Erich Janietz became known above all for his efforts in the field of German folk dance. Influenced by the Wandervogel movement and the Free German Youth Movement, he was one of the important personalities of the folk dance movement in Germany before and after the Second World War, together with Ludwig Burkhardt, Herbert Oetke, Anna Helms-Blasche and Julius Blasche. In addition to his work as a gymnastics and folk dance teacher, he published the magazine “Der Volkstanz” from 1925 and the magazine “Der Tanzkreis” from 1930. In the GDR he worked at the Central House for Folk Art and was the initiator of the Rudolstadt Dance Festivals.
