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Overview

The Los Angeles Chapter of Turnverein Germania was founded in 1871, and opened this wood-frame meeting hall in that year.

Building History

The Turnverein and Teutonia-Concordia clubs of recent German-American immigrants started this beer hall when their former watering hole, the Garden of Paradise, became patronized by an unsavory element of frontiersmen; according to Cecilia Rasmussen in an article in the Los Angeles Times, (02/02/2003, p. B4),'It became a center for gymnasts, singers, actors, fencers, marksmen, and costume balls." By 1900, Rasmussen reported, the German-American population in Los Angeles had swelled to more than 4,000, and the Turnverein Germania Club established halls in various spots downtown.

William H. Perry made the Turnverein Club offers of $90,000 and $95,000 for their property at 231 South Spring Street that was next to his Los Angeles Theatre. They refused and held out for $100,000 which Perry offered in mid-February 1895. Perry reportedly wanted to add a story to the Turnverein Club and join it with his theatre.

In 1875, the Turnverein Hall was the only large-scale assembly hall in Los Angeles capable of accommodating a significant theatrical or muscial production.

Demolition

The Turnverein Hall of Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles was razed.

PCAD id: 1832