Ommo Grupe and the genesis of sports science in West Germany

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ommo Grupe (1930–2015) was referred to as the ‘Nestor of German sport pedagogy and sport science’ in various obituaries. The paper considers the life and work of Ommo Grupe, which he dedicated to sports and sport science in West Germany against the background of the development of West Germany until the German reunification of 1989/1990. Grupe represented a common knowledge and sense in West Germany concerning sport and physical education. Sport should be free, human and democratic, united in this spirit, independent of the state and based on fundamental principles as recorded in the Olympic Charter, and on the traditions of European enlightenment and New Humanism. Physical education and sport science as a ‘Querschnittswissenschaft’ (cross-sectional science) should be taught, researched and established as an interdisciplinary subject in the cultural and academic contexts of life at universities and in schools. This paper considers the development of West German sport(s), sport(s) science(s) and physical education, reflected in the life and work of Ommo Grupe. It is based both on Grupe's books and writings, on original documents, and not least on experiences and knowledge deriving from my own joint work with Ommo Grupe in Tuebingen.