Gersthofen

Gersthofen is a municipality in the district of Augsburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the west bank of the Lech River, approx. 7km north of Augsburg.Gersthofen is divided into five districts (German: Stadtteile): Batzenhofen, Edenbergen (with Gailenbach and Gailenbacher Mühle), Gersthofen, Hirblingen, and Rettenbergen (with Peterhof).MayorsJosef Helmschrott: 1947-1952Georg Wendler: 1952-1967Karl J. Weiß: (CSU): 1967-1984Siegfried Deffner (CSU): 1984-2008Jürgen Schantin (W.I.R., till 2013 CSU): 2008-2014since May 2014: Michael Wörle (independent)Born in Gersthofen Hans Erdmenger (1903-1943), marine officer in the second World War Michael Martin (born 1948), photographer, geographer and authorPeople related to Gersthofen Auguste Piccard (1884-1962), Swiss scientist, physicist and explorer. Piccard started off in 1931 near Gersthofen with his Stratosphere - balloon to a research flight into Higher Air Layers. During this flight he and his assistant Paul Kipfer first reached an altitude of 15,781 meters.