Joe Pilates in Germany: 1919-1926 | Pilates History Research

1883 Joseph Pilates Birth Announcement in Germany


Throughout his lifetime, Joe Pilates routinely made himself about 3 years older than he actually was, when talking with reporters, students, and acquaintances. However, the fact is that he was born in 1883 and died at age 83. And, as his birth announcement states, his father was a locksmith at the time.

Images first shared on 12/2/24.

Joseph Pilates Birth Announcement 1883
Joseph Pilates Birth Announcement 1883 Excerpt
Joseph Pilates Birth Announcement 1883 Excerpt

1890 Birth Announcement for Joe Pilates’ younger brother, Fred Pilates, who also taught Contrology and had a studio in St. Louis. Images first shared on 12/2/24.

Related Topic: Fred Pilates

Fred Pilates Birth Announcement 1890
Fred Pilates Birth Announcement 1890 Excerpt English Translation

A newspaper announcement when Joe Pilates’ father, Frederick “Fritz” Pilates, passed away.

Images first shared on 12/2/24.

Friedrich Pilates (Joe Pilates' father) Death Announcement
Friedrich Pilates (Joe Pilates' father) Death Announcement English translation

A newspaper announcement placed by Fritz Pilates’ gymnastics students for his birthday one year. Images first shared on 12/2/24.

Friedrich Pilates (Joe Pilates' father) Happy Birthday Announcement
Friedrich Pilates (Joe Pilates' father) Happy Birthday Announcement English translation

An example of Fritz Pilates’ involvement in “Turn and Sport” in Germany, which was likely a strong influence on Joe and Fred throughout their lives. Images first shared on 12/2/24.

Fritz Pilates’ involvement in “Turn and Sport” in Germany.

Joseph Pilates Earliest Known German Advertisements

 

Special Research Find… From The Pilates History Research Archive™!

It is super thrilling to present the earliest known advertisements placed by Joseph Pilates… dating back to 1919 and 1920 in Germany! Incredibly, these ads provide an unusually amazing amount of insight into the early stages of Joe Pilates’ effort to promote his method, gymnasium, and teaching.

Through these primary sources, we have learned:

  • That Joe opened a gym in 1919 that specialized in corrective exercise, therapeutic gymnastics, massage, boxing, and BREATHING exercises!
  • He also advertised the teaching of wrestling, self defense (with and without weapons!), fencing, and WEIGHTLIFTING!
  • That he marketed his method to MEN, WOMEN, and CHILDREN! And not just to men or boxers, as was generally thought before now.
  • That Joe himself claimed to have rehabilitated his German comrades who were wounded in English captivity while he was held there. 

Since these ads are in German, I used a translator to try to get the best English translation I could. There are obvious flaws but it helps to understand what he was trying to get across. Images first shared on 9/25/24.

See also: Contrology Advertisements

Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad English translation
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Aufruf
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Call
Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad English translation
Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad English translation
Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad English translation
Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad English translation

Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements

I’m really excited about these ads, which provide a fascinating glimpse into the early days of Joe’s business, and cast new light on Elfriede.

In the early 1920s, Joseph and Elfriede Pilates placed frequent advertisements for their services, which included therapies for gout, rheumatism, movement disorders, sciatica, and women’s issues between the two of them

While they didn’t get into details, the therapies they provided were those such as therapeutic gymnastics, massage, orthopedics, natural light method, eye diagnosis, and more.

Interestingly, they advertised separately for their different services, suggesting they were each running their own unique businesses out of the same address. They both placed these ads monthly, and Ms. Pilates advertised more than Joe did.

My favorite one is the time when their regular ads appeared next to each other in the same issue. 

I hope to learn more about what equipment they might have been using. As we know from previous ads I’ve shared here, Elfriede did advertise the Universal Reformer in later ads, suggesting that she knew how to use it and that she kept Joe’s original reformers when he moved to the US.

Images first shared 10/23/24

See also: Contrology Ads

Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements
Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Verrenkungen
Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Verrenkungen English Translation
Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements -Frau Pilates
Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements -Frau Pilates English Translation
Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Verrenkung, Verstauchung
Early 1920s Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Verrenkung, Verstauchung English Translation

For Sporting Honor!

In this humorous newspaper post by Joseph Pilates in the early 1920s, he challenges another boxer to fight. The funniest part is when Joe claims that if he doesn’t hear back, it means that the boxer recognizes that Joe is a better boxer than he is.

Images first shared 11/6/2024.

Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - for Sporting Honor
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - for Sporting Honor

Grosskampf! 1920’s Ad from Germany

In the early 1920’s, Joe Pilates achieved great success as a boxer and boxing teacher. He was mentioned in numerous articles over the years in regards to his boxing matches, wins, and losses. This article in particular stands out because it mentions that Joe Pilates was the oldest active boxer in German at the time.

Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad

Joe’s Local Event Appearance Ads

This grouping of different ads in the early 1920s reveal a time period when Joe Pilates was making appearances at local events and demonstrating some of the physical culture activities he was interested in, and that he even archived later in life as well. 

Physical Culture activities such as stick and sword fencing and boxing. My favorite is the part where it mentions the demonstration of a Greco-Roman Sword fight by “the Pilates Brothers.” This was most likely Joe and Fred, and is especially noteworthy because they filmed themselves doing this later in life, and the original shields they used still exist in Sean Gallagher’s Pilates Museum/Studio.

Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Ringkampf-Tag
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Wrestling Day
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Wohltatigkeits-Veranstaltung
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Charity Event
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Familien-Feier
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Family Celebration

Foot Corrector Ad, 1923

Joe published this fascinating ad soon after patenting his Foot Corrector in 1923. The Foot Corrector was his very first patent and was patented in Germany before he moved to the US. While this ad does not mention the Foot Corrector specifically, the timing suggests that the patent he writes about was the Foot Corrector. However, it could also have been the Univeral-Reformer, which he also patented in Germany a bit later than this ad.

Images first shared on 11/6/24.

Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Foot Corrector
Joseph Pilates Archival Pilates German Advertisements - Foot Corrector

German Pilates Universal Reformer ad, circa late 1920s

Through multiple primary sources, we know that Joe Pilates initially developed his Universal Reformer in Germany, where his first gym was located.

We’ve often wondered what became of his apparatus after he moved to the United States in 1926. Now, due to this incredible research find, The Pilates Source® has  developed a theory that his wife, Elfriede Pilates who remained in Germany, kept his apparatus and continued to use it with her patients. 

These late 1920s ads from Germany are rich with information, and offer us an incredible glimpse at Elfriede Pilates. If it as it appears, and that she used his Universal Reformer with her patients, arguably the first pilates pre-Elder after Joe.

Fascinatingly, it appears that Elfriede was a medical practitioner who studied under the famed Dr. Thure Brandt, who developed a particular pelvic massage in the late 1800s that restored the uterus to its proper place as a cure for common complaints of women, such as headaches, backaches, fatigue, and depression.

Perhaps Elfriede and Joe had more in common with each other than it has been widely speculated. We hope to continue to learn more about Elfriede and her role in the very early days of Contrology.

In the meantime, we can enjoy the translation of her ads, which sound very similar to the terminology that Joe also used to describe the benefits of the Universal Reformer!!

Note: so the translator app could accurately translate the ad, I had to type a few of the letters into the ad that were too blurry for the translator to pick up on.

Images first shared on 9/25/24.

Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad English translation
Joe Pilates German ad
Joe Pilates German ad English translation
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