Adolf Hubert Karl Koch

Born:
09.04.1896 in Berlin
Died:
07/02/1970


Father, Karl Koch, a skilled carpenter, was a fireman, with Adolf described him in his CV as "Fire Chief". Mother Pauline Koch, Krause was born, a housewife and mother. Adolf had a younger sister and a half years. Growing up the two in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, in the hail Berger Straße 26
Enrollment in 1902, with completion in 1903 elementary school in 1911.
On 14 September the same year Adolf Koch was confirmed in the Lutheran Church Passion (2).

After finishing elementary school, Adolf Koch entered the preparatory school (3) of Kyritz (4). This training, he broke off in 1914 and volunteered as a volunteer. He was not obsessed with the war, but saw this as an opportunity and the constraints of the strict order to escape the prison-like boarding school.
Adolf Koch was employed as a medic (nurse). His service he performed in various hospitals in France and Russia (5). All supervisors were pleased with the work of Adolf Koch very satisfied.
These services have been outstanding on 16.01.1916 honored "with the" Red Cross medal third class - a high honor for a simple soldier.

After the end of World War II, Adolf Koch returned to Berlin and took in the spring 1919 the teacher training broken up again, which he in autumn 1920 with the first State Examination concluded.
In addition to training for elementary school teachers began Adolf Koch also "studying at the" Royal Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, now the Humboldt University in Berlin. He was enrolled on 03.06.1919 under the registration number 5537109 and a member of the Faculty of Arts (6). Adolf Koch in a resume are the subjects of education and medicine. His studies "was the theme of" hygiene, as evidenced by the documented classes, including two later on the "psychology of women" by Professor Lipmann, on which Adolf Koch in his own lectures always comes back.

One can certainly note that Adolf Koch had to do until 1919 with the nudism nothing.

Only with the topic of "hygiene" Adolf Koch began to be interested and for nudism. He read nudist magazines, like "The Beauty" and visited with nude cabaret dancing. In the latter especially was a cook by the expressiveness and elegance of dance by Della de Waal (7) is fascinating.

Directly after his teacher training (September 1920) Adolf Koch went to the teaching profession and was the 4th grade teacher Girls' class at a primary school in Berlin-Kreuzberg (Cottbus goal). He immediately tried to realize his reformist ideas of a "new education". This included inter alia the relationship between mind and body to provide a new basis. The school physical education was treated very unkindly to his opinion and was limited to uniform and boring exercises. Added to this was the lack of personal hygiene, which he complained:

Quote - Koch:
"There is a widespread habit, only hands and face daily, but the feet only twice a week, and to wash the whole body even only every eight to fourteen days. From swimming to mention. "(Quote - Cooking - end)

With small requirements began to Adolf Koch: the daily cleaning of the fingernails. To a classmate as "Cleaning Commissioner" was chosen, which controls every day, the hands and fingernails of her classmates. About a week later came to dental care. The aim was to persuade the girl to a basic daily hygiene - with visible success: clean, healthy and happy children.

Adolf Koch, however, recognized that a hygienic personal care for a comprehensive physical education is not enough. He began 1921 with a gymnastics training in the "school for physical education and movement education" in Berlin-Charlottenburg, which was led by Anna Herrmann Müller. At the time, just the expression of dance came into fashion, feelings, moods and movements in the least, to present. There were also the rather different exercise methods of Bess M. Mensendieck, Rudolf Bode, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Dora Menzler and ultimately the Loheland gymnastics.

Adolf Koch tended to the gymnastic exercises Menzler to Dora, because she had brought together the merits of different gymnastic systems

A successful physical education for Adolf Koch was only possible if the gymnastic exercises were conducted in complete nudity. Anna-Herrmann Müller and Dora Menzler were enthusiastic about this idea and supported Adolf Koch.

"... accurate observation that infinitely rich interplay of muscle and joint function and skeletal form, to the constant perception of any changes in structure and function and expression
of the body. It is inconceivable how the gymnasts in the unusually complicated structure
find their way to the human body, if it is not, as the doctor and the artists who
Possibility of a stable view of details is necessary. "(8)

Sun encouraged, developed Adolf Koch gymnastic exercises for children. The joy of movement, the playful and fanciful imagination of the younger children went to these exercises with one. For the older children work, he developed exercises that were based on including heavy-and momentum.

Adolf Koch was very important that boys and girls together (naked) practiced for the children should also reverence and respect for the (naked) body of the opposite sex and learning experience that includes nudity in itself, nothing sexual.

1923 Adolf Koch ended his gymnastics teacher training. On the Kreuzberg school he led the development of gymnastics but not him. For class trips, it was already time to make us bathed naked in remote lakes, but not more.

At the end of the school year 1920/21 had Adolf Koch leave this school: he should have taken a girl in indecent manner under the skirt. Although Adolf Koch confirmed that he had touched the girl, but in the form of a medical examination (medical typified Adolf Koch). The girl was brought in question with suspected appendicitis in the hospital.

Adolf Koch was transferred for disciplinary reasons anyway. He came to a school in East Berlin, where he had to deal with difficult children. Interestingly, however, is that Adolf Koch by this relegation erstamls contact with nudism found. Some of the parents had a "friendship circle" together in order to spare time to do something for her body, gave a formal articles of association do not exist. The children formed the group "Youth Guild" Land of the sun.
Adolf Koch saw a wonderful opportunity, "his" exercise in bringing this union. Parents and children gathered every Saturday in the Youth Center gym for Marianne bank 1a. These were initially only to the gym for 10 - to 13-year-old boys and girls who did gymnastics in the presence of parents and in complete nudity in common.

End of 1922 he brought the gymnastic exercises in his school with, where the children did gymnastics first not naked, but wearing a bathing suit was. Ruthe rector, acknowledged "that Adolf Koch for the gym class is suitable for a particular degree."
Adolf Koch wanted to introduce nudity, with, as an essential component of the exercises he developed. Adolf Koch also knew that he was not in the normal school operation, the nudity was introduced, he sought help from the parents of his pupils, in June 1923 resulting in the "parent groups for free body culture" founded. Parents also had to agree to comply with the hygienic principles, because the theme of "hygiene" Adolf Koch has never lost sight of.

As a training area served him classrooms and assembly hall outside school hours.

Of course, these facilities ranged from not at some point, had her own ...

Newspaper clipping from "The Evening"
Berlin, 28 September 1962

Report on the Adolf-Koch-Institute.

A pioneer of the single-minded nudist movement and gymnastics nude
The success with his gymnastic schools were tough fights ahead. It was the court processes set in motion by uptight moral apostles, not even as bad as a conviction (in the negative sense) it never came.
However a total ban him harder hit by the Nazis. Its institutions were closed, including, among other things, because he refused to separate itself from its Jewish employees voluntarily. His writings were in the list of "" forbidden and un-German books were in the so-called Reich-Kristallnacht publicly burned in Berlin.

His Institute:
This "new" form of gymnastics, in connection with his view of life according to nature, Adolf Koch tried to perform well in school - of course with the appropriate parental consent. Since it could not be long until his first trial. Adolf Koch continued to fight, but drew his own conclusions and withdrew from the public school system and began setting up an institute for nudism.
13 (!) Schools could build in Germany, Adolf Koch.
Their program consisted of:

Gymnastics with cold showers
Sunlamp irradiation
medical examinations and care
Debates on all issues
... and additional teaching hours

The man, the individual - was always the task and aim of his work.

Anyone who has the "old" documentation on Nudism sees on television, will surely remember the part in which is the speech by Adolf Koch. Strange to us today seem to pictures and movies from his gymnastics schools: families, adults, children and young people who dance naked through a space jump, jumping, and thereby acted in accordance with the instructions and Adolf Koch. Although it looked strange, but it was for the movement of nudism an enormous step forward.

His institute in Berlin was the Friedrichstrasse, nude swimming and nude gymnastics took place in mid Stadtbad (Garden Street) instead. He also decreed in Selchow a stately grounds with sports fields and playgrounds, a lake and barracks.

.... up to the ban by the Nazis. But Adolf Koch stuck to his guns and continued to work illegally, helped many Jews and Nazi persecution.
Officially he was called up during the war, including as head of sport and the treatment of wounded veterans (Castle Marquart, Berlin).

After 1945, he began immediately with the construction of a new institute, which was soon recognized as "free education institution" by the Berlin Senate. In regular public lectures and he showed his work and also campaigned for nudism.
The DFK distanced itself from the work of Adolf Koch and closed it in 1964 from the association.

Adolf Koch was then reinstated later (date unknown)

On 2 Adolf Koch died in July 1970.