Turners

This article is about the German-American gymnastic club members. For the medical condition, see Turner syndrome. For the location in Missouri, see Turners, Missouri. For plural form "Turners", see Turner (disambiguation).

Gymnastics room in Turner Hall, Milwaukee, ca. 1900

3,000 Turners performed at the Federal Gymnastics Festival in Milwaukee, 1893.

Turners (German: Turner), are members of German-American gymnastic clubs.

A German gymnastic movement was started by Turnvater ("father of gymnastics") Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in the early 19th century when Germany was occupied by Napoleon. The Turnvereine ("gymnastic unions") were not only athletic, but also political, reflecting their origin in similar "nationalistic gymnastic" organizations in Europe. The Turner movement in Germany was generally liberal in nature, and many Turners took part in the Revolution of 1848.

Group portrait of the St. Louis, Missouri Turnverein in 1860.

After its defeat, the movement was suppressed and many Turners left Germany, some emigrating to the United States. Several of these Forty-Eighters went on to become Civil War soldiers, the great majority in the Union Army, and American politicians. Besides serving as physical education, social, political and cultural organizations for German immigrants, Turners were also active in the American public education and the labor movements. Eventually the German Turner movement became involved in the process leading to German unification.

History in the USA

Postage stamp commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the American Turners

The Turnvereine made a contribution to the integration of German-Americans into their new home. The organizations continue to exist in areas of heavy German immigration, such as Iowa, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Syracuse, NY, Kentucky, New York City, and Los Angeles.

Together with Carl Schurz, the American Turners helped support the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States. They provided the bodyguard at his inauguration on March 4, 1861, and at his funeral in April, 1865. In the Camp Jackson Affair, a large force of German volunteers helped prevent Confederate forces from seizing the government arsenal in St. Louis just prior to the beginning of the war.

Like other German-American groups, the American Turners experienced discrimination during World War I. The German language was banned in schools and universities, and German language journals and newspapers were shut down, but the Turner societies continued to function.

In 1948, the U.S. Post Office issued a 3-cent commemorative stamp marking the 100th anniversary of the movement in the United States.

Cultural assimilation and the two World Wars with Germany took a gradual toll on membership, with some halls closing and others becoming regular dance halls, bars or bowling alleys. Fifty-four Turner societies still existed around the U.S. as of 2011. The current headquarters of the American Turners is in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Turnverein Vorwaerts of Fort Wayne, Indiana, owned the Hugh McCulloch House from 1906 until 1966. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Gallery

Vintage photos of the Milwaukee Turnverein

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  1866

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  1869

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  1875

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  1879

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  1915

Other Wisconsin Turners in 1915

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  Kenosha

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  Madison

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  Madison Bears (seniors)

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  New Holstein

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  Sheboygan

Jahn Monument in Berlin with memorial plaques from American Turnvereine

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  Chicago, 1861

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  Cincinnati, 1865

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  Jahn Monument

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  Philadelphia, 1861

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  Washington, D.C., 1911

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  Davenport, Iowa Turngemeinde Monument

Turner Halls

Turn Verein, Syracuse Turners, Inc., 619 N Salina St, Syracuse, NY (May 15th, 1854)

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  Turner Hall, Boonville, Missouri

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  Pilsen Turner Hall, Chicago, Illinois

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  Central Turner Hall (1848), Cincinnati, Ohio

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  Germania Singing and Sport Society, Columbus, Ohio

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  Central Turner Hall (1888), Davenport, Iowa

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  East Turner Hall (1891), Davenport, Iowa

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  Northwest Turner Hall (1882), Davenport, Iowa

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  Turner Hall (1888), Duluth, Minnesota

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  Eldridge Turn-Halle, Eldridge, Iowa

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  Elgin Turners, Elgin, Illinois

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  Turner Hall, Galena, Illinois

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  Independent Turnverein, Indianapolis, Indiana

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  South Side Turner Hall, Indianapolis, Indiana

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  Detail, South Side Turner Hall, Indianapolis, Indiana

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  Germania Turnverein, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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  Turner Hall (1868), Madison, Wisconsin

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  Turner Hall (1882), Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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  Interior ca. 1910, Turner Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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  Turners Hall (1868), New Orleans, Louisiana

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  Turner Hall, New Ulm, Minnesota

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  Turn-Verein, East 4th Street, New York, New York

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  Central Turn-Verein, East 67th Street, New York, New York

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  Turner Hall, Postville, Iowa

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  Rock Island, Illinois Turnhalle

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  Dubuque, Iowa Turner Hall

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  Buffalo, Iowa Tuner Hall

See also

• German-Americans in the Civil War
• George Brosius
• Forty-Eighters

Further reading

• Gertrud Pfister. "The Role of German Turners in American Physical Education," International Journal of the History of Sport 26 (no. 13, 2009) 1893-925

External links

• Website of the American Turners
• History of the American Turners By Henry Metzner
• Archives of the American Turners
• American Turner Topics newsletter
• Website of the Los Angeles Turners with history, photos, newsletters, and links to other Turners Organizations
• The American Turners, Wilmington Records and the Roxborough Turners Records, including by-laws, correspondence, minutes and photographs, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

• Gruen, Mardee. "Milwaukee Turners, local Jews go back 141 years." Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle April 29, 1994; p. 6, col. 1
• Note: This includes and Accompanying photographs.