Pierre Hentges

Pierre Hentges attended the Industrial and Commercial School in Luxembourg City from 1901-1908. As gymnast, he represented the Société de Gymnastique Bonnevoie. He participated in the World Gymnastics Championships in 1911 in Turin and in 1913 in Paris winning bronze in the parallel bars and placing sixth in the team event at the latter. He shared first place at the first national trials in January 1912 with Nic Kummer. After the final trials in June, he was one of 16 gymnasts selected for the Olympics. At the Olympic Games in Stockholm, the team from Luxembourg, including Pierre Hentges, placed fifth and last in the team event of the free system but missed bronze by less than one point in the team event of the European system. In the individual all-around, he placed 18th. His brother François was also a gymnast and his teammate in Stockholm. At the Olympic Games in 1928, 1948 and 1968, Pierre Hentges was a member of the jury.

In 1928, Hentges was also the initiator of the first autonomous women’s gymnastics club in Luxembourg, the Gym in Bonnevoie, where he took over the leadership of the technical commission. In 1930, he introduced volleyball to Luxembourg. In 1950, he became president of the Union des Sociétés Luxembourgeoises de Gymnastique and in 1954 technical director of the International Gymnastics Federation.

From 1912 to 1918, he worked in the payroll department of the mining and iron company Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG in Esch-sur-Alzette. After World War I, he took over the bistro in Bonnevoie from his father, who had been killed in a bombing raid during the war. He later became the owner of the Hotel Mille Colonnes in Luxembourg, and eventually ran a wine business from 1922-62.

Hentges was also a writer and wrote several ballet pieces that were performed by gymnastics groups. Later, he wrote one-act plays, farces, and comedies in Luxembourgish. He adapted plays from German into Luxembourgish and composed the music for the songs in his comedies. Together with his son-in-law, the photographer Tony Krier, Pierre Hentges documented the liberation of Luxembourg.

He was married to Anne Kimmes. Their son Pierre Jr. (1915-1997) was a sports professor and sports official.