Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Turners.
The Milwaukee Turners, who provided
this image from the 1960s, received
their charter from the Wisconsin State
Legislature in 1855. In 1875, their
first salaried gymnastics instructor,
George Brosius, became the city’s
(and America’s) first Superintendent of
Physical Education. Five years later, a
group of Milwaukee Turners, with
Brosius as their coach, traveled to
Frankfurt to participate in the annual
Turnfest there, becoming America’s
first gymnastics team to compete (and
win!) internationally. The Turners have
long played a central part in the
vibrant political and civic culture of
Milwaukee, the city once known as the “German Athens of America.”