Turner Hall (Milwaukee)

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Turner Hall | nrhp_type = nhl | image = Milwaukee July 2023 105 (Turner Hall).jpg | caption = | location = 1034 N. 4th St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin | coordinates = {{coord|43|2|37|N|87|54|56|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Wisconsin#USA | area = | built = 1882<ref name=whs>{{cite web|title=Turner Hall|url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR1843|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|access-date=2020-04-12}}</ref> | architect = Henry C. Koch | architecture = Romanesque Revival, Rundbogenstil | designated_nrhp_type = November 15, 1996<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2198&ResourceType=Building|title=Turner Hall|access-date=2008-01-01|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403222417/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2198&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2009-04-03|df=}}</ref> | added = November 7, 1977<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a|refnum=77000041}}</ref> | refnum = 77000041 }}

'''Turner Hall''' is a historic athletic club facility at 1034 North 4th Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Named using the German "Turnen", meaning gymnastics or physical fitness, it is significant for its association with the American Turners, a German-American athletic, cultural, and political association. The Milwaukee group was founded in 1853 under the title, "Socialist Turnverein"; its leaders included Socialist Congressman Victor Berger.<ref>Gruen, Mardee. "Milwaukee Turners, local Jews go back 141 years." ''Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle'' April 29, 1994; p. 6, col. 1</ref> The building is one of the largest and most distinctive surviving buildings associated with the Turner movement, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{citation|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Turner Hall|url={{NHLS url|id=77000041}} |format=pdf|date=May 1995 |author=Dawn Schumann and James H. Charleton |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=77000041|title=''Accompanying 10 photos, exterior and interior, from 1994.''|photos=y}} {{small|(1.26 MB)}}</ref> It is now used as a performance and meeting venue.

==Description and history== [[File:Milwaukee Turner Hall Stained-Glass Window.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Stained-glass window in Turner Hall featuring an owl, the symbol of Milwaukee Turners]] The Turner movement was founded in Germany in 1811 by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn as a gymnastic association called ''Turnverein'', encouraging harmonious development of mind and body - to some extent a reaction to French domination during the Napoleonic Wars. After the failed revolutions of 1848, German political and economic refugees came to America, and some brought Turner ideas with them.<ref name=nrhpinv2/> A society was organized in Milwaukee in 1853, called the ''Sozializer Turnveirein Milwaukee'', then renamed ''Turnverein Milwaukee''. Their creed was "Free speech, free press, free assembly for discussion of all questions so that men and women may think unfettered and order their lives by the dictates of conscience."<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=77000041}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Turner Hall|publisher=National Park Service|author=Donald N. Anderson|date=1976-08-19|access-date=2020-04-12}} with {{NRHP url|id=77000041|photos=y|title=ten photos.}}</ref>

thumb|left|Gymnastics room in the National Gymnastics Hall at Milwaukee, ca. 1900 The Turner Society in Milwaukee grew and by the 1880s they needed a new meeting hall. The building was designed by architect Henry C. Koch, and was completed in 1882, with an addition in 1899. In keeping with the Turner movement's philosophy, the interior is decorated with artwork, including rare murals by German immigrant artists. Stained glass windows are adorned with political slogans relating to the Turner's progressive political stances.<ref name="nrhpinv2"/>

Turner Hall stands in Milwaukee's Westown downtown area, on the east side of North 4th Street between West Highland Avenue and West State Street. It is a four-story masonry building, built out of brick in a High Victorian style. Its front facade is elaborate, with projecting gabled sections near the outer corners, and a central entrance set deeply recessed under another projection. The central section rises to a five-story pyramid-capped tower. The interior includes a ballroom with balcony level, restaurant and beer hall and meeting rooms. A gymnasium with modernized facilities is located in the building basement.<ref name="nrhpinv2"/>

In 1994 the Governor proclaimed Turner Hall one of the "Ten Most Endangered Historic Sites" in Wisconsin. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996. In 2000, The Milwaukee Turners established the Turner Ballroom Preservation Trust to renovate and maintain the building. It now hosts a wide variety of concerts. The Turner Hall Ballroom was awarded the "Venue of the Year" at the 2010 Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) awards.<ref name="PostCrescentApril132010">{{cite news|title=First time event held outside Milwaukee|date=April 13, 2010|publisher=The Post Crescent|pages=A–3, A–6}}</ref>

==References== {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.milwaukeeturners.org/ Turner Hall & The Milwaukee Turners]

Category:German-American culture in Milwaukee Category:National Historic Landmarks in Wisconsin Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1882 Category:Buildings and structures in Milwaukee Category:Music venues in Wisconsin Category:Tourist attractions in Milwaukee Category:Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Category:National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee Category:Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Category:1882 establishments in Wisconsin Milwaukee