Upholsterer, retailer who ran three furniture stores in Vienna's 7th district. Son Michael worked with him at Mobel Haus Josef Gerstl as a furniture designer in the 1930s. Worked as an upholsterer in Shanghai in early 1940s but was not accepted as an immigrant to Australia. Antecedents included a cabinetmaker, making Josef an important link between Viennese design heritage and the Gerstl furniture company in Australia.