The first Slovene Gymnastic Associations (1862-1867)

Abstract

The first Slovene gymnastic associations were linked to the development of the national identity among Slavic peoples, to the freedom of gathering granted in the Austrian Empire and to the German gymnastic associations. They above all contributed to forming and strengthening the Slovene national consciousness through gymnastics, but more broadly through activities related to the new idea of free time among the bourgeoisie and to the associational and national political context. But they also demonstrated the fragility of the Slovene national consciousness. Despite the choice to take inspiration from the Slavic Gymnastic Association Sokol from Prague, a predominant role was still played by German language, culture and gymnastic associations. At the same time, the most relevant among these Slovene associations (the Ljubljana Sokol) sought to contribute to the development of Slavic solidarity, at first seeking a contact to the Sokol in Prague, then with the major Croatian Sokol. Such Sokol associations were also the first ones to spread gymnastics and hiking among Slovenes, albeit at an embryonic level. They spread much less than among the Czechs and only in the province of Carniola, because of the smallness of the Slovenian bourgeoisie and upper class, but also because of the political interests of their inspirers, protectors and presidents. These interests, together with the differences in political strategies, led to an end in the contact between the Sokol of Ljubljana and the one in Prague.