Physical culture and sport are an integral part of German culture. According to information from the German Embassy, about 27 million people û or a quarter of the population û belong to sports clubs, while another 12 million participate in sports independently (Germany Info 2003 www.germany-info.org). While many of these sports include such competitive sports as soccer, basketball, handball, volleyball, and ice hockey, there is another group of sports known as ôVolkssports,ö which are non-competitive in nature. Volkssports, which means ôPeopleÆs Sportsö or ôSports for all People,ö include such activities as walking, biking, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, skating, or any other non-motorized outdoor sport. Walking, or ôvolksmarch,ö is the most popular type of volkssport event (IVV www.ivv.org). This paper will examine the history of the volksmarch phenomenon and its impact on modern German culture.
ôVolksmarch,ö or ôPeopleÆs Walk,ö has its origins after the end of World War II, and has also been called ôVolkswanderungö. Originally it was part of a mass culture movement and began as a timed, competitive event that was designed to help Germans keep in shape (IVV www.ivv.org; Kolinsky and van der Will 212). There was a ôvolkskulturö or grassroots alternative culture movement of people, however, who wanted to be able to enjoy these walks without having to compete (Kolinsky and van der Will 213; IVV www.ivv.org). The culture of post World War II Germany has focused on social, cooperative, nonaggressive events such as the volksmarch. Then, in 1968 the Internationaler Volkssportverband (IVV) or International Federation of Popular Sports was formed as a way to encourage public health by getting people to enjoy the outdoors in a non-competitive manner, as well as to contribute toward peace and understanding between people and nations by fostering friendship through volkssports. This non-profit organiza...