St. Paul Turners (Saint Paul, Minn.).

The Turnverein St. Paul was organized on November 13, 1896, and changed its name to St. Paul Turners on August 29, 1940. The history of this organization, as well as that of other German groups and Turner societies, can best be understood by a more general review of the history of Turners in St. Paul.

The Turner movement, which had its birth in early 19th century Germany, was in part transplanted to the United States by German revolutionaries who fled their homeland after 1848. While the Turner movement in Germany became increasingly less political in its orientation, the American branch retained a more radical political tradition, as well as a theory of physical education shared by both branches. The first Turner society in the United States was formed in Cincinnati in 1848. By 1850 the movement had spread throughout the eastern states, and in that year a national organization was formed at a meeting held in Philadelphia. The first Minnesota chapter was formed November 11, 1856 in New Ulm.

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