Jahn, Johann Friedrich Ludwig (1778–1852)

German gymnast and politician. He first served in the Prussian Army and, in 1811, founded the first gymnasium in Berlin. His system did much to revive patriotism and attracted the Prussian youth, but in 1818 his gymnasia were closed on account of the political gatherings held there, which were of too liberal a nature to find favour in the eyes of the Prussian government. Jahn was arrested and imprisoned for six years (1819–25) as a demagogue. He was a member of the German parliament in 1848. He wrote Deutsche Volkstum (1810) and Die deutsche Turnkunst (1816). Jahn was born in Lanz, Prussia.