13 The gym saga continues with Napoleon’s defeat of Prussia, which provoked Friedrich Jahn to create the turnplatz, the first institution of physical exercise that would train the united citizen army of Germany. The turnplatz was an open-air venue that set the foundations for artistic gymnastics, equipped with rings, high bars, ladders, climbing masts and other facilities for various field sports. The place was open to all the social classes, and its practitioners were called turner. Two of Jahn’s students who emigrated to America during the 1820s set up the first collegiate gymnasium, but it was soon closed. During the 19th century, and the period of rapid industrialization and urbanization of Western Europe, the affluent Victorians with time for leisure paid much attention to physical self-improvement as a sign of good life quality. The world’s first commercial gym was Hippolyte Triat’s Grand Gymnase, established in 1849 in France. The first chain of branded gyms, Shadow’s Institutes of Physical Culture, opened in the United Kingdom in 1897. As time went by, Europe’s middle class manifested a growing demand for physical fitness, which was once maintained primarily by the members of the upper social class. Both Shadow and Triat used this notion to popularize the “Grecian ideal” of a healthy, attractive body, promoting it with still photography as well as providing standardized equipment for their gyms. Shadow was quite influential in America, which he toured with his carefully selected representatives of health, fitness and weight training. By the end of the 19th century, there were elite collegiate gyms and even exclusive leisure centers for exercising. Statements T F First four words 0 The gym has always attracted a wide variety of people. According to Eric Chaline 1 In early times, men exercised without clothing in order to compare their bodies to others’. 2 The human body was considered to be a source of sin during one particular period. 3 Reasons for going to the gym are currently quite different from what they were at any other time in the past. 4 The idea that being physically active can prevent medical problems is a modern one. 5 With new perceptions of the human body, people began to realise that you had to accept your body the way it was. 6 One gym facility was created for a purpose beyond merely exercising. 7 People from different kinds of backgrounds went to the turnplatz. 8 People who could afford to take a break from work took an interest in their personal sense of well-being. 9 The first gym set up with the purpose of making money was one of a set. 10 Images of physical perfection were included in advertising for gyms. Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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