Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture (1892 - )

Photographer unknown: Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture in an exercise display in Martin Place, Sydney, 1940s

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Physical Culture, also known as Physie (pronounced 'fizzy'), is a sport ‘for girls and women from 4 years up’. The syllabus, as described in contemporary publicity material, draws on standing and floor exercises, aerobic warm-ups, basic ballet, and modern dance ‘to build confidence, good posture, strength, grace, and flexibility through exercise.’ The history of physical culture in Australia has been inextricably linked to that of the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture.

The Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture, also known as the Bjelke-Petersen Bros. School of Physical Culture, Bjelke-Petersen Bros. Institute of Physical Culture, and BjP, was founded in 1892 by the Danish-born Hans Christian Bjelke-Petersen in Hobart. Bjelke-Petersen was soon joined by his brothers Johannes and Harald, and his sister Marie. The former premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen while not connected with the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture, was related to the Bjelke-Petersen brothers. Hans Christian, Johannes and Harald were the brothers of Joh’s father George.

It was in the Hobart ‘Institute of Physical Culture’ that the Bjelke-Petersen brothers began to develop their ‘system of physical culture’, essentially courses of exercise tailored to individuals, and classes for both men and women. They had also at this stage, as mentioned in publicity material of the time, gained a reputation for ‘treating special cases by Medical Gymnastics, Massage and Electricity.’

In c.1907 the Bjelke-Petersen brothers established a gymnasium in Sydney, where they soon established multiple branches. And by 1909 the Bjelke-Petersen brothers had established a branch in Melbourne. In 1910 Robert Rae Turner became a partner in the company following the death of Johannes. Soon after Keith Wickham Allen was also brought on as a partner. Turner ‘became responsible for developing the class or group instruction method of physical education within the firm and he also had the task of organising the annual demonstrations and competitions’. Allen was ‘involved in controlling the programs and teaching of physical education in many leading convents and colleges in Sydney’. In addition to ladies’ and men’s classes, the School was also involved in a range of physical education activities, including fencing, boxing, Jiu Jitsu, and medical gymnastics.

The Bjelke-Petersen brothers’ influence began to be felt in the wider community through Hans Christian Bjelke-Petersen’s work from 1911-1914 as director of a Commonwealth scheme of physical training. This involved organising a system of physical education for Australian school children and arranging the training of expert instructors for the cadet forces and school teachers. He was accredited honorary Lieutenant–Colonel for this work. The work of the Bjelke-Petersen brothers was further disseminated through the community through a series of publications on physical education and training, general fitness and sexual ethics.

In November 1922 a fire destroyed the School’s main Elizabeth Street premises. The Daily Telegraph reported that ‘the destruction of charts and records represents serious loss. Mr Harald Bjelke-Petersen is a prolific writer on maters relating to health and physical culture. He stated last night that he had lost some thousands of pages of manuscript…’. In 1923 the firm moved to 112 Castlereagh Street, above the NSW Book Store Company. They moved again till 1982, when due to renovation the firm moved to their present address in the Dymocks Building at 428 George Street. 1923 also saw the Melbourne branch of the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture sold to Percy Pearce.

In 1927 Bjelke-Petersen Brothers became a proprietary company with Hans Christian and Harald Bjelke-Petersen, Turner and Allen as shareholders. And in the same year Hans Christian Bjelke-Petersen retired from active involvement in the firm. With Harald’s death in 1936, Robert Rae Turner became managing director, a post he held till 1948.

During the 1920s the Bjelke-Petersen brothers established physical culture classes for young women in businesses such as Anthony Hordern and Sons, David Jones, W.D. & H.O Wills, and Nestles, ‘these were the forerunners to [the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture] clubs as they exist today.’ In addition the School presented ‘ladies’ classes in and training courses to become physical culture instructors.

The Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture now has approximately 180 clubs throughout suburban Sydney, country NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and the ACT. At the end of the year, Physical Culture clubs compete in a series of friendly competitions for both teams and individuals, with national junior finalists having the opportunity to compete in the annual finals held at Sydney's State Sport Centre, Homebush. The senior and ladies finals are held each November in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.

The Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture has increasingly been involved in large scale public events during recent years, including the N.R.L. Grand Final, the N.S.W. Centenary of Federation Parade, the Darling Harbour Christmas Pageant, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Bibliography:

A history of the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture is contained in the program for BjP 100: Centenary spectacular, Sydney Entertainment Centre ([Sydney: BjP, 1992]). See also Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture, Bjelke-Petersen Bros.: what we do for children (Sydney: Bjelke-Petersen Bros., [1901?]); Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture, Annual demonstration : grand open-air competition at Nestle's Grounds, Abbotsford, Saturday, November 15th, 1930 : programme (Sydney: Bjelke-Petersen Bros., 1930); and John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell (general ed.), Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia (Sydney: Currency House in association with Currency Press, 2003), p. 514-515.

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