthal: Sportverl. Strauß, 2019); see also Christian Becker, Michael Krüger and Stefan Nielsen, German Sports, Doping, and Ppolitics. A History of Performance Enhancement (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).

53 For details, see Krüger et al., German Sports.

54 Grupe, Farewell Lecture, 14.

55 Finally, in Ommo Grupe, On the Meaning of Sport 2000.

56 The case of Gerold Becker including the elite of the avantgarde of the pedagogical elite in the old Federal Republic of Germany, including Hartmut von Hentig was basically researched by Jürgen Oelkers, Pädagogik, Elite, Missbrauch. Die “Karriere” des Gerold Becker (Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, 2016); Oelkers concerned himself intensively with the history auf the so-called Reformpädagogik both in Germany and internationally. See Jürgen Oelkers, Reformpädagogik. Eine kritische Dogmengeschichte (Weinheim: Basel, 2005) and Jürgen Oelkers, Reformpädagogik. Entstehungsgeschichten einer internationalen Bewegung (Weinheim: Basel, 2010).

57 See the autobiography of Hartmut von Hentig, Mein Leben – bedacht und bejaht. Schule, Polis, Gartenhaus (München: Carl Hanser Verlag, 2007). His book Hartmut von Hentig, Die Schule neu denken. Eine Übung in praktischer Vernunft: Eine zornige, aber nicht eifernde, eine radikale, aber nicht utopische Antwort auf Hoyerswerda und Mölln, Rostock und Solingen (München: Carl Hanser Verl., 1993) became a bestseller for those who asked for reforms of the German school system since the 1990s. Funke’'s concept was based on his book Jürgen Funke, ed., Sportunterricht als Körpererfahrung (Reinbek: Rowohlt, 1983).

58 Helmut Schmerbitz (1983). Saunabaden im Sportunterricht, in Funke, Sportunterricht als Körpererfahrung, 63–70. ‘Nacktbaden’ (bathing naked) and ‘Luftbäder’ (bathing in open air) in the morning when pupils of both sexes had to exercise gymnastics naked was already a daily ritual in the school life of the early Odenwaldschule in the 1920s under the leadership of Paul Geheeb. See Oelkers, Reformpädagogik, 2005.

59 Michael Krüger, ‘Sportwissenschaft: Zur Genese einer Querschnittswissenschaft sowie Sportwissenschaft: Gegenstand, Disziplin, Theorie und Praxis’, in Grundlagen von Sport und Sportwissenschaft (Bd. 30, 1–17), ed. Arne Güllich and Michael Krüger (Berlin: Springer, 2018), 39–58 und 59–77.

60 Wolfram Pyta, ‘Geschichtswissenschaft und Sport – Fragestellungen und Perspektiven’, Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 61, no. 7/8 (2010): 388–401.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Krüger

Michael Krüger is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Muenster/Germany. He had numerous publications on historical educational research in the field of physical education and sports. He is also an Emeritus Professor of Sports Science at the University of Muenster/Germany.