Cincinnati Turners Hall

The original building at 1407 Walnut St., since demolished, was a building that headquartered the Cincinnati chapter of the Turners Society. The Turners Society was a political, social, and athletics organization founded in Germany in the early 19th century. The Turners are credited with inventing modern gymnastics and popularizing physical education as a central component of public school curricula. The Turners later expanded to major cities across the United States following mass German immigration in the mid 19th century. Many Turners went on to become prominent figures in the American political scene, including Cincinnati’s own William Howard Taft, who served as President and Chief Justice of the United States.

Pre History of the Turners Society

According to a history of the Turners Society written for the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1876, the society’s philosophy and practice can be traced back to several German educational reformers who developed a method of education that incorporated physical education as a core branch of curriculum. These reformers created a physical education curriculum, published gymnastic exercise books, and encouraged schools to include physical education in their students’ educational requirements. Exercises in their programs included running, jumping, swimming, weight-lifting, fencing, shooting, as well as what we know of today as gymnastics.

J.F. Jahn, known as a forefather of the Turners Society, opened a gymnasium near Berlin in 1810 after discovering with shock the poor physical condition of the German soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars. In response, he developed a system of athletic exercises and games with the intention of preparing Germany’s people to rebel against Napoleon’s occupation of large sections of Germany— rebellions which were ultimately successful. The leaders of the early, liberal gymnastics societies were repressed by the German monarchs at various times over the course of the early 1800s. Other times, the societies were allowed to flourish, as when the German ruling classes feared invasions by the French in the 1840s. Overall, the gymnasiums were successful in making gymnastics exercises popular among the public.

For the educational reformers involved in the development of these gymnastics exercises, the importance placed on physical fitness was highly ideological. Of the athletics program, Jahn stated:

“gymnastics are to restore the uniformity in our education, which has been lost; to add bodily education to one-sided mental culture, and to balance over-refinement by manliness gained… The gymnasium is a place where bodily strength may be exercised, a school where skill in manly strife may be acquired; a field of chivalry to contend in; a help to education; a nursery to health; a public benefit.” 

In 1848 and 1849, the first Turner Societies were formed throughout Germany, espousing not only ideas about the centrality of physical education to a person’s educational formation, but also liberal and republican ideals, their motto being “Frisch, Fromm, Froehlich, Frei” (fresh, pious, merry, free). The Turners participated in the radical liberal revolutions of 1848 and ’49 with the aim of uniting the country under a republican government, which ultimately failed. Many Turners thus fled to the United States where they felt their political views would be allowed to flourish.

Turners in Cincinnati and across the United States

In 1851, the Turner Association of North America was established, an organization connecting Turners Societies across the nation. The Turners’ political program was “for the care of physical, mental, and free education and freedom and prosperity for all.” The Association soon took strong stands against slavery and anti-immigrant sentiment, in accordance with their liberal principles. By 1876, there were 15,000 Turners in the United States with 30,000 pupils, divided across 30 districts, of which the Cincinnati District was the oldest.

The Cincinnati Turners were established in 1848 in Over the Rhine, first inhabiting a shed on Bremen St., and later building a permanent headquarters on Walnut St. in 1859. By 1876, Cincinnati’s Turners Society had 350 adult members as well as 450 youth members, comprised of both boys and girls.

The building often served as a place of political debate and organizing, with members frequently gathering together to engage in discussions in German and English on domestic and international political affairs. In the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, the Cincinnati Turners tended to be affiliated with the Republican Party. When President Lincoln traveled the country, Turners would often serve as his guards.

The Cincinnati Turner Hall was also utilized as a music and athletics performance space. Women and men who learned athletics routines as members of the Turner Society gave public athletics performances demonstrating their skills. Dance parties and community meals were also held at the hall. The Turner Society held regular national “Turnfests,” where athletes from across the country would compete. The largest Turnfest ever held was in Cincinnati in the summer of 1909, lasting one month, and hosting over 50,000 attendees. The festival was replete with a parades, games, and athletic competitions.

During World War I, American Turners were affected by anti-German hysteria, with many politicians strongly demanding that public schools no longer teach German language and culture. Still, the Turners retained a strong affiliation to their German ancestry and culture for years after the war.

Feeling that their physical education programs had become widely adopted by broader society, the Cincinnati Turners announced in 1930 that they wished to refocus their attentions towards developing well-rounded citizens, rather than centering their activities mainly on athletics. Further, the Cincinnati Turners began to recruit from non-German communities— a piece about the Turners in the Enquirer writes that “the fact that all our future lies in the youth, no matter what ancestry, growing up all around us, is actuating our efforts at gaining numerical strength.” 

In the 1950s, the Cincinnati Turners moved out of their location on Walnut Street. Today, they are located in Springfield Township. The old Turner Hall was demolished in 1972. The Turners continue to be active in cities across the United States.

"Barriers Down: For Turner Advance." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) April 28th 1930., 10.

"The European War Question: Enthusiastic Meeting of Germans at Turner Hall Last Night." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) July 19th 1870., 8.

"Forward! Fight to be Waged on German Teaching in Cincinnati Schools." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) June 10th 1917.,17.

"The German Turners: A History of the Organization and its Purpose." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) September 3rd 1876., 9.

"Ladies of Various Turner Societies Gave Magnificent Gymnastic Exhibition at Central Turner Hall." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) January 12th 1902., 12.

Prout, Don. Turner Society, Cincinnati Views. Accessed February 2nd 2021. CincinnatiViews.net.

"Republican Meeting at Turner Hall." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) August 27th 1876., 1.

"Turner Society Will Give Gymnastic Entertainment at Music Hall." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) February 18th 1909., 11.

"The Turner's Plan of Agitation." The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) March 16th 1886., 8.