Taunusstein Gym Wheel Team

People travel from far and wide to visit Taunusstein for gymnastics training. From that school, came the Gym Wheel Team that has performed in several countries and has become well-known for its fascinating, modern choreographies.

The beginning

In the middle of the 60’s, the gymnastics department of the TSV Taunusstein-Bleidenstadt mainly consisted of a group for artistic gymnastics lead by Fritz Fuchs. He had been interested in wheel gymnastics since he had tried a few rounds in his childhood. As a reward for a show performance of his group, the city put two wheels at his disposal, with which he opened the first wheel gymnastics group in 1967.
Being highly motivated, he managed to organize the first competitions and training camps in Taunusstein within a short time. Among others, the federal chairman at that time, Werner Mais, gave lectures. Soon after, the first gymnasts were successful at competitions. Bettina Loos, Heidi Schünemann, Harry Bund und Ottmar Kerner won the Gauturnfest (Regional Cup) in 1969 in their respective classes. In 1971, the TSV Taunusstein was represented at the National Championships by the six gymnasts Ottmar Kerner, Steffen Hoffmann, Bettina Loos, Inge Eschenhauer, Marita Reichert, and Manfred Gärtner. Since then, the TSV Taunusstein was able to send gymnasts to every national Championship. Andreas Rave won the first national title in 1974, which set the beginning of a long story of successes. However, the final breakthrough of the Gym Wheel Team Taunusstein happened after the commitment of Heinz-Günther Wrasmann as a coach. He brought up the young talents Dietmar Pressner and Wolfgang Bienztle (German Junior Champions (L8) in 1977 and 78), who should win many titles over the following years. In the women’s class, Monika Glasenhardt und Jobina Pinkenburg were the outstanding athletes. The national and international development of the disciplines and judging rules over the years was strongly influenced by the gymnasts and coaches from Taunusstein. Special thanks at this point go to the founder Fritz Fuchs and our coach “Rhöni” Heinz-Günther Wrasmann. Even after his retirement, he was still fully dedicated to wheel gymnastics. With Wolfgang Bientzle, the club gained an exceptional athlete and trainer, who did not only impress by his talent, but also by his never-ending motivation and dedication for youth work. In fact, all members of the Bientzle family, especially Jürgen Bientzle and Manfred Bienztle, as well as Katja Homeyer have been irreplacable members of the wheel gymnastics community in Taunusstein since the early beginnings and contributed greatly to the success of the club.

The 80's were dominated by Monika Glasenhardt, Wolfgang Bientzle, Tanja Getto, Marc Weber, und Claus Mecklinger, who won many titles in national and international competitions. This large group of elite gymnasts was also able to win many National Team Champion titles.

The Nineties
Together with his brother Jürgen Bientzle and members of the core team (especially Eva Weber and Katja Homeyer), Wolfgang Bientzle was leading the junior program of the club and recruited many new young talents. This work was honoured in 1991 with the “Förderpreis für vorbildliche Jugendarbeit" (promotion prize for excellent youth work) by the Dresdner Bank. Also, the national junior titles won by Maike Klatte and Miro Zorbic during these years were a sign of their successful work.
However, the wheel gymnasts from Taunusstein did not only make headlines in competitions. The show team quickly became well known in many countries with their fascinating, modern choreographies. Highlights were invitations to countless events in Europe and the United States, performances at the “Ball des Sports” (Banquet for the Sportsman/Sportswoman of the year), the annual show of the German Gymnastics Association, the World-Gymnaestradas in Amsterdam 1991, Berlin 1995, and Lisbon 2003, presentations in the FIG Gala (Féderation Internationale de Gymnastique), last but not least, countless performances in front of the audience at home.
Slowly, an international competitive scene developed, which lead to the 1st Cup of Europe in 1990 in Taunusstein and to the foundation of the International Association for Wheel Gymnastics (IRV-Internationaler Rhönradturnverband) in Basel, Switzerland. The most successful athletes from Taunusstein in the adult classes in the European and World Cup competitions of the nineties were Maike Klatte, Katja Homeyer, Wolfgang Bientzle and Miro Zorbic. In the junior classes, Nadine Burkhardt (Gold medal 1995, 1997), Nico Budniok (Gold medal 1995, Silver medal (adult class) 1997), Sonja Schäfer (Gold medal 1997), Julia Pohling (Gold medal 1997, 1999) und Jan Schäfer (Gold medal 1997, 1999) were the upcoming talents.
Highlight of the Nineties was without question the organization of the 3rd World Championships in Limburg, Deutschland, which was a big accomplishment for all participants and volunteers. High publicity, sold-out finals, plaudit for the organisation and a great atmosphere during three days of competition were a rewarding experience. About 6000 people in the audience celebrated the achievements of Wolfgang Bientzle, Miro Zorbic, Nico Budniok, and Jan Schäfer in the men’s class finals, as well as Katja Homeyer and Maike Klatte in the women’s class, who won the titles of World Champion and Vice World Champion for their homeland. In the junior class, Julia Pohling and Julius Petri showed great performances and won all possible titles in their age group.

The beginning of the 21st century

The dominance of the “Taunis” continued, only with different names after the change of generations. Nadine Burkhardt, Julia Pohling, Holger Schneider, Julius Petri and Jan Schäfer tied up smoothly to the successes of their predecessors. Julia Pohling and Jan Schäfer dominated their age groups and repeatedly became German- and World Champions. These victories and special contacts of Wolfgang Bientzle to international show business brought forth numerous appearances of the show team overseas. Highlights were for example the repeated participation in the Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax/Nova Scotia,Canada in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2005 as well as in the Virginia International Tattoo, Norfolk/Virginia, USA in 2001 and 2004. In 2002, the team travelled to Denver/Colorado, USA, in order to participate in the half-time show of the opening of the NFL season in the Denver Broncos’ Mile One stadium in front of 80.000 spectators.
In the World Cup of 2007 in Salzburg, Austria, Taunusstein showed to be strong again. Julius Petri became Vice World Champion in the all-around competition and World Champion with team Germany. Nadine Münster (Burkhardt) could not be stopped after her baby-break and is our old and new World Champion in spiral. Upcoming talent in the junior class was Melissa Fialho, who competed for France and became 4th in the all around competition of her first international appearance.
In Taunusstein, English as a training language is nothing unusual anymore. Many guests from Europe and from overseas come to Taunusstein on a regular basis to benefit from the experienced coaches for either their professional careers in show business or to learn new skills for competitions.
The successful development of the Gym Wheel Team Taunusstein could not have been predicted in 1967. It goes beyond the scope of this page to name everybody who contributed to its success. The future of the team will depend as before on the idealistic commitment of many coaches, volunteers, judges, parents and sportsmen, since without the dedication of every single one, this past success would never have been possible.h