Abstract

Inspiration from the past — without the limitations of the tradition. Traditional Sports and Games (TSG) in Denmark had almost vanished when the Gerlev Academy of Sports and P.E. in the 1990s decided to
revitalize‘ the old games. Without the limitations of the traditions, this situation gave a large amount of freedom to researchers, teachers and students to regain the joy of TSG. No precedent or old organizations
decided where or how to practice TSG. This gave Gerlev the liberty to establish its own experiences, but at the same time, a responsibility to maintain an awareness of the historical heritage. In Denmark, there are no solid national or regional TSG organizations. This is surprising as TSG in other European countries is still widespread. In a historical perspective, TSG dominated the culture of bodies in Denmark until the middle of the 1800s. After this, TSG lost influence to gymnastics for the rural population and to Olympic Sports for the urban population. This development accelerated in the beginning of the twentieth century along with the industrialization and urbanization of the Danish society. TSG lost influence among adults and youths, later among children. Firstly, the wealthy people living in the cities stopped playing games. Hereafter, the poorer rural people, men at sea and daylabourers ceased to play. Among children, TSG plays less and less importance until the 1980s. The background for this development is complex and in many ways similar to what happened to other parts of the old rural culture in Denmark, as well as in other European countries. The reason why the development went so fast in Denmark might be due to the fact that Denmark has a rather homogeneous culture, and also lacks regional and language differences being a small stable country signified by consensus. Verf.-Referat