German Gymnasium

The German Gymnasium is located at 1 Kings Boulevard, London close to the new international railway station of St Pancras. It was constructed in 1864–65 for the German Gymnastics Society, a sporting association established in London in 1861 by Ernst Ravenstein. The National Olympian Association used the Gymnasium as one of the venues for its first ever Games here in 1866, shortly after the German Gymnasium was opened.

Designed by Edward A. Gruning and built by Piper and Wheeler, the German Gymnasium is a 2+1⁄2-story multi-coloured stock brick building with a roof constructed from laminated wood trusses with cast iron fillets. The roof is an important early example of the use of laminated timber to give broad spans.