By Petra Willerthová, National Gallery Prague

The next lecture in the Modernitas Lectures series, delivered by Petra Willerthová, will introduce a significant Czech cultural and social phenomenon of the 19th and 20th centuries: the Sokol physical education movement. The lecture will also focus on its key figure and one of its founders, Miroslav Tyrš.

No sports organisation has transformed the Czech lands as profoundly as Sokol. This gymnastic movement, which is still active today, was founded in 1862 in Prague (in former Austria-Hungary) by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner on the model of the German Turners. The fundamental idea behind Sokol, articulated by the philosopher, aesthetician, and art historian Miroslav Tyrš, combined the ideal of Greek kalokagathia, the groundbreaking concepts of Darwinism, and the notion of Slavic reciprocity. Initially a paramilitary but democratic, non-religious, and liberal organisation, Sokol played a significant role in establishing independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 and soon grew in popularity. After the Second World War, it boasted over a million members. This paper will introduce Miroslav Tyrš, exploring his personality, academic legacy, and tragic fate while focusing on the Sokol movement as a cultural phenomenon. Sokol was promoted by popular mass gym festivals known as “slets” as well as monuments in public spaces and architecture – around 1300 Sokol gym halls were built in the Czech lands, many of which still serve their intended purpose today. The Sokol idea rapidly spread to other cities and Slavic countries in southeastern Europe, where it was adapted to meet local needs. However, in no country has it achieved such popularity as in former Czechoslovakia.

Petra Willerthová is a double graduate of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno, holding a Master’s in Art History and Aesthetics and Cultural Studies. She completed her PhD studies in Theory and Art History at the same faculty in 2024, focusing her dissertation on the gymnastic movement Sokol in the Czech and Polish lands from 1862 to 1938. She works as a professional editor with subject expertise in art history in the Publishing Department at the National Gallery in Prague.

Friday 11th of april 2025, from 10 am to 11.30 am

Salle des Commission de la MSH
Bât. R - Niv. 4 - Salle R4.110
Av. Antoine Depage 1

1050 Ixelles, Bruxelles

Free entry