It also played an important role in the civic and cultural life of the northwest Davenport German community.

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778–1852) was a teacher in Berlin who started outdoor physical education classes in 1811.

The societies also served as gathering places for people who desired democratic reforms in the governments of the various German states.

Among those who came to Davenport were Theodor Gülich and Christian Müller, and their arrival led to the foundation of the Turner society in the city in 1852.

He stated in 1854 at the Turner's first large public event that the local society would fight against nativism and the domination of the church.

[3] The early Turner's in Davenport took a progressive stand on social issues such as women's rights.

At the centennial celebration in 1876, however, they stayed true to their anticlerical convictions and left the procession when a prayer was added to the festivities.

The Northwest Davenport Turner Society was established in 1871 and their first meeting place was Jacobsen's Hall at Locust and Division Streets, which was a combination boarding house and tavern.

In 1904 the Turners expanded their hall and they hired Davenport architect Frederick G. Clausen, himself a Schleswig-Holstein native.

The Northwest Davenport Turner Society sold their building in 1991 and it became Uncle Roscoe's Polo Club.

[7] In 2017 Compassion Church acquired the building and uses it as a site for their breakfast ministry, known as Timothy's House of Hope.

[9] The Central Turner Hall was located at 401 W. Third St. near Washington Square on the west side of downtown.

The main entrance into the facility was located to the right of center and was surrounded by a flat frame that was capped with a shallow, triangular pediment.

The side walls are four bays wide and are divided by flat engaged brick piers and corbelling across the top.