German Gymnastics Festival, Stuttgart 1973 - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1973 - 40 Pfennig

From June 12 to 17, 1973, the German Gymnastics Festival takes place in Stuttgart. It will be the largest sports festival in the Western world. 80,000 to 100,000 participants are expected in the state capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg, of which around 60,000 are competing. About 10% of the participants come from abroad, especially from the neighboring countries Switzerland, Austria and France. Also larger groups of participants from the USA, Canada and the South American countries have registered. Organizer of the German Gymnastics Festival Stuttgart 1973 is the German Gymnastics Federation, with 2.4 million members of the second largest sports association in the Federal Republic. German Gymnastics Festivals are not as popular as Olympic Games or World Cups. This is due to the fact that at sports festivals the grassroots sport and the supplemental program are leading the way. At the Olympic Games in Munich 12,000 athletes fought for the laurel. In Stuttgart, 60,000 gymnasts in 11 age groups (from 15-year-olds to 75-year-olds) will be competing on 3 days. Athletics, gymnastics and gymnastics, gymnastics and swimming are in the foreground. At the gymnastics fistball, bouncing ball, netball, ring tennis, korfball, tennis participate about 5,000 competitors. Over 6,000 participants take part in a music competition. On the three competition days, 70 German championship titles will be awarded in the 16 halls on the Killesberg, the many sports fields around the Neckarstadion, the Inselbad Untertürkheim and other swimming areas. Altogether more than 200 competitions take place. The championships in artistic gymnastics (male and female), women's competition gymnastics and trampoline gymnastics will probably receive the most attention. A gymnastics festival is not just about competitions. Many cultural and social events are included. So find numerous exhibitions u. a. on the history of German gymnastics, artistic and photographic competitions for the youth. In six forum discussions, important topics of physical education are examined. Teaching demonstrations by many university institutes for physical education and the most famous German gymnastics schools will provide a picture of modern physical education. Dance evenings for the youth, a big farewell party on the Killesberg, an athletics evening in the Neckarstadion with well-known top talent and of course a pageant, which is designed in a modern and attractive way, are part of the extensive program. The first German Gymnastics Festival was held in 1860 in Coburg. Berlin, Leipzig, Bonn, Frankfurt, Dresden, Munich, Wroclaw, Hamburg, Nuremberg and Cologne were the next stations before Stuttgart 1933 hosted the largest ever German Gymnastics Festival. It had 2 million visitors. The first gymnastics festival after the Second World War took place in 1948 in Frankfurt. It was followed every five years by Hamburg, Munich, Essen and Berlin.