Nord St. Louis Turnverein, ca. 2005

The Nord St. Louis Turnverein, located at the corner of Salisbury and 20th Streets, was built in stages starting in 1871 as one of several athletic recreation centers for German immigrants in the city.  Turnvereins were the brainchild of a Prussian, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who conceived of them as places to practice and teach the new exercise known as gymnastics in the early 19th century.  In addition to fire damage, the Nord Turnverein bore the scars of decades of vacancy after the group moved out in the 1980s, and in 2011, the remnants of the building were demolished and replaced with a vacant lot. With its removal, the intersection of 20th and Salisbury now has no structure at its corners for the first time since prior to the invention of the ice cream soda, the cash register, and earmuffs.

The photograph above is from the city of St. Louis' Geo St. Louis web site. For more images of it:
http://www.builtstlouis.net/northside/hyde_park03.html

The Sud St. Louis Turnverein survives at the corner of 10th and Carroll Streets.  For images of it:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/turnverein.htm