Staff photo by Fritz Busch Historian Dan Hoisington smiles while talking about New Ulm Turnverein history at a Lunch and a Bite of History event at the Brown County Historical Society Museum Annex Thursday.

Promote pilates,

sound mind, body,

gemutlichkeit

By Fritz Busch

Staff Writer

NEW ULM — Roseville preservation consultant Dan Hoisington presented a detailed history of the New Ulm Turnverein at the Brown County Historical Society Museum Annex Thursday.

Hoisington said the Turners rode ships from what is now Germany to New York City 170 years ago when conservative forces swept them out. Most German immigrants headed to northern cities including Cincinnati but some headed to New Orleans and Fredericksburg, Texas, where remnants of the immigration still exist. Still others settled in Chicago, Louisville and St. Louis.

Hoisington said the Turners were thinking and skeptical people who particularly enjoyed shooting, singing and drinking, even on Sundays. In addition, he said they promoted liberty and equality.

“The Turners loved education, the arts, physical and mental fitness and a little gemutlichkeit (German word conveying warmth, friendliness, good cheer and a sense of belonging). Gymnastics were a big part of Turner physical fitness. So was low-impact stretching, now known as pilates. Women and girls were not excluded.

Hoisington said Franz Sigel, a German military officer, revolutionist and U.S. Immigrant who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician and served as a Union major general in the American Civil War. Sigel was noted for his ability to recruit German-speaking immigrants to the Union Army.

“Brown County was kind enough to name a township after him,” said Hoisington.

He cited New Ulm’s first newspaper, the New Ulm Pioneer in his presentation, in describing life more than 150 years ago.

“All people are born equal and endowed with inalienable rights, which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ This sentence of the Declaration of Independence is forgotten and lost.”

Hoisington cited Jacob Nix for being a key figure in the defense of New Ulm in the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War. Captured, charged with high treason and sentenced to be shot as a German revolutionary, Nix escaped, like many German “48ers”, and emigrated to America.

In 1855 at a national convention of German-American Turners, Nix enthusiastically support William Pfaender’s proposal to establish a German Turner colony on the Minnesota frontier. Several years later, the Nix family joined Pfaender and friends in the settlement of New Ulm.

“New Ulm is still a Turner town in many ways,” said Hoisington. “Neat and orderly with a great park system, it includes Martin Luther College and Hermann sitting side by side on Center Street. Those people were rebels who had a dream and shook things up.”

Hoisington cited a quote by George Bernard Shaw and former U.S. President Bobby Kennedy: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”

He cited New Ulm native Wanda Gag, an American artist, author, translator and illustrator who was the daughter of German immigrants engaged in the arts. Her father Anton was a painter. Her mother was a photographer.

Wanda Gag was best known for writing and illustrating the children’s book “Millions of Cats,” the oldest American picture book still in print.

A Brown County Historical Museum’s exhibit on the history of Turner Hall can be seen through April 2024 from 10 a.m. to 4 pm. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

The New Ulm Turnverein will host the 56th American Turners National Festival July 25-29, 2023. For more information, visit www.newulmturnerhall.org.