Invention from Upper Austria

How sitting for long periods can be good for your health

Markus Franz-Riegler (l.), Walter Schindlegger and Thomas Riegler (r.) now want to conquer new industries with Bergardi(Bild: RaabMedia)

A trio set out to develop the world's most flexible office chair. Markus Franz-Riegler, Walter Schindlegger and Thomas Riegler have long since found a recipe for how long periods of sitting can be good for your health. With the models of their Bergardi brand, the Linz-based company now wants to conquer the industry.

The best answer to combating back and intervertebral disc problems and integrating more movement into everyday life - that is the core message with which Bergardi founders Markus Franz-Riegler, Walter Schindlegger and Thomas Riegler want to convince potential customers of their armchair models.

In recent years, companies and private individuals have increasingly recognized the importance of ergonomic sitting.

Thomas Riegler, Mitgründer Bergardi

The Puls4 television show "2 Minuten 2 Millionen" has already seen the Linz-based company drum up publicity, and this year they are stepping on the gas with appearances at trade fairs: from Basel to Stuttgart and Vienna.

(Bild: RaabMedia)

"Flexible and ergonomic sitting is important everywhere - at home and in the office. In the past, a sitting ball enabled movement in the office, but the ball was unsuitable for prolonged sitting - with our patented pendulum mechanism, the movements are stably balanced towards the middle," says Riegler, emphasizing the benefits of the development, which incorporates a lot of Walter Schindlegger's expertise.

The team began developing the world's most flexible office chair nine years ago.(Bild: RaabMedia)

Brother's slipped disc as the initial spark
Schindlegger spent years developing seat mechanisms for a car manufacturer and registered around 20 patents himself. After his brother suffered a slipped disc, he wanted to turn classic office chairs into moving models. The development of the innovative chair concept began nine years ago - and eventually found its way into offices, doctors' surgeries and therapy rooms.

Now, however, the armchair manufacturer from Linz also wants to conquer new areas. The focus: industry. "We are thinking of professions in which long periods of sitting and static or one-sided postures are the order of the day, as is the case in production and assembly workstations, for example. Industrial stools are often not good for your health," say the trio.