The role of the YMCA in shaping modern sport and the Olympic Movement in Germany

Background: This paper looks at the history of physical education and sport in the German Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Objective: The aim of this article is to show the contribution of the YMCA to the formation of modern sports and the Olympic movement in Germany. Methods: Standard historical methods are used therein. Everything is written in chronological order. Results: The first local German YMCA was established in 1883. It gradually began to assume responsibility for much of the physical education sphere in Germany, although sport had clearly not yet become a prominent part of German physical education. That did not change until the 1920's, when the German YMCA teamed up with other Protestant groups to form the Reichsverband der Evangelischen Jungmännerbünde Deutschlands (the German Reich Association of Protestant Young Men). Physical education and sport were organized through its Eichenkreuz division but that was banned in 1934. After being restored in 1947, the Eichenkreuz division again began to shape physical education in Germany, which the YMCA still does today. Conclusions: The article shows that even though the YMCA in Germany did not have an influence on formation of sports and the Olympic movement comparable to the one in the neighboring Czechoslovakia and Poland, it undoubtedly became known for German inhabitants in this field. That means it should not be omitted from the history of physical education and sport in Germany.