Turner Hall: Milwaukee’s Enduring Landmark

When you dine in the restaurant, catch a show in theballroom or work out in the gymnasium of Turner Hall, you're under the watchfulgaze of the American Turners captured in the portraits and photographs hangingon the walls. The images are a tableaux of the society's rich history in Milwaukee, a 156-yeartenure with roots that thread back to the German Turnverein associations of the early 19th century.

Outside of Berlin,German revolutionary and patriot Friedrich Ludwig Jahn founded an organizationthat prepared its young members, both mentally and physically, for resistanceto the French conquest of Europe during thetime of Napoleon. The Turners derived their name from the type of exercise Jahnemphasized: calisthenics and gymnastics, or turnenin German. In 1848, the Turners helped spark a revolution to establish Germany as aunified, progressive state. The uprisings were crushed and many of themovement's leaders sought refuge in America.

Once here, the Forty-Eighters, as they were called,created social, political and athletic clubs in the tradition of the Turnverein societies of their homeland.The Milwaukee Turners Society received its charter from the state in 1855 andits clubhouse on Fourth Streetbecame a social and cultural center for German and other like-mindedimmigrants. The Milwaukee Turners were proponents of social reform andtransparent, accountable governance, and they developed a reputation forreinforcing the principles declared in their national charter: "Liberty, against alloppression; Tolerance, against all fanaticism; Reason, against allsuperstition; Justice, against all exploitation!"

In 1882, the Turners built a monumental hall worthyof their society's solid foundation and dignified ideals. They employedarchitect H.C. Koch, the German immigrant who designed the Pfister Hotel andCity Hall, to draw up the plans. The massive four-story structure of cream citybrick was composed in the High Victorian Romanesque style. Devoid of ornamentalfeatures, three of the building's facades have a utilitarian character. Thewest façade, on the other hand, includes an imposing entrance pavilion that terminates in a pyramidal-roofed dormeredtower above the roofline. The articulation on this side of the buildingconsists of tall, ornamental spandrels, arched windows and massive stonelintels.

The interior of Turner Hall is even more impressive.Koch managed to design a building that would ultimately include a two-story,7,000-square-foot ballroom with an expansive balcony that sweeps around thenorth and west sides of the space; a ground-level gymnasium; large meetingrooms; and a restaurant and beer hall. Murals painted by German panoramicartists that depict important moments in the Turner movement, as well as famousGerman villages and scenes, can still be found in the Historic TurnerRestaurant.

In 1933 and again in 1941, the ballroom was severelydamaged by fires, ultimately forcing the Turners to close its doors. Afteryears of neglect, members of the Milwaukee Turners initiated a campaign torestore the ballroom, and in 2000 established the Turner Ballroom PreservationTrust for the purpose of renovating, maintaining and managing the ballroom.Turner Hall has come full circle, as it once again plays host to Milwaukee's vibrantsocial and cultural scene.