Development of Women’s Sport in Central Europe before the First World War

Marek Waic

doi:10.16926/sit.2021.04.23

Abstract

In Germany, Austrian and Czech lands and Galicia, women’s gym associations were established in connection with Turner and Sokol gymnastics development. Women did not participate in sport in Central Europe until the 1880s. Before the First World War, women’s sport in the Czech lands developed similarly to Germany and the Austrian part of the Cisleithanian region. In the period leading up to the First World War, women’s sport developed within a hegemonic masculine society. Representatives of this masculine society enforced ideas about the social role of women in sport by dictating to women which sports disciplines were appropriate for them and how they should practise them. Swimming and tennis belonged to sports considered suitable for women. Women first competed in golf and tennis contests at the Olympics in Paris in 1900. In addition, Hedwig Rosenbaumová, who was listed on the programme of the games as a representative of Prague, won the third place in tennis. Women played tennis, skated, and cycled in the Austrian, Czech, and Hungarian parts of the monarchy. In Galicia, women’s physical education developed in Sokol and at the end of the 19th century gymnastics schools were established in Kraków, Lviv and Warsaw.

Highlights

In the rapidly developing regions of Central Europe, the first sports organizations emerged with the highest purpose of service to national independence
In Galicia, women’s physical education developed in Sokol and at the end of the 19th century gymnastics schools were established in Kraków, Lviv and Warsaw
Until the First World War, women in family life remained subordinate to men and had to devote themselves mainly to housework and raising children

Summary

Introduction

In the rapidly developing regions of Central Europe, the first sports organizations emerged with the highest purpose of service to national independence. The unifying factors in the period up to the First World War were (1) a similar model of the origin and development of modern physical education and sport; (2) the influence of the German cultural environment (German was the primary language of communication in Central Europe and spoken by members of the middle class in Prague and Budapest); and (3) new technologies and means of communication (the Austrian Post Office started operating in the 1850s, the 1870s saw the introduction of the telephone and the development and modernization of an intricate railway network) that facilitated the spread of the phenomenon within the countries.

Results

Conclusion