Jürgen Seydel

{{Short description|German karateka (1917–2008)}}

{{Infobox martial artist

| name = Jürgen Seydel

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| image_size = 225px

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| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|9|12|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Bonn, Germany

| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|8|3|1917|9|12|df=yes}}

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| martial_art = Shotokan Karate

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| students = Elvis Presley

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Jürgen Seydel (September 12, 1917 – August 3, 2008) was a German martial artist. Some have credited him as the father of karate in Germany.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BdoDAAAAMBAJ&dq=jurgen+seydel&pg=PA61|title=Black Belt |date=October 2, 1965|publisher=Active Interest Media, Inc.|via=Google Books}}

In 1939 Seydel began judo training at the University of Bonn. In 1955, he read an article in a French magazine about karate, which was still unknown in Germany at the time; he traveled to Paris to learn this art. In 1957 Seydel founded according to the JKA the first karate club in Germany in Bad Homburg{{cite web|url=http://www.chronik-karate.de/index.php?y=1957&ereignisse=1|title=Chronik des deutschen Karateverbandes|website=www.chronik-karate.de|accessdate=17 December 2017}} and soon opened a studio in Usingen.Rex und Elisabeth Mansfield: ELVIS in Deutschland. Collectors Service, Bamberg 1981, {{ISBN|3-922932-00-2}}, Page 72 Jürgen learnt from a textbook by Henry Plée and with the knowledge he had acquired on courses. In 1959 he passed the exam for the 1st Dan. Until 1965 he was the only Dan carrier in Germany. Seydel's most prominent student was U.S. musician Elvis Presley, then stationed in Germany during his military service.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFdbBgAAQBAJ&q=elvis+presley+J%C3%BCrgen+Seydel&pg=PT40|title=The Seeker King: A Spiritual Biography of Elvis Presley|first=Gary|last=Tillery|date=9 September 2013|publisher=Quest Books|isbn=9780835630863|accessdate=17 December 2017|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUXPpQAhsCkC&q=elvis+presley+J%C3%BCrgen+Seydel&pg=PA173|title=Elvis Presley, Reluctant Rebel: His Life and Our Times|first1=Glen|last1=Jeansonne|first2=David|last2=Luhrssen|first3=Dan|last3=Sokolovic|date=17 December 2017|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313359040|accessdate=17 December 2017|via=Google Books}}

Jürgen Seydel was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker for his services to karate in Germany.Bundesverdienstkreuz für Jürgen Seydel. In: Deutscher Karateverband (Hrsg.): karate magazin. Nr. 2, 1989, Page. 16 ([http://www.chronik-karate.de/material/1989_02_DKV-Magazin.pdf PDF; 5,7 MB] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407045654/http://www.chronik-karate.de/material/1989_02_DKV-Magazin.pdf |date=2012-04-07 }}).