CarlDiemwasbornin 1882 inWürzburg.In 188 7thefamilymovedtoBerlin
duetoeconomicalreasons.SelimSırrıʼsfamilyalsohadtoleavetheirhometown
inThessalyandsettleinthecapitalIstanbulduetotheOttomandefeatin
1878 .¹³³DiemattendedtheFrenchhighschoolinBerlinandSelimSırrıwasac-
ceptedtotheGalatasarayFrenchhighschoolinConstantinople.¹³⁴YoungCarl
wasnotagiftedschoolboy,buthelearnedFrench,whichprovedusefulfor
his latercareer inthe Frenchdominated International Olympic Committee
(IOC).Hebeganatraineeshipasanaccountclerkindifferentcompaniesafter
hisgraduationin 1899 ,acquiringbasicorganizationalskills.Inthesameyear,
hisfather,anunsuccessfultradesman,emigratedtotheUnitedStatesleavingbe-
hindthefamily.SelimSırrıwasonlytwoyearsoldwhenhisfather,amilitary
officer,gotkilledinactioninMontenegro.¹³⁵
Inhissparetime,theyoungDiemjoinedsportclubs,wherehesoondiscov-
eredhisloveforathleticdisciplines.Inthoseyears,theGermansportsmove-
mentwasinthefledglingstages.Mostclubsandtheirregulationswereprelimi-
naryandsuperficialanddidnotfulfilltheneedsofagenuinelyprofessional
club.Asaresult,CarlDiemdedicatedhimselftothedevelopmentofthesport
movement,whichlaterbecamehislife-longpassion.TheyoungDiemdidnot
preferTurnen,buthebecameanenthusiasticrunnersinceitwasadiscipline
thatwasfreeofcharge.¹³⁶SelimSırrıenjoyedgymnasticslessonsinGalatasaray,
thoughincontrasttoDiem,hecontinuedhishighereducationatamilitaryen-
gineeringschool,subsequentlyservingasamilitaryengineerwithgymnastic
teachingobligationsfrom 1896 to 1909.
InBerlin,Diemfoundedhisfirstsportsclubandwasoneofthefounding
membersoftheBerlinAthleticsclubsassociation.Hisactivitieswereinterrupted
bymilitaryservicein 1904 /1 905 ,atimethatgaveDiem’sworldviewanotherper-
spective.Diemenjoyedhisservicelookingbacktotheparadesandmarching
byesthathelatercomparedtothesportmassdeploymentsinthesameway
thatSelimSırrıdid.¹³⁷However,Diemhadamission,alsowithinthearmy.In
theearly2 0 thcentury,manyGermanofficersfromaristocraticbackgrounds
hadregardedsportasuselessandnotusefultothemilitarybutonlyserving
Tarcan,Hatıralarım,5.
FrankBecker,DenSportgestalten:CarlDiemsLeben, 1882 – 1962.Vol.1:Kaiserreich(Duis-
burg:UniversitätsverlagRhein-Ruhr,2009), 15 ;Tarcan,Hatıralarım,5.
Tarcan,Hatıralarım,6.
Becker,CarlDiemsLeben,vol. 1 ,33.
Becker,CarlDiemsLeben,vol. 1 ,69;Cora,“ConstructingandMobilizingtheNation,” 62.
CarlDiem:A‘GermanSelimSırrı’? 131