Revista Brasileira de Ciências do Esporte ISSN: 0101-3289 [email protected] Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte Brasil Hofmann, Annette R. The American Turners: their past and present Revista Brasileira de Ciências do Esporte, vol. 37, núm. 2, abril-junio, 2015, pp. 119-127 Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte Curitiba, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=401339565004 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Document downloaded from http://, day 16/06/2015. This copy is for personal use. Any transmission of this document by any media or format is strictly prohibited. Rev Bras Ciênc Esporte. 2015;37(2):119---127 Revista Brasileira de CIÊNCIAS DO ESPORTE www.rbceonline.org.br ORIGINAL ARTICLE The American Turners: their past and present Annette R. Hofmann Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany Received 1 August 2011; accepted 28 November 2014 Available online 5 March 2015 KEYWORDS Abstract The United States has been a nation of immigrants, which is reflected by its multi- Turnen; cultural society. Different immigrant groups helped shape the American society through their cultures and traditions. One group was the Germans; they represented a unique and forceful Turner society; Germans; current in the stream of immigration to the United States. In their cultural luggage the German German-Americans immigrant brought their physical culture to North America, Turnen which was organised in clubs or so-called Turnvereine. The American turner movement has its origin in the mid 19th century, and it is still organised on a national level, since the 1930s under the name American Turners. This article summarises the history of the German-American turner movement until the 1990s, and will also relate to various stages of Americanization within this movement. © 2015 Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved. PALAVRAS-CHAVE O American Turner: seu passado e seu presente Turnen; Resumo Os Estados Unidos se constituíram como uma nac¸ão de imigrantes, portanto, uma Sociedade Turner; sociedade multicultural. Diferentes grupos de imigrantes ajudaram a moldar a sociedade Alemães; americana através de suas culturas e tradic¸ões. Um destes grupos foi o dos alemães, Alemães-americanos que representou uma corrente singular e muito forte no fluxo imigratório para os Esta- dos Unidos. Em sua bagagem cultural os imigrantes alemães levaram sua cultura física para a América do Norte: o Turnen, que era organizado em clubes ou nas deno- minadas Turnvereine. O movimento dos Turner americanos tem suas origens em meados do século XIX e ainda apresenta uma organizac¸ão em nível nacional sob o nome American Turn- ers, adotado desde a década de 1930. Este artigo resume a história do movimento do Turnen teuto-americano até os anos de 1990 e relata as diferentes etapas de sua americanizac¸ão. © 2015 Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. Todos os direitos reservados. E-mail: [email protected] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rbce.2014.11.020 0101-3289/© 2015 Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved. Document downloaded from http://, day 16/06/2015. This copy is for personal use. Any transmission of this document by any media or format is strictly prohibited. 120 A.R. Hofmann PALABRAS CLAVE El Turner Americano: su pasado y su presente Turnen; Resumen Los Estados Unidos se constituyeron como una nación de inmigrantes, lo que se Sociedad Turner; Alemanes; refleja actualmente en su sociedad multicultural. Diferentes grupos de inmigrantes ayudaron Alemanes-americanos a dar forma a una sociedad americana a través de sus culturas y tradiciones. Uno de estos grupos fueron los alemanes, que representaron una corriente singular y muy fuerte en el flujo inmigratorio para los Estados Unidos. En su bagaje cultural los inmigrantes alemanes llevaron su cultura física para Amércia del Norte: el Turnen, que era organizado en clubes o en las deno- minadas Turnvereine. El movimiento de los Turner americanos tiene sus orígenes a mediados del siglo XIX y todavía presenta una organización a nivel nacional bajo el nombre American Turners, adoptado desde la década de 1930. Este artículo resume la histórica del movimiento del Turnen teuto-americano hasta los anos˜ de 1990 y relata las diferentes etapas de su americanización. © 2015 Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. Todos los derechos reservados. Introduction physical education, and outlets for German immigrants to continue their cultural traditions. Their Turner Halls pro- vided a social centre with lectures and libraries. Until recently the United States has been a nation of To this day over 700 Turner societies have once existed in immigrants, which is reflected today by a multicultural soci- the United States. Hardly anyone knows that some Turnvere- ety. Different immigrant groups from all over the world ine are still in existence. This paper shall provide an insight helped shape American society through their cultures and on how and why the Turners first came to the United States traditions. One of the biggest immigrant groups is the and into the history of the German-American Turner move- German-Americans, who, according to the 1990 census, ment. It will also show how the German-American Turner are, with over 20%, the largest ethnic group in the United movement is presently structured. A special focus will be States (Adams, 1993, p. 3). The culture and traditions which put on the Americanization of the Turners into American the German immigrants brought to the American continent Turners. took on new forms of expression in the new environment: German-American ones. Some have become part of the American mainstream culture and are not recognisable as The beginnings of Turnen in Germany German in origin. German customs, rituals and cultural practices were per- The Turner movement has its origins in 18th- and petuated in the many societies or ‘‘Vereine’’ which the 19th-century Germany and was closely connected with intel- Germans organised in the United States. The contents often lectual streams and the political, social and economic were altered to adapt to the new needs of the host soci- changes of the period such as the Enlightenment, the French ety. The Vereine not only transmitted a kind of security to 1 Revolution, the new political order in Europe and technical the immigrants, but also created group solidarity. Histo- advancement. In this context ideas about the education of rian Kathleen Neils Conzen describes them as ‘‘nurseries the people, in which national unity, patriotism and the readi- of ethnicities’’ in which German culture could spread and 2 ness to fight for one’s ‘‘fatherland’’ played a special role, thus help form an ethnic culture and identity. The German- rose. German Turnen, largely developed by Friedrich Lud- American directory of addresses listed 6586 German secular 4 wig Jahn (1778---1852), was such an idea. The goals of the societies in the United States in 1916/17. At the end of Turners were the liberation from French occupation, which the 1990s, in Chicago alone, there were still 80 German 3 followed the defeat of the Prussian army in the Napoleonic clubs in existence. Through such groups, German culture Wars, the overthrow of the feudal order and an end to the is preserved in the United States to a certain degree, as division of Germany into many small states in favour of a can be seen in the celebration of German festivities, such one-nation state. Thus, the Turners played an important role as the annual Oktoberfest, a Carnival or the German Day. in the German nationalist movement and in the wars of lib- These events mostly take place in cities with formerly eration; many participated actively in the fight against the huge German immigrant populations. They are organised by French occupying forces. the German clubs of these towns. Turnen was introduced by Jahn as a comprehensive term Among the numerous community institutions and soci- for physical exercises. It not only included exercises on eties founded by the Germans are the Turner societies (Turn- apparatus, as developed by philanthropists such as Guts vereine), which were organisations for the development of 4 On Turnen see for example the contributions Stump and 1 See Hobsbawm (1985, p. 12). Ueberhorst (1980, p. 215---229); Pfister, (1996, p. 14---36) and the 2 See Luebke (1974, p. 43); Conzen (1989, p. 50; 58). special edition of Sportwissenschaft 2 (2000). A good overview of 3 Frankfurter Allgemeine, March 12th, 1998. the history of Turnen and sport is also given in Krüger (1993). Document downloaded from http://, day 16/06/2015. This copy is for personal use. Any transmission of this document by any media or format is strictly prohibited. The American Turners: their past and present 121 Muths but also games and so-called ‘‘exercises for the peo- make plans. At the centre of these festivities were not ple’’ (volkstümliche Übungen) (like running, jumping, lifting only gymnastic competitions but also political discussions and climbing as well as fencing, swimming and wrestling). and declamations, which mostly ended with the demand for 6 Although some of the apparatus is still used in modern gym- ‘‘freedom and equality’’. nastics and the ‘‘exercises for the people’’ show similarities After the success of the liberal movement in the March with today’s track-and-field disciplines, the norms and val- Revolution of 1848, the Turners thought they could fulfil ues, the intentions, principles and the contexts of Jahn’s their dreams and goals.