Meanwhile other measures looking toward nationwide agitation and instruction were being taken. As a preliminary step it was desirable to ascertain the exact present status of the games movement in Germany, and for the collection and tabulation of such statistical information von Schenckendorff was able to secure the services of a man who had already made an important contribution in the realm of physical education. Hermann Raydt (1851-1914), born in the Prussian province of Hannover, educated in the Lingen _Gymnasium_ of which his father was rector and in the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Göttingen, was from 1878 till 1892 teacher (_Oberlehrer_) in the _Gelehrtenschule_ at Ratzeburg, a town twelve miles southeast of Lübeck. In 1886, as the first appointee under the terms of the Bismarck-Schönhausen foundation for the advancement of teaching, he travelled in England and Scotland, studying especially the methods of education and manner of life in the English public schools. The results of his observations were embodied in an interesting and stimulating volume[103] published three years later, in which he proposes an adaptation of the English playground to German school conditions. The book appeared at an opportune moment and met with a favorable reception everywhere. The Prussian ministry of instruction warmly recommended it to the attention of all higher schools and teachers’ colleges. It also brought Raydt into communication with von Schenckendorff, who persuaded him to undertake the task already mentioned. The Görlitz Society for the Promotion of Manual Training and School Games bore the expense of the investigation, and in April of 1890 circulars were sent out to all German cities with a population of 8000 or more asking what had already been done in the way of games and playgrounds, and whether the authorities were inclined to welcome their introduction. Two hundred and seventy-three replies were received. Raydt studied these carefully and made them the basis of another volume[104] which appeared early in the following year.