Sportowe miscellanea w zbiorach Biblioteki Uniwersyteckiej w Poznaniu

Abstract

The article presents writings related to sports subject matters that are currently held at Poznań University Library. The enormous variety of related material that includes both books and periodicals, as well as library materials from the special collection (iconographic material and social life documents), is identified and discussed. The article investigates various writings: books and periodicals from the collection of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek from the years 1898-1918, a collection of pre-war picture post cards and picture post cards depicting sports events and activities that illustrate primarily the activities of Polskie Towarzystwo Gimnastyczne “Sokół” in Poznań (Polish Gymnastic Society “Falcon”) and a collection of sports obituaries, of coaches, referees and sports officials from Poznań and the Wielkopolska region. The contents of the material cover, on the one hand, sports events and the activities of sports organizations in Germany and the Wielkopolska region (from the end of the nineteenth century to the 1930s) and provide a discussion on a number of the most popular sports disciplines such as gymnastics, horse ridding, shooting and cycling on the other. The presented documents were used primarily in promoting physical culture within German and Polish population of the region and now provide invaluable source in the history of sports.