Dürkheim gymnastics club celebrates 165 years: A lively journey through history!

Dürkheim gymnastics club celebrates 165 years: A lively journey through history!

To celebrate the 165th anniversary of the Dürkheim gymnastics club, an impressive exhibition is opening in the Dürkheim City Museum, which brings the history of the club to life in an exciting way. In this special show, the focus is on a gymnastics horse as the central exhibit, which not only represents the sporting activities of TV Dürkheim, but also the connection between sport, politics and society in the changes of the last decades. Board members such as Christian Hennicke and his wife Susanne Müller-Hennicke, as well as Marion Kling, contributed with great commitment to the realization of the exhibition. The aim is to bring back memories of physical education lessons, with an emphasis on viewing the exhibits, which brings memories to life.

The opening of the exhibition not only celebrates a piece of club history, but also exudes a certain feeling of nostalgia. “The gymnastics club is an important part of our community and has contributed a lot to cultural and sporting development,” explains Christian Hennicke in an interview. It turns out that the club has gone through numerous ups and downs, and today it is more than ever an anchor point for young and old in Dürkheim.

A variety of sports activities

However, the TV Dürkheim program is not limited to historical reviews. In summer 2025 there will be the opportunity to take the fitness badge. Acceptance starts in May 2025, and the last date for submitting the test cards is October 6, 2025. A small fee of 5 euros is charged for adults, while young people up to the age of 17 can take part free of charge if they are a member of a sports club. Anyone who is an active member of the local clubs LC Bad Dürkheim or TV Dürkheim can even get away with it at no cost. People with disabilities can also take part in the sports badges by making an appointment in advance.

The awarding of the sports badges for 2024 is also coming soon and will take place on April 5, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. in the club's large gymnasium. If you are interested in the various acceptance options, you can find further information on the Dürkheim gymnastics club website.

The path of gymnastics movement

The history of gymnastics in Germany has its roots deeply anchored in the founding of the German Gymnastics Association in 1868 by Theodor Georgii and Ferdinand Goetz. This organization was intended to bring together the civic gymnastics clubs. The gymnastics movement was started by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, a pioneer of gymnastics, and especially today, with the exhibition in the city museum, it becomes clear how much the sport has changed over the years. A lot has happened from the beginnings on the first gymnastics field in Berlin to today's diverse sports landscape.

During the time of the German Gymnastics Association there were different tendencies within the movement. One of the challenges was the demarcation between community gymnasts and other sports, which led to the “clean separation of gymnasts and athletes” in 1924. The growing integration of gymnastics into national and political ideas has shaped the gymnastics movement and should not be forgotten.

All of these aspects allow the viewer and sports enthusiast to delve deeply into history - a story that not only affects the Dürkheim gymnastics club, but is also part of a larger context of sports history in Germany. Rhine Palatinate, TV Durkheim, Wikipedia.