Today seems to be a time when health is becoming a big part of culture, due to the research being done correlating physical health and longevity. As much as dieting and watching what you eat is a fad right now, it's actually a 200 year old concept, started by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn.
Jahn was born in Brandenburg, studied theology and philology, and eventually became a Gymnasium teacher in Berlin. It was after the war with Napoleon where Jahn was embarrassed by the performance of the people of his area, and thought the best way to "restore their spirits" was to develop their physical and moral powers through practicing gymnastics.
The first open air Gymnasium was opened in Berlin in 1811 by Jahn. This is where he started to teach young gymnasts to hold themselves as part of a kind guild for the liberation of their fatherland. In other words, these gymnasts were the face of their country, so it was very important to strive for excellence and high moral standards, all of which he taught through gymnastics. In many of his writings, he talked about these nationalistic ideas very often.
The parallel bars, rings, and high bar are all products of Jahn, and are still used today in International competition.
All of this information is from Wikipedia, and can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnvater_Jahn
