Manitowoc’s Turner Hall was a center of the city, until a wrecking ball reduced it to rubble and dust. Here's its story.
“There was a time when lights in the building shined brightly. There was another year when all the local happenings of a city by the sea occurred within her walls,” recounts reporter John Harmon in a 1963 article reflecting on Manitowoc’s Turner Hall.
To understand the story of Turner Hall, you need to look further into history. Throughout time, many groups have followed the ancient Greek idea that a sound body fosters a sound mind. What made the Turnverein Society unique was that this organization was of German origin and believed that strong intellectual, social and physical bodies could be made through a vigorous physical program.
The Turners organization was founded in Germany in 1811 by German revolutionary and patriot Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. They became very powerful both physically and politically and in 1848 helped spark a revolution to make Germany a republic.
In the style of the German Turnverein clubs, these "48ers" established active athletic, cultural and social societies across the United States as people immigrated. Their catchphrase, "Sound Mind in a Sound Body," came to represent their comprehensive vision of "maximizing human potential via the harmonic fusion of intellectual and physical growth."
Wisconsin, with its large German immigrant population, was at the forefront of the nationwide Turner movement from its beginnings in the mid-1800s. By the time of the Civil War, every town — large or small — with a German-speaking community had a Turner Society.
The Turner Hall in Manitowoc was built at Washington Street and South Seventh Street in the late 1860s. It was operated under the name “Turner Opera House Company” and was operated by a committee. In 1904, the committee consisted of C.H. Tegen, Edward S. Schmitz, Charles Groffman, Arthur Reichert, Louis Rathsack, William Willinger, Albert Engels and Edward Schmitz. In 1904, the group incorporated, and Turner members were given five shares of stock with a value of $10 each.
By January 1905, there was $1,100 in the treasury and $700 was paid off on a debt of $1,500. In December 1905, the debt was paid off.
In 1906, the building expanded its operations to outside groups. The Western Vaudeville came to Manitowoc, along with early motion pictures. “The first showing was not a financial success, the receipts for the same being $92 and the expenses $161,” Harmon said.
In 1911, the name of the hall was changed from the Turner Opera House to the Orpheum. Early-day dances, athletic contests of all types, school classes, group meetings, church classes, Company H drill sessions, and Boy Scout meetings were all held here.
As Harmon continued, “She was first a theater and then a motion picture house. The joys and sorrows of the City of Manitowoc were reflected in her owlish windows.
“George Vits had purchased the property at Washington and South Seventh Streets in 1919. Vits wanted the Boy Scouts and Company H (National Guard) which had fought so brilliantly in World War 1, to have a permanent home.
“But the Manitowoc Cereal Products Co. (Rahr Malting) considered the old Turner Hall a fire hazard to its property and large silos and purchased the rambling structure [in 1932].
“They signed the contract one day. On the very next day, the wrecking crews moved in and in no time at all an ancient landmark of the City of Elevators was reduced to rubble and dust.”
Amy Meyer is executive director of the Manitowoc County Historical Society.
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This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc's Turner Hall was part of German Turnverein Society movement
