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Turners (german: Turner) are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber, 1798–1872, were the leading sponsors of gymnastics as an American sport and the field of academic study.
In Germany, a major gymnastic movement was started by ''Turnvater'' ("father of gymnastics") and nationalist 
After the failure of the 1848 Revolution in Germany, the Turner movement was suppressed, and many Turners left Germany, some emigrating to the United States, especially to the Ohio Valley region, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Texas. Several of these Forty-Eighters went on to become Union soldiers, and some became Republican politicians. Besides serving as physical education, social, political, and cultural organizations for German immigrants, Turners were also active in public education and labor movements. They were leading promoters of gymnastics in the United States as a sport and as a school subject. In the United States, the movement declined after 1900, and especially after 1917.
The Turner movement was preceded by the first wave of gymnastics in the United States in the 1820s, led by Germans, such as
File:Milwaukee Turnverein 1866.jpg, 1866
File:Milwaukee Gymnasium 1869.jpg, 1869
File:Milwaukee Turners 1875.jpg, 1875
File:Milwaukee Turners 1879.jpg, 1879
File:Milwaukee Turnverein.jpg, 1915
File:Kenosha Turners.jpg, Kenosha
File:Madison Turners 1915.jpg, Madison
File:Madison Turners 1915 - Bears.jpg, Madison Bears (seniors)
File:New Holstein Turners.jpg, New Holstein
File:Sheboygan Turners.jpg, Sheboygan
File:Friedrich Ludwig Jahn monument in Forest Park - plaque.jpg, Jahn Monument in St. Louis, Missouri
File:Davenport, Iowa Turngemeinde Monument.jpg, Davenport, Iowa Turngemeinde Monument
File:Jahn-Denkmal in der Hasenheide.jpg, The Berlin monument
File:Gedenktafel aus Chicago.jpg, Chicago, 1861
File:Gedenktafel aus Cincinnati.jpg, Cincinnati, 1865
File:Gedenktafel aus Philadelphia.jpg, Philadelphia, 1861
File:Gedenktafel aus Washington.jpg, Washington, D.C., 1911
File:LYRIC THEATER, BOONVILLE, COOPER COUNTY, MO.JPG, Turner Hall
Buffalo, Iowa File:Chicago Pilsen Turner Hall.jpg, Pilsen Turner Hall, Chicago, Illinois File:Turner Hall (Cincinnati).jpg, Central Turner Hall (1848), Cincinnati, Ohio File:Germania Singing and Sport Society.jpg, Germania Singing and Sport Society,
Dubuque, Iowa File:Turner Hall Duluth.jpg, Turner Hall (1888), Duluth, Minnesota File:Eldridge Turn-Halle.jpg,
Elgin, Illinois File:Galena Il Galena Historic District Turner Hall and FD1.JPG, Turner Hall
Galena, Illinois File:Holyoke_Turnverein%2C_South_Holyoke.jpg, Holyoke Turner Hall
Indianapolis, Indiana File:South Side Turnverein Hall.jpg,
New Orleans, Louisiana File:New Ulm Turner Hall.jpg, Turner Hall
New Ulm, Minnesota File:La MaMa Annex 66 East 4th Street.jpg, Turn-Verein, East 4th Street,
Postville, Iowa File:Rock Island, Illinois Turnhalle.jpg, Turnhalle
Riverside, New Jersey
Turners (german: Turner) are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber, 1798–1872, were the leading sponsors of gymnastics as an American sport and the field of academic study.
In Germany, a major gymnastic movement was started by ''Turnvater'' ("father of gymnastics") and nationalist Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
(11August 177815October 1852) was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist whose writing is credited with the founding of the German gymnastics (Turner) movement as well as influencing the German Campaign of 1813, during which a coalition of ...
in the early 19th century when Germany was occupied by Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. The ''Turnvereine'' ("gymnastic unions"; from German ''turnen'' meaning “to practice gymnastics,” and ''Verein'' meaning “club, union”) were not only athletic but also political, reflecting their origin in similar ethnocentric "national gymnastic" organizations in Europe (such as the Czech Sokol), who were participants in various national movements for independence. The Turner movement in Germany was generally liberal in nature, and many Turners took part in the Revolutions of 1848.
After the failure of the 1848 Revolution in Germany, the Turner movement was suppressed, and many Turners left Germany, some emigrating to the United States, especially to the Ohio Valley region, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Texas. Several of these Forty-Eighters went on to become Union soldiers, and some became Republican politicians. Besides serving as physical education, social, political, and cultural organizations for German immigrants, Turners were also active in public education and labor movements. They were leading promoters of gymnastics in the United States as a sport and as a school subject. In the United States, the movement declined after 1900, and especially after 1917.
History in the United States
The Turner movement was preceded by the first wave of gymnastics in the United States in the 1820s, led by Germans, such as Charles Beck
Charles Beck or Karl Beck (August 19, 1798 – March 19, 1866) was a German-born American classical scholar, Harvard professor and friend of Charles Follen.
Biography
Beck was born in Heidelberg. His merchant father died when Beck was young, a ...
and Charles Follen, and Americans, such as John Neal. Beck opened the first gymnasium in the U.S. in 1825 at the Round Hill School in Northampton, Massachusetts. Follen opened the first college gymnasium and the first public gymnasium in the States in 1826 at Harvard College and in Boston, Massachusetts, respectively. Neal was the first American to open a public gymnasium in the U.S. in Portland, Maine in 1827. He also documented and promoted these early efforts in the ''American Journal of Education'' and '' The Yankee'', helping to establish the American branch of the movement.
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, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.
About 1000 Turners served as Union soldiers during the Civil War. Anti-slavery was a common element, as typified by Carl Schurz
Carl Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He immigrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent member of the new ...
. Many Republican leaders in German communities were members. They provided the bodyguard at Abraham Lincoln's 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. After the Civil War, the national organization took a new name, ''Nordamerikanischer Turnerbund'', and supported German-language teaching in public high schools, as well as gymnastics. Women's auxiliaries were formed in the 1850s and 1860s. The high point in membership came in 1894, with 317 societies and about 40,000 adult male members, along with 25,000 children and 3000 women.
In the 1904 Olympics several competitors represented various Tuners organizations in Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and some of the teams at the Olympics were sponsored by Turners organizations.
Like other German-American groups, the Turners experienced suspicion during World War I, even though they now had very little contact with Germany. German-language instruction ended at many schools and universities, and the federal government imposed restrictions on German-language publications. The younger generation generally demanded the switch to the exclusive use of English society affairs, which allowed many Turner societies to continue to function.
Cultural assimilation and both World Wars with Germany took a gradual toll on membership, with some halls closing and others becoming regular dance halls, bars, or bowling alleys. As of 2011, 54 Turner societies still existed around the U.S. The current headquarters of American Turners is in Louisville, Kentucky.
In 1948, the US Post Office issued a 3-cent commemorative stamp to mark the 100th anniversary of the movement in the country.
The Turnverein in Sacramento, founded in 1854, claims to be the oldest still in existence in the United States. The Turnverein Vorwaerts of Fort Wayne, Indiana, owned the Hugh McCulloch House
Hugh McCulloch House is a historic home located at Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was built in 1843, and is a two-story, three bay by four bay, Greek Revival style painted brick building. It features a projecting front portico supported by four Doric or ...
from 1906 until 1966. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Gallery
Vintage photos of the Milwaukee ''Turnverein''
Other Wisconsin Turners in 1915
Monuments in the United States
Jahn Monument in Berlin with memorial plaques from American ''Turnvereine''
Turner Halls
Boonville, Missouri
Boonville is a city and the county seat of Cooper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 7,964 at the 2020 census. The city was the site of a skirmish early in the Civil War, on July 17, 1861. Union forces defeated the Missouri Stat ...
File:Buffalo, Iowa Tuner Hall.jpg, Turner HallBuffalo, Iowa File:Chicago Pilsen Turner Hall.jpg, Pilsen Turner Hall, Chicago, Illinois File:Turner Hall (Cincinnati).jpg, Central Turner Hall (1848), Cincinnati, Ohio File:Germania Singing and Sport Society.jpg, Germania Singing and Sport Society,
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
File:Central Turner Hall Davenport, Iowa.jpg, Central Turner Hall (1888), Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...
File:East Turner Hall Davenport, Iowa.JPG, East Turner Hall (1891), Davenport, Iowa
File:Nw turner hall davenport iowa.jpg, Northwest Turner Hall (1882), Davenport, Iowa
File:Dubuque, Iowa Turner Hall.jpg, Turner HallDubuque, Iowa File:Turner Hall Duluth.jpg, Turner Hall (1888), Duluth, Minnesota File:Eldridge Turn-Halle.jpg,
Eldridge Turn-Halle
The Eldridge Turn-Halle, also known as Tomberg's Turner Hall, was an historic building located in Eldridge, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The building was destroyed in a fire in 2013 and it ...
, Eldridge, Iowa
File:Elgin Turners, Elgin, IL.png, Elgin TurnersElgin, Illinois File:Galena Il Galena Historic District Turner Hall and FD1.JPG, Turner Hall
Galena, Illinois File:Holyoke_Turnverein%2C_South_Holyoke.jpg, Holyoke Turner Hall
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...
File:Independent Turnverein, Indianapolis.jpg, Independent TurnvereinIndianapolis, Indiana File:South Side Turnverein Hall.jpg,
South Side Turnverein Hall
South Side Turnverein Hall is a historic social club and gymnasium in the Bates-Hendricks neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana, affiliated with the city's German-American community. It was built in 1900 by prominent architects Vonnegut & Bohn, ...
(1900), Indianapolis, Indiana
File:Indianapolis Turner Hall.jpg, South Side Turnverein Hall, Indianapolis, Indiana
File:(Southside Turnverein, Indianapolis) by Rudolf Schwarz (1899) Control IAS IN000118.jpg, Detail, South Side Turnverin Hall, Indianapolis, Indiana
File:Germania Turnverein Lancaster.JPG, Germania Turnverein, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...
File:Turner Hall Madison.jpg, Turner Hall (1868), Madison, Wisconsin
File:Turner Hall Milwaukee 2014.jpg, Turner Hall (1882), Milwaukee, Wisconsin
File:Milwaukee Turnverein gymnasium.jpg, Interior ca. 1910, Turner Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
File:Turners Hall New Orleans.jpg, Turners Hall (1868)New Orleans, Louisiana File:New Ulm Turner Hall.jpg, Turner Hall
New Ulm, Minnesota File:La MaMa Annex 66 East 4th Street.jpg, Turn-Verein, East 4th Street,
New York, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
File:(King1893NYC) pg572 CENTRAL TURN-VEREIN, 211 EAST 67TH STREET.jpg, Central Turn-Verein, East 67th Street, New York, New York
File:TurnerHallOpenDoor.jpg, Turner Hall (1914)Postville, Iowa File:Rock Island, Illinois Turnhalle.jpg, Turnhalle
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...
File:Riverside, New Jersey Riverside NJ Turners Hall.jpg Riverside, New Jersey
See also
* German-Americans in the Civil War *George Brosius
George Brosius (September 9, 1839March 17, 1920) was a German-American gymnastics teacher associated from 1854 to 1915 with the Milwaukee Turnverein.Forty-Eighters
* Sokol, A comparable movement for Czechs in Central Europe (Austria-Hungary) and the United States
online
* Barney, Robert Knight. "Knights of Cause and Exercise: German Forty-Eighters and Turnvereine in the United States during the Antebellum Period." ''Canadian Journal of History of Sport'' 13.2 (1982): 62-79. * Barney, Robert Knight. "America's First Turnverein: Commentary in Favor of Louisville, Kentucky." ''Journal of Sport History'' 11.1 (1984): 134-137
online
*Hoyt, D. J. (1999). ''A strong mind in a strong body: Libraries in the German-American Turner movement.'' New York, NY: Peter Land. * Kramer, William M., and Norton B. Stern. "The Turnverein: A German Experience for Western Jewry." ''Western States Jewish History'' 16 (1984): 227. * Metzner, Henry. ''A brief history of the American Turnerbund'' (1924
online
* Pfister, Gertrud. "The Role of German Turners in American Physical Education," ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 26 (no. 13, 2009) 1893-925 * Pumroy, Eric, and Katja Rampelmann. ''Research guide to the Turner movement in the United States'' (Greenwood, 1996).
Website of the American TurnersArchives of the American TurnersAmerican Turner Topics newsletterWebsite of the Los Angeles Turners with history, photos, newsletters, and links to other Turners Organizations
* Th
American Turners, Wilmington Records
and th
Roxborough Turners Records
including by-laws, correspondence, minutes and photographs, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. {{Authority control German-American history German-American culture German-American organizations American Civil War political groups Gymnastics organizations Gymnastics in the United States Physical culture Politics and sports Sports organizations established in 1848 People associated with physical culture
References
Further reading
* Barney, Robert Knight. "German Turners in America: Their Role in Nineteenth Century Exercise Expression and Physical Education Legislation." in Earle F. Zeigler ed., ''American Sport and Physical Education History (to 1875)'' (1975): 116+online
* Barney, Robert Knight. "Knights of Cause and Exercise: German Forty-Eighters and Turnvereine in the United States during the Antebellum Period." ''Canadian Journal of History of Sport'' 13.2 (1982): 62-79. * Barney, Robert Knight. "America's First Turnverein: Commentary in Favor of Louisville, Kentucky." ''Journal of Sport History'' 11.1 (1984): 134-137
online
*Hoyt, D. J. (1999). ''A strong mind in a strong body: Libraries in the German-American Turner movement.'' New York, NY: Peter Land. * Kramer, William M., and Norton B. Stern. "The Turnverein: A German Experience for Western Jewry." ''Western States Jewish History'' 16 (1984): 227. * Metzner, Henry. ''A brief history of the American Turnerbund'' (1924
online
* Pfister, Gertrud. "The Role of German Turners in American Physical Education," ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 26 (no. 13, 2009) 1893-925 * Pumroy, Eric, and Katja Rampelmann. ''Research guide to the Turner movement in the United States'' (Greenwood, 1996).
External links
Website of the American Turners
* Th
American Turners, Wilmington Records
and th
Roxborough Turners Records
including by-laws, correspondence, minutes and photographs, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. {{Authority control German-American history German-American culture German-American organizations American Civil War political groups Gymnastics organizations Gymnastics in the United States Physical culture Politics and sports Sports organizations established in 1848 People associated with physical culture