Jahnmalhügel nearby Cheb (Eger). Embodiment of the "völkisch" "Weltanschauung" of the German gymnasts
Abstract
This paper respons the questions how the large monument for Friedrich Ludwig Jahn nearby Cheb reflected the "Weltanschauung" of the German Gymnastic Association (Deutscher Turnerbund, DTB). DTB arose 1889 and his motto from 1908 - "purity of race - unity of nation - freedom of spirit" - sums up its heterogen "Weltanschauung".
The place and the time of the building of the "Jahnmalhügel" and its form as well reflected these basic principles. The west-Bohemian town Cheb was chosen as place of the building because it was seen as the middle of the desired "Alldeutschland".
The construction was finished in 1913, i.e. the anniversary-year of the so-called "Befreiungskriege". So the DTB deliberetly supported this national myth.
The first plan for the monument was created by Franz Xaver Kießling who wished to build a copy of an assumed Germanic tomb. Finally, the plan of Friedrich Rudolf Zenker was chosen.
In his interpretation the "Jahnmalhügel" was an image of the Germanic cosmology and many details refered to the "Weltanschauung" of his Association. Newetherless, the "Jahnmalhügel" was never perceived in this way.
In the inter-war era the monument was ignored or misunderstood, after 1945 it became a symbol of the lost native country for the German people who were banished from the Czechoslovakia. The ruins of the monument are still visible in the country and they provoke the guestion how this emodiment of the "völkisch" "Weltanschauung" should be perceived nowadays.