Among the co-founders of the association were its later chairman Stefan Wolf (director of the I. k. k. State Gymnasium), Wilhelm Alth (president of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce), Moritz Amster (writer), the archimandrite Theophil Bendella and the composer Isidor Worobkiewicz (Report of the Gymnastics Council, pp. 11-15). Among the presidents of the association were well-known Bukowina personalities such as Dr Josef Wolf (1867-1868), school councillor Stefan Wolf (1868-1870), school councillor Dr Wenzel Korn (1879-1873, 1875-1878), Prof Alfons Ritter von Rylski (1874-1875) and Prof Josef Wotta (1878-1885) (Nussbaum, p. 16).
In the early years, the club's activities focused on filling the club's coffers so that it could build its own sports hall. Every year the club organised balls during the carnival season. At the beginning of the 1870s, Professor Schnabl coordinated these events. Ernst Rudolf Neubauer with his poetic improvisations and male choirs were also invited to the evenings (Bericht über die Thätigkeit 1884/85, p. 6). A particular success was the 'Turner-Damenabend' (women's gymnastic evening) of the carnival season 1869/70, which took place at the end of February 1870 in the sports hall of the Shooting Club (Turnerinnenabend. In: Czernowitzer Zeitung, No. 34 of 2 March 1870, p. 2). Despite the bad weather, around 600 people attended, including representatives of the city's higher social circles. This was the first attempt to establish a so-called fool's evening in Chernivtsi. A group of fools called the Tyroleans performed, and a male choir recited poems by Johann Georg Obrist and Moritz Amster, set to music by the composers Worobkiewicz and Wilhelm. The event was accompanied by competitions and sports games. The profits were donated to the municipal poor fund (Der Turner-Damenabend recte Narrenabend. In: Czernowitzer Zeitung, No. 35, 4 March 1870, p. 2).
To raise money for the club's building fund, women's sports evenings were organised from 1873 and soon became the highlight of the carnival. The costumed guests performed various gymnastic exercises. The Chernivtsi choral society often performed comedies and operettas at the club's parties. One of the highlights of the evenings was the presentation of the Fool's Newspaper, which described life in the city in a humorous way, often with a well-known Chernivtsi personality on the cover. The newspaper was published annually from 1871 (Report on Activities 1884/85, p. 14). At weekends, the association organised walks on Cecina Hill and in the forests of Žučka, Hliboka or Horecze.
On the 29th of September 1872 the flag of the association was solemnly inaugurated. The mother of the flag was Antonie von Petrowicz, the wife of the first mayor of Chernivtsi, Jacob von Petrowicz. She donated 100 forints for the construction of the gymnasium (O. J. Nussbaum: Gut Heil! Festschrift of the General Turnverein in Czernowitz 1867-1892. Chernivtsi 1892, p. 15).
The Chernivtsi Gymnastics Club was multinational, but most of its members were German (Lang, p. 389). The social structure, on the other hand, was quite heterogeneous: there were teachers, civil servants, merchants, traders and craftsmen in the club. At the end of 1885, the association had 228 members, including three honorary members, 27 founders, 65 practising members and 133 supporting members. 17 students joined by the end of the year after the founding of the University of Chernivtsi (Berichte über die Thätigkeit 1884/85, pp. 12-15).
Women were only present as students in the girls' classes. In the founding year of the Association, lessons were provided for the daughters of members, taught by the teacher von Catargi, and the only honorary member was Antonie Baroness Kochanowska.
In 1886 a building for the General Gymnastics Association was erected at Josefsgasse 14 (now Ukraïnsʾka 42) according to the plans of the architect Vincenz von Korytinski. The building was constructed in the Italian Renaissance style and consisted of a front part and a wing (Der allgemeine Turnverein in Czernowitz. Chernivtsi 1886, p. 18). Until then, the General Gymnastics Club had used the so-called Kubelka House, then the Sophienbad (Russische Gasse 40, today wul. Rusʾka 38).
On the initiative of coach Frank, a library was set up in the gymnastics club, containing 49 specialist books and numerous periodicals (Berichte über die Thätigkeit 1886/1887, p. 6), and after the completion of the gymnastics club building, all sports and entertainment events were held there. From then on, other clubs also rented the second largest club hall in the city (251 square metres) for their events.
Text: Kateryna Valjavsjka
Sources:
Eingangsbereich des ehemaligen Allgemeinen Turnvereins
Turnhalle 
Narrenzeitung (7. Februar 1874)
Allgemeiner Turnverein (Gebäude)
Allgemeiner Turnverein (Gebäude)
Gebäude (gegenwärtiger Zustand)
