Guts-Muths, Johann Christoph Friedrich (1759-1839), German teacher and the principal founder of the German school system of gymnastics, was born at Quedlinburg on the 9th of August 1759. He was educated at the gymnasium of his native town and at Halle University; and in 1785 he went to Schnepfenthal, where he taught geography and gymnastics. His method of teaching gymnastics was expounded by him in various handbooks; and it was chiefly through them that gymnastics very soon came to occupy such an important position in the school system of Germany. He also did much to introduce a better method of instruction in geography. He died on the 21st of May 1839.
His principal works are Gymnastik für die Jugend (1793); Spiele zur Übung und Erholung des Körpers und Geistes für die Jugend (1796); Turnbuch (1817); Handbuch der Geographie (1810); and a number of books constituting a Bibliothek für Pädagogik, Schulwesen, und die gesammte pädagogische Literatur Deutschlands. He also contributed to the Vollständiges Handbuch der neuesten Erdbeschreibung, and along with Jacobi published Deutsches Land und deutsches Volk, the first part, Deutsches Land, being written by him.
