Manitowoc Germans Host Turners’ Festival in 1867
Turners' Festival announcement
The Manitowoc Tribune, August 29, 1867
On August 29, 1867, The Manitowoc Tribune reported that the German Society of Turners in Wisconsin would have a Grand Festival at Manitowoc on August 31 and September 1. Guests were expected from every part of the state.
Saturday’s festivities began at 6am with “the loud booming of cannon,” announcing that the boat carrying representatives of the various Turner organizations was in sight. A large crowd gathered on the pier to welcome them. On landing, they were escorted by a brass band and a large procession of citizens through the streets, decorated with festoons of evergreens, to Turner Hall on the corner of Washington and S. Seventh Streets. The fronts of several buildings bore the greeting phrase of gymnasts, “Gut Heil.” Arriving at the Hall, guests were greeted by village president Henry Baetz, a member of Manitowoc’s Turnverein and a former Major in the Union Army’s 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, comprised of mostly German immigrants.
In the afternoon, the Turners went to Gerpheide’s Hill near town (now the site of Froedtert HFM Hospital), where they listened to a concert and strolled through the cool and shady woods. At night, they attended a theatrical performance at Turner Hall, “which seemed to give universal satisfaction.”
On Sunday, a Turning or gymnastics competition was held at Gerpheide’s Hill. Turners from Milwaukee, Racine, Madison and La Crosse won prizes. William Leverenz of Manitowoc won a second place prize.
The evening session at Turner Hall featured an address by Bernard Domschke, editor of a German newspaper in Milwaukee and a former Captain in the 26th Regiment. This was followed by a grand ball, attended by a large number.
On Monday morning, Turners were escorted to their boat by a large group and a band.
According to The Manitowoc Pilot, the Turners’ Festival “was a successful affair and passed off pleasantly to all concerned . . . The Delegates, about 250 in number were all hearty and strong looking young men, and show plainly the good effect of simple and rational exercise.”
The Turner Society, or Turnverein, was founded by German teacher and patriot Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in Berlin in 1811 to promote physical improvement (“sound minds in sound bodies”) and social reform. Turner is the German word for gymnast; Verein means club or union. The Turner motto was Frisch, Frei, Stark, Treu (Alert, Free, Strong, Faithful).
Many Turners, who supported the German Revolution of 1848, were forced to flee and immigrated to the United States, bringing the Turner gymnastic movement with them. The first German-American Turner Society opened at Cincinnati, Ohio in 1848. Turner societies were started in virtually all Wisconsin communities with large numbers of German immigrants including Milwaukee (which had eight clubs), Racine, La Crosse, Green Bay, Fond du Lac, Watertown, Monroe, Port Washington, Sheboygan, Two Rivers, New Holstein and Madison. Manitowoc’s Turnverein had about 100 members.
Most Turner societies built and maintained specially-designed Turner Halls for gymnastic tournaments, calisthenic drills and flag exercises for both men and women. Turner Halls became the center of German-American society, politics, athletics, and recreation. Halls were used for meetings, lectures, dinners, dances, concerts and theatrical performances. They were also rented to non-German groups for weddings and other social functions. Many were later converted to opera houses. Only a few Halls remain in the state.
Members of the Manitowoc Turnverein, circa 1907
MANITOWOC COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY PHOTO
