![Federal Gymnastics Festival in Basel in 1959](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/turnen-titel-300x225.jpg)
Of national gymnasts and ‘sport as a spectacle’
If you want to understand what doing sport is all about in this country, it’s worth taking a look at the historical influence of gymnastics.
![Gymnastics lesson at a Basel secondary school, 1897.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/turnstunde-300x192.jpg)
Sport – British performance comparison
Gymnastics – German cohesion
![The father of gymnastics: Friedrich Ludwig Jahn.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/turnvater-236x300.jpg)
![1906 Federal Gymnastics Festival in Bern](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/festhutte-300x167.jpg)
Preliminary military instruction in Berneck (Canton of St Gallen), 1947. Youtube
![Umzug beim Eidgenössischen Turnfest 1955 in Zürich.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/umzug-297x300.jpg)
Swiss Sports History
![](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/swisssportshistory-300x225.jpg)
This text was produced in collaboration with Swiss Sports History, the portal for the history of sports in Switzerland. The portal focuses on education in schools and information for the media, researchers and the general public. Find out more at sportshistory.ch