Photo via Milwaukee Turners at Turner Hall - Facebook
Milwaukee Turner Hall (2025)
Milwaukee Turner Hall (2025)
Turner Hall is a survivor. Situated between two parking lots, it is one of the last remaining 19th century buildings on the northwest edge of Downtown. Built in 1882, and designed by renowned Milwaukee architect Henry Koch, the building stands tall and proud amidst a neighborhood that has moved from industry, breweries and small-scale immigrant storefronts to Downtown’s late 20th and early 21st century big business developments.
Photo by Emilio De Torre
Turner Hall facade (2026)
Cracks in Milwaukee Turner Hall's historic facade, designed by Henry Koch (2026).
And now, at 144 years old, the building’s Romanesque facade needs time sensitive repairs and the interior, a new ADA lift. Currently, the organization is holding a fundraiser that has raked in over $11,000, short of its goal of $70,000; $40,000 for the lift and $30,000 for masonry repairs.
“It’s really hard to get funds for repairs or capital repairs,” said Milwaukee Turners executive director, Emilio De Torre. “It’s much easier to find funding for the programming that we do.”
Now through September 8, all gifts Turner Hall receives for the repairs will be matched by an undisclosed sponsor.
Same Mission, New Times
Host to the building’s namesake, the Milwaukee Turners have been officially operating since 1853. Founded by immigrants from what is now Germany, the organization is rooted in the liberal democratic ideals of republican governance that spurred a series of 1848 revolutions across Europe against authoritarianism. Though many of these revolutions physically failed, their political repercussions were felt across Europe and into the nascent United States. Waves of these so-called “48ers” began immigrating to the U.S. and establishing German Turnverein societies in their new cities to support the ideals of German Turner movement and revolutions of 1848.
These societies advocated with their trademark slogan of “Healthy body, healthy mind,” championing physical and mental fortitude, intellectual pursuit and civic responsibility. While many Turner societies have ceased, Milwaukee’s has stayed strong, continuing to support its community and mission.
“We’re larger than we’ve ever been in our entire 173-year history,” said De Torre. “We have almost 800 card carrying members. We have over 40 staff [members].
“The activities and the blueprint that the first turners created are why we continue today,” explained De Torre. “Where other Turner societies have shuttered their building because they moved away from their mission and just focused on … a pantomime of what the original Turners actually believed and did.”
|
|
Engage and Advocate
Today, the Milwaukee Turners continue to support their mission via a litany of programs that both engage community members directly or advocate for policy change; many do both. Currently, the organization is seeking to confront the problems important to Milwaukee’s present and future from expanding civic literacy to supporting drug abuse recovery and working on alternative solutions to mass incarceration.
“I think our strength is that we’re not a museum,” says De Torre.
Instead, the Milwaukee Turners are “a hub for Milwaukee where other Milwaukeeans come to and believe in the same principles of liberty, tolerance, reason and justice.”
In addition to confronting the harsh realities the city faces, the organization also celebrates the best of the city, from Riverwest 24 to rock climbing in Turner Hall’s basement to participating in community events like Doors Open Milwaukee.
Celebrating the good and embracing the challenges of the city, the Milwaukee Turners have helped shape policy, community and the collective memory of Milwaukee at their location on Vel Phillips Avenue for generations. In order to continue to do so, they will need the help of the community they have so embraced.
