Turnvereine, also known as sporting clubs, first came about in 1811, when Frederich Ludwig Jahn formed the first outdoor gymnasium in Berlin, Germany, with the goal of promoting a nationalist movement, primarily in response to the Prussian army’s defeat during the Napoleonic Wars. He quickly became known as Turnvater Jahn (the “father” of gymnastics), who promoted the idea of the four “F’s”: Frisch, Fromm, Froh, and Frei. Turnvater Jahn adapted these four “F’s” from the sixteenth-century expression “Frisch, Fromm, Fröhlich, Frei,” in order to promote the importance of a lifestyle that is “fresh, devout, happy, and free.” This motto had a political dimension, since Jahn’s idea was to provide a meeting ground where young men—Turnvereine were predominantly male throughout the nineteenth century—could meet, participate in games, and strengthen their bodies and minds in preparation for a unified Germany. By 1819, however, when Prussia had recovered from the Napoleonic Wars, German rulers deemed this nationalization a threat to their goal of a German confederation. As a result, Jahn was incarcerated for five years and Turnvereine were banned. Jahn’s sentence was reversed in 1825, but he was forbidden to live within ten miles of Berlin, and lived out his remaining days in Freyburg until his death in 1852.

Meanwhile, the ban on Turnvereine was lifted in 1842, and Turnen slowly became incorporated into the educational curriculum for young men. In the years leading up to the German revolutions of 1848-1849, many Turners used Turnvereine as a forum for political activism as well as (or in lieu of) a place to participate in exercises. When revolutionary groups and assemblies failed to unify Germany in 1849, many Turners, known as Forty-Eighters, fled their home country to escape imprisonment or death. A number of Turners emigrated to the United States and helped establish American Turner clubs in the mid-nineteenth century. In Germany the Turner movement was weakened after 1849. Although a federation of Turners formed in 1868 and Turnen remained the predominant form of exercise through the end of the nineteenth century, the socialist-leaning Turner groups fell away by World War I, and by World War II, they were banned altogether. After WWII, the Allies (the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union) allowed individuals to form sports clubs, but only let them develop so far, and kept the emphasis on sports rather than politics. Turnvereine remain popular in Germany today, but tend to be affiliated with particular regions and jobs (e.g., Turnvereine for individuals in specific careers) rather than politics.

As early as the 1820’s, many of Father Jahn’s disciples left Germany and established sporting clubs in the United States, while continuing to promote the idea of “a sound mind in a sound body.” In the years leading up to and following the U.S. Civil War, American Turner clubs sprang up in the Northeast and Midwest. At the height of the American Turner movement in the 1890’s, there were more than three hundred societies across the country. Cultural assimilation and two World Wars with Germany took a gradual toll on membership, with some halls closing and others becoming regular dance halls, churches, bars or bowling alleys. As of 2011, fifty-four Turner societies still existed around the United States, and the current headquarters of the American Turners is in Louisville, Kentucky.

The American Turners’ connection with the Y.M.C.A. came about when, in the late nineteenth-century, Y.M.C.A. leaders decided to include gymnastics and other sports as part of their programs. These leaders quickly realized in the need for teachers of physical fitness. The Y.M.C.A. Training School, which later became Springfield College, served as a pipeline for the Y.M.C.A. by supplying it with trained workers. Because the Association needed teachers for physical fitness, and because it wanted to recruit Christian men for the gymnasium, the school incorporated physical education into its curriculum in 1887.

The collection of steins and memorabilia was donated in March 2015 to Springfield College Archives and Special Collections by Art and Madeline Slicer. Art Slicer was born in Hartford, Connecticut and attended East Hartford High School, where he played football, wrestled, and ran track. He also served in the Naval Reserves. After serving in the army for three years, he attended Springfield College from 1955-1959, majoring in physical education. Madeline Slicer (née Razza), was born in Brooklyn, New York, raised in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and went to Classical High School. She attended Springfield College from 1954 – 1958, majoring in science education.

After graduating from Springfield College they married in July 1959 and moved to New Jersey. Art worked at the Metuchen YMCA and Madeline taught in Madison. In 1963 they moved to Quincey, Massachusetts where Art worked in the Quincy YMCA and taught in Reading, while Madeline taught in South Weymouth. In 1969 they moved to Bethany, Connecticut where Art was the gymnastics coach and health and physical education teacher in Hamden. In 1996 Mr. Slicer retired from his job as the K-12 Coordinator of Adaptive Physical Education. Madeline taught in the Amity School System and retired in 1998. They have lived in Connecticut since 1969.

Art Slicer began collecting steins in the late 1980’s. At the suggestion of a fellow collector, he began acquiring what are known as Turnvereine steins, in addition to steins with other themes. As he learned more about the Turner steins, he realized his family had belonged to the Meriden, Connecticut Turner club years earlier. Now retired, Art and Maddy Slicer continue to collect steins and are active in three local chapters of Stein Collectors International: the Student Prince, based in Springfield, Massachusetts; the Thirsty Knights, a chapter for the New York and New Jersey area; and the New England Steiners, a chapter for the New England region.

--written by Meg Meiman

SOURCES Hofman, Annette R. "From Jahn to Lincoln: Transformation of Turner Symbols in a New Cultural Setting." The International Journal of the History of Sport. 26.13 (2009): 1946-1962.

----- (ed). Turnen and Sport: Transatlantic Transfers. Münster, Germany and New York, NY: Waxmann Publishing, 2004.

Zettl, Herbert. “Physical education at Springfield College: its ‘historical and philosophical origins of Gulick’s Triangle.’” Unpublished essay.

Baazinger, Alphous –stein owner

Eckhardt & Engler –manufacturer

Gebruder Vonficht Ingolstadt -manufacturer

Gerz, Simon Peter the First –manufacturerand business partner (see Steinzeugwerke)

Hanke, Reinhold –manufacturer and business partner (see Steinzeugwerke)

Knoedgen, J.L. (Jakob Leopold) –manufacturer

Merkelbach, Paul –manufacturer and business partner (see Steinzeugwerke)

Merkelbach, Reinhold-manufacturer and business partner (see Steinzeugwerke)

Mirkel, Emil –stein owner

Müller, Walter -manufacturer and business partner (see Steinzeugwerke)

Ostermayr, L. -distributor

Pichel, Karl –stein owner

Remy, J.W. (Johann Wilhelm) -manufacturer

Ringer, Franz -artist

Riedisser, Joseph –stein owner

Schellenberg’s Kaisermagazin –supplier

Schultz, Hans Wilhelm -artist

Shafer, G. –stein owner

Stahl, Jean-Baptiste -artist

Steinzeugwerke Höhr-Grenzhausen GmbH –sales consortium directed by Paul Merkelbach,and including manufacturing partners Simon Peter Gerz the First, Reinhold Hanke,Reinhold Merkelbach, and Walter Müller