About Gerstung
About Siegfried Gerstung
Siegfried Gerstung
Founder of Gerstung International
d.b.a. Gerstung International and Gym-Thing, Inc.
In 1963 Siegfried Gerstung, a young Physical Education, Arts, and Gymnastics educator with degrees from Munich and Stuttgart Germany, came to the US. He taught children tumbling, but was concerned about the unsafe hardwood floors covered with thin mats that were standardly used at the time. To create a safer gymnastic floor, he explored various ideas and products, and developed the prototype for the famous “AIRBASE” sub-floor with a base of PRESCRIBED ENERGY BLOCKS, placed under imported hardwood plywood, with a cushion of carpet as a top surface. This offered shock absorbency, resilience and spring power needed by the gymnast. He then went on to develop various sprung Air Base floors for the specific needs of Aerobics and other Athletic activities. Aerobic group fitness and high impact sports training could now be taught on a cushioned sub-floor, with a wood or carpet top surface, minimizing shin splints, lower back pain, and joint irritations. Impressed with his product, the owner of Canyon Ranch Resort contracted Mr. Gerstung to make these floors for her resorts. Today they have 15 Air Base floors in use today at their highly regarded Resorts. The floors became popular in resorts and aerobics studios across the country.
Those in the dance world familiar with his Aerobic floor found it to be a perfect solution for Dancers. To meet this need, he specially designed a Gerstung line of Dance Floors, the first being the Air Base-200 sprung sub-floor. He developed the AB-300 Portable Sprung Floor with a no-tools-needed, easy set up/take down, which allows dancers to dance anywhere while keeping their bodies safe. Gerstung Studio and Portable floors can be found in Colleges/Universities, private studios and Ballet Companies across the US and the world over.
Gerstung Floors are made in his Baltimore factory, and his floors - some at 50yrs old - are still performing today. This is the only floor out there that provides both Absorbency and Resilience for the safety of dancers/athletes bodies. To learn more from our customers, visit our Testimonials and Floor Owners pages.