Abstract: A universal tensioning apparatus for a work piece to be tensioned, having a housing with a pressure chamber filled with a pressure medium and a covering sealing the housing and the pressure chamber. In the area of the housing a pressure introduction element is located for exerting pressure on the pressure medium and a pressure transferring element for transferring the pressure of the pressure medium onto a tensioning element to be tensioned. The pressure medium is an elastic solid and the pressure is adjustable and controllable by a pressure sensor. The pressure medium is preferably a one-piece silicon substance by which a pressure introduced radially relative to the longitudinal axis of the apparatus is transferred by the pressure-transferring element axially onto the tensioning element.