Abstract
This paper looks at the history of Orel, the Catholic physical education association, and its foreign relations up to 1929. The origins of the Orel movement in the Czech region of Austria-Hungary go back to the turn of the 20th century when the first local Orel associations were established. These associations were strongly connected with Czech political Catholicism. Shortly after being formed, their functionaries began to establish their first contacts with existing foreign organizations. Most of these organizations were from the area of contemporary Slovenia. Their number rose significantly after the First World War when the newly independent Czechoslovakian Orel became a member of the Catholic physical education union – UIOCEP. The members of this organization were all around the world. The number of foreign contacts it had established was also on the increase. The first international physical educational festival, which helped Czechoslovak Orel with its development, was organized in Brno in 1922. But the Czechoslovakian Orel had planned a second big festival of physical education for 1929, hoping to further extend its number of foreign friends. The second physical educational festival was also successful. It helped Czechoslovak Orel to increase its influence in UIOCEP where it became the second-largest organization.