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The
Los Angeles Turners organization was founded in 1871,
when the city of Los Angeles had a population of
only 6,000.
It began with a merger of the Los Angeles Turnverein and the Teutonia-Concordia Turn- und Singverein. The
new organization was initially named Turnverein Germania.
The Los Angeles Turners is the oldest German-American
organization in Southern California and it is a member of the
nationwide American Turners and also of the
German-American League
in Los Angeles.
The "Turner Center" in Westchester, on
Los Angeles’ West Side, is home to regular choir
rehearsals, social and cultural events, and
movie-Sundays. The fencing squad rehearses off-site, but
with the floor to be rebuilt in late 2007, the Saturday
morning practices will be moving to the Center. The Los
Angeles Turners contribute to public radio, opera
competitions and youth athletics and actively support
events that perpetuate the German, Austrian and Swiss
culture in the Western United States.
In September, 2001, the Los Angeles
Turners celebrated their 130th Anniversary with a
Gala Ball. On this occasion, the respected actor and
national German-American spokesman Eric Braeden became
an honorary member of the Los Angeles Turners.
Toward the shared goal of perpetuating the German,
Austrian and Swiss culture in the United States, the
Turners marked the 135th Anniversary of their
founding by co-hosting with the
Goethe Institut Los Angeles a shared evening of jazz,
featuring the North Atlantic Jazz Alliance on August
30, 2006.
.
From the Principles
of the American Turners:
"The
American Turners is a Federation of Turner Societies
in the United States of America, organized to
promote physical education and disseminate rational
ideas in order to advance health, happiness,
prosperity, and the progress of mankind".
Video
about the Los Angeles Turners:
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