Los Angeles Turners

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 2009, 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.