Iconic THONET design
Bentwood furniture
The German carpenter, entrepreneur, furniture designer and inventor of a unique 19th century technology , MichaelThonet , is behind the Thonet success story. It was through Thonet's hard work and experimentation that the unique process of bending wood was developed, resulting in an immortal design that continues to be popular today. The family-owned company has its headquarters in Frankeberg, where production of bent wood and tubular steel is still carried out today. Thonet is constantly developing innovative products that are characterised by quality materials and timeless design, while also taking sustainability and durability into account. Today, as in the past, Thonet furniture has been part of the lives of many people around the world. Some appreciate them as classics, others as timeless design icons with collectible value, and the younger generation sees Thonet as furniture with style and culture.
The Thonet brand philosophy
The employees at the production plant have a high level of expertise that has been accumulated over the course of the company's long history and which, moreover, is constantly being optimised and expanded. Today, as in the past, Thonet creates innovative, long-lasting products of the highest quality and timeless formal design. Behind every Thonet product is a well-thought-out concept and several proven manufacturing steps - from the processing of wood or tubular steel to dyeing and upholstery.
The brand story
The history of the brand began with the work of cabinetmaker Michael Thonet, who opened his first workshop in 1819 in the German town of Boppard on the Rhine River. With elegant chairs made using innovative woodworking techniques, Michael Thonet soon achieved fame beyond his home region. When Austrian State Chancellor Clemens Graf von Metternich learned about Thonet and his furniture, he convinced Michael Thonet to move to Vienna, which brought great opportunities for Thonet. For example, he was able to participate in the interior design of the Palais Liechtenstein. In 1849, Michael Thonet founded an innovative family company in Vienna, which today we would probably call a start-up. The furniture was specialised on the basis of the café culture that was typical of the 19th century. Michael Thonet was successful with this move and with his products, and from then on his furniture was everywhere people gathered for conversations or other social activities.
One of the first success stories for the young company was furnishing the Café Daum, a Viennese institution frequented mainly by aristocrats and military personnel. This realization made Thonet furniture famous throughout the city. Michael Thonet achieved his international breakthrough in 1859 with the Vienna Coffee House Chair , where he used an innovative technique of bending solid beech wood for the first time. In an era long before globalisation, a product was created that was available almost everywhere in the world. The chair was based on a modular principle, the individual components were manufactured separately and could be combined as required. This method created a highly cost-effective, demand-driven production. The model was delivered to customers in a disassembled state into individual parts.
The company in the paintings of the masters
Thonet established a rapidly growing network of production sites wherever raw materials were available and, where possible, close to transport routes. The company gradually expanded, both regionally and internationally. By the end of the 19th century, Thonet's bentwood chairs had already spread to restaurants and cafés throughout Vienna. Thonet chairs are also recorded in the painting "At the Moulin Rouge" by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. In 1918/19 Henri Matisse presented his famous painting "Intérieur au violon" in a French hotel, in which the outline of a Thonet chair is clearly visible. The chairs have also been immortalised on countless early 20th century postcards of ballroom, casino and grand hotel settings from across Europe.
Around the same time, Marcel Breuer created his first interior objects from tubular steel. The Thonet brand entered production and began producing Breuer's designs in 1930. This was an important link between the traditional technique of bent wood and the modern bending of tubular steel. In the 1930s, the company was the largest producer of innovative furniture, with famous avant-garde architects (Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Charlotte Pérriand) contributing designs. The tubular steel furniture was produced with a completely new production technology at the Frankenberg/Eder plant, where Thonet had been based since the end of the Second World War. Just as Thonet chairs had previously been depicted in paintings, they had been the silent stars of international films since the 1930s, acting in the places where the protagonists meet.
At the end of the Second World War, Thonet lost its facilities in Eastern Europe, plus its Vienna sales office was destroyed. Georg Thonet, great-grandson of the founder, managed to rebuild the brand's success. Thonet began to make modernist models from steel tubes using new and improved technological possibilities. From the 1960s onwards, Thonet also returned to collaborating with famous designers such as Egon Eiermann, Verner Panton and Pierre Paulin.
Collaborations with designers
Over the years that Thonet has been on the market, several designers have passed through the company. In addition to founder Michael Thonet, these have included Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam, Ludwig van der Rohe, Studio Irvine, Sebastian Herkner, Marco Dessí, Stefan Diez, Wolfgang C.R. Mezger, Christian Werner, Hadi Taherani, Lepper Schmidt Sommerlade, Randolf Schott, Delphin Design and others...
Thonet chairs for office, café and public spaces
What is Thonet particularly good at? In designing the perfect space for communication. Whether it's a long evening, a quick chat over coffee, a spontaneous or long-planned dinner, in a hotel or in a home environment. Thonet furniture can be found wherever people meet, communicate ideas, relax or work - at home, in waiting rooms and lounges, in offices or in a café.
Thonet's minimalist design is perfect for cafés, offices and homes. A particularly eye-catching piece in the kitchen can be the S 33 N console chair in tubular steel from the Thonet All Seasons edition. With its light grey tubular steel frame and coppery orange synthetic mesh seat and backrest, the chair will accentuate the rest of the home's design. With its clean shape and subtle proportions, the Mart Stam-designed chair is ideal for any room and the perfect touch for minimalist interiors. The Thonet All Seasons collection allows the tubular steel products to be used outdoors and in all weathers. Thanks to the innovative ThonetProtect® finish, the chair is weather and UV resistant. It is therefore also ideal for outdoor use. However, their use in this project shows how well the vibrantly coloured models can also work as specific accents in interior design.
Tawa Yama Restaurant
In the renowned Japanese restaurant Tawa Yama in Karlsruhe, Germany, the designers used a total of 48 classic steel chairs of the S 43 model from Thonet. For the restaurant's modern, natural minimalist design, it was perfect to choose chairs with a black frame and oak seat and backrest. These small minimalist chairs are placed next to the large banqueting tables and add contrast to the restaurant. For the smaller tables, the S 43 chairs were chosen in classic black. This creates a contrast throughout the space that further enhances the natural accents of the interior.
Finally, let's consider a little more and take a look at the meeting room of the Schwaben town hall. The town of Markt Schwaben is located in Germany at the forefront of the Alps. As part of the redesign of the local town hall, its impressive meeting room was equipped with a generous customized table system, to which the comfortable S55 Evo chairs were of course not to be missed. For this redesign, the architecture studio Kressirer Ingenieure + decided to use a special version of the Thonet A 1700 Evo customised table system. The large oak veneer conference table system arranged in an open rectangle provides and offers space for approximately 30 meeting participants. The light wooden appearance of the table top visually creates a striking contrast with the brick walls of the room and reflects the light from the roof, making the entire interior appear much more illuminated.
