Rehabilitation with Pilates.

Joseph spent hours in the woods studying the movement of animals.

Joe was born in Munchen-Glebach, a small town near Dusseldorf Germany in 1880. He was a very sickly child suffering from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He was taunted by other children and was unable to defend himself, which inspired his journey to fitness and health. Joseph spent hours in the woods studying the movement of animals and memorizing an anatomy book his physician had given him. By the age of 14, he was modeling for anatomy charts and continued developing his physical fitness through boxing, skiing, diving and gymnastics.

In 1914 after WWI broke out, he was interned in an “enemy alien camp” in Lancaster. It was here that he began to develop the Pilates Method of Exercise known then as Contrology. He was then transferred to another camp in The Isle of Man. While working here as a nurse, he developed his exercise equipment using bed springs and other apparatus.

In 1925, he came to the United States and while on the ship he met his wife, Clara. Upon arriving in New York City, they opened a studio at 939 8th Avenue. Famous choreographers and dancers studied with Joe for their training and rehab work (George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham). Additionally, many movie stars studied with him as well (Vivien Leigh, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Katherine Hepburn).

In January 1966, there was a fire in his building. Joe returned to his studio to fight the fire, but fell through the burnt out floorboards hanging for some time until rescued by firefighters. He later died in October 1967, at the age of 87, due to complications attributed to this incident. Clara continued to run the studio for the next 10 years until her death in 1976. A longtime teacher and student, Romana Kryzanowska, took over the business and dedicated her life to teaching Joe’s work.