History of the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences

In 2025, the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences will be 100 years old. All of the Institute's status groups are already looking forward to the celebration, which is scheduled to take place at the Schloß on September 16, 2025.

The following information on the history of the Institute comes from two sources and does not yet fully reflect the history of the Institute:

Krüger, M. (2012): Sports in the German University from about 1900 until the Early Years of the Federal Republic of Germany: The Example of Muenster and the ‘Westfaelische Wilhelms-University’. In: The International Journal of the History of Sport 29 (14), S. 1981–1997. DOI: 10.1080/09523367.2012.694072.
Prange, K.; Akademischer Oberrat i.R. am IfS Münster (2011): Zur Geschichte des Sports und der Sportwissenschaft an der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster. In: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster - Institut für Sportwissenschaft (Hg.): Sportwissenschaft in Münster. Fachbereich 07 - Psychologie und Sportwissenschaft. Unter Mitarbeit von Nils Eden und Michael Krüger. 3. Auflage, S. 31–33.

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Even before the First World War, "university sports" in Münster offered a limited range of different sporting activities. The main traditional sports on offer were fencing and gymnastics. After Münster University of Applied Sciences was recognized as a university by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1902, Münster students were among the first to practice the modern sport from Great Britain that was spreading throughout Europe.

After the First World War, participation in sport was seen as an alternative to military service, as the Versailles Peace Treaty limited the German army to a maximum of 100,000 men. Sport was therefore strongly promoted during this period by civilian elites with militaristic leanings. At universities, the growing enthusiasm for sport in Germany was also evident in the demand for compulsory physical education for students.

After the First World War, participation in sport was seen as an alternative to military service, as the Versailles Peace Treaty limited the German army to a maximum of 100,000 men.

Sport was therefore strongly promoted by civilian elites with militaristic tendencies during this period.At universities, the growing enthusiasm for sport in Germany was also evident in the demand for compulsory physical education for students.In 1920, the administration building that still exists today and the university sports ground on Horstmarer Landweg were completed.  In addition to these sports facilities, the stadium built in 1923 and the clubhouse (sports hall) built in 1927 were also used by the student body for physical exercise. In the summer of 1929, the new stadium was inaugurated with the German University Championships.

Just like at other institutes for physical education at German universities, the institute at the University of Münster was politicized by the National Socialists and misused for their purposes. This led to a reduction in the sports curriculum and a lack of scientific and intellectual training for students. According to the university administration, the sports facilities on Horstmarer Landweg and the Institute of Physical Education, which were bombed in 1941, were not to be rebuilt and reopened. Sport was merely seen as a voluntary leisure activity that did not require a scientific institute.

While there were only just under 500 students studying to become teachers in 1955, by the early 1970s there were already over 2000 students studying to become teachers. Following the merger of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität with the Pädagogische Hochschule Westfalen-Lippe in 1980, the Department of Sports Science was created from the Seminar for Physical Education and the Institute for Physical Education.