The nineteenth-century Turnverein was a German society which combined gymnastics and politics. Founded in Berlin in 1811 by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, these clubs taught liberal and sometimes socialist ideals along with physical training. Mens sana in corpore sano was their motto. The first American branch was founded in 1824, and after the 1848 migration from Germany the organization flourished. By 1856, there were Turner organizations in twenty-eight states.
In the 1850’s the Turners increasingly took on another function: to protect Germans against assaults by nativists and, ironically, by conservative Catholic Irish immigrants who hated Turners for their liberalism. In some cities Turners organized into paramilitary companies. In Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1851, a group of German workers and their families, including many Turners, celebrating Pentecost Sunday at a picnic were attacked by a mob of rowdies, nativists, and immigrants. The disciplined Turners’ counterattack led to a wild melee in which one person was killed and dozens were wounded.
The following account is taken from the New York Herald Tribune, May 27, 1851. See Carl Wittke: Refugees of Revolution: The German Forty-Eighters in America (1952).
Assault on the Germans, Several Persons Killed—Great Excitement—The Military Called Out
Yesterday was celebrated by the German residents of this City as the holiday of Pentecost—a day which in Germany is commemorated by festivals in the woods. A large number of Germans, ten to twelve thousand in all, perhaps, crossed to Hoboken in the morning, after assembling in the Park where they formed into line, displaying the national colors. They had leased for the day the “Cricket Ground,” some distance from the village, and on the western side of the road. Here, under the trees, stands for the sale of beer and refreshments were erected, beside a platform for the orators of the day and a band of music which accompanied them. All parties present seemed to enjoy themselves, and the beer, especially, flowed in torrents from the barrels on tap down hundreds of thirsty throats.
Everything passed off peaceably till towards the close of the afternoon, when some difficulties occurred through the presence of a gang of rowdies belonging to the city, and known by the title of “the Short Boys.” These scamps, whose existence as an organized body has disgraced this city for some time past, went on the ground in company with a number of lawless characters, some belonging to Hoboken and some to our side of the river, and very soon created a disturbance at the scene of the festival. According to different representations, there were about forty in all, some of them Germans, some Irish, and some Americans. They were armed, and evidently came for the purpose of assault, as they commenced, without provocation, to insult the females, overthrow the refreshment tables, and destroy the property of the vendors. This was about half past three in the afternoon at the Race Course. The Germans, who saw the object of the rowdies, had determined, at first, to avoid a collision, on account of the number of ladies and children who were present, but these outrages were not to be tolerated, and the offenders were driven off. The rowdies retreated toward the Elysian Fields, and were followed by the Germans. The Short Boys obtained access to the house at the Fields, kept by McCarthy, and a regular fight commenced. The Germans had now become infuriated, and after driving off the Short Boys from the house they commenced breaking the furniture. The keeper of the house and his wife were assaulted and driven off. McCarthy, we are told, made his retreat to a part of the house where he had a double-barreled gun, already loaded. With this he shot two of the Germans, killing them instantly, and he seriously injured another by knocking him over with his gun. The house was completely riddled, and everything that it contained thoroughly demolished.
After being driven from the Elysian Fields, the rowdies retreated towards the village, followed by the Germans, and a sort of running fight was kept up for the whole distance. The Zurn-verein [sic] (Society of Gymnasts) took an active part in the conflict, and were marked out as special subjects of resentment. On reaching the village, the rowdies were reinforced by others from this side of the river and by a gang of boys from 14 to 16 years of age. Towards evening, they assembled before the gates of the ferry, and prevented the Germans coming in from the festival from reaching the boat. For more than an hour they shut off all communication. About half-past six the procession, consisting of the Zurn-verein, the Liederkranz, (Musical Society) the Social Batallion and other associations, accompanied by large numbers of Germans with their families, came in from the woods for the purpose of returning to this city. The front of the procession had scarcely reached the Otto Cottage, before it was assailed by a shower of stones, the boys who were with the rowdies occupying themselves with assaulting the females, many of whom were struck and severely bruised. The procession halted and the Zurners, taking the lead, advanced against the mob, for the purpose of clearing a way to the ferry boat. A violent fight then commenced, which lasted with little intermission for two hours. The rowdies were armed with guns, pistols, swords, clubs and sling shots, and after the first attack the Germans entered the German beer-houses in the neighborhood and armed themselves. Two are known to be killed, one a Zurner and the other an Irish boy, one of the gang, about eighteen years of age. Another Zurner named Gabi, a Hungarian, received a charge of buckshot in his leg.
Previous to the arrival of the procession, all the returning Germans were assaulted indiscriminately, some of them being knocked down while walking with ladies. Sometimes they were asked if they were Germans, before being struck, and one who replied in the affirmative to the question whether he was a Turner immediately received a musket ball in his side. It is said that the house of a German named Beiner was attacked and the furniture demolished. A great number of persons were severely, and some mortally, injured. Many were stabbed in different parts of the body, or beaten with stones. One man had his head shockingly cut by a large pole, the end of which was covered with spikes. The fight was one of the most brutal and sanguinary which ever occurred in this vicinity. The Sheriff of the County was early on the ground, endeavoring to quell the riot. He made two applications to the police authorities on this side for assistance, but for some reason it was refused. He then ordered the citizens to assist him, and also ordered out the military from Jersey City. In their efforts to stop the fight, Justice Browning and a man named Hickey were wounded so badly that it is thought they will not recover. The Sheriff was also badly cut on the head. The riot was mostly over before the arrival of the military from Jersey City.…
The number of arrests made was near forty, a large portion of whom were Germans. They were bound hand and foot, and sent to the County Jail at Bergen. The militia remained on guard till half-past 11 o’clock, when everything appeared to be quiet, and they left. At 1 o’clock this morning, when our reporter left, there were no signs of disturbance in any part of the village, and the rioters of both parties had all returned to this city. It is impossible precisely to ascertain the number of killed and wounded. There are certainly four of the former and probably fifty of the latter, some of whom will not recover. Twelve or fifteen of the rowdies were badly injured.