Thonet

Biography

The history of Thonet began with the work of the cabinetmaker and joiner Michael Thonet, who opened his first workshop in 1819 in Boppard/River Rhine. With filigree and elegant chairs and the testing and application of innovative wood processing technologies, Michael Thonet achieved fame beyond his home region. When the Austrian State Chancellor Fürst Clemens von Metternich learned about Thonet and his furniture, he convinced Michael Thonet to move to Vienna. Thonet was therefore able to participate in the interior design of Palais Liechtenstein, expand his knowledge and skills, and establish a network that he did not have in his home town. In 1849, Michael Thonet founded a company in Vienna, which he renamed Gebrüder Thonet in 1853 - a family company from the beginning.

Based on the coffee house culture of the mid-19th century, which brought the founder his first successes. Michael Thonet had his international breakthrough in 1859 with chair No.14, the so-called Vienna Coffee House Chair: the innovative technique of bending solid beech wood for the first time enabled an almost industrial production of a chair. It was based on a modular principle, while the individual components were produced based on division of labour and could be combined as needed. This method created a demand-oriented, economically highly efficient production.

In 1857 the first Thonet furniture factory was built in the Moravian town of Kory?any using their father's plans. In the coming years, five more production sites were established in Central Europe. In 1861, Thonet and his sons established a bentwood furniture factory in Byst?ice pod Hostýnem, which is today the oldest still operating factory of its kind in the world. In 1889 the seventh and last production site was added in the town of Frankenberg, Hesse, Germany. After World War I and World War II, this one was the only one to remain owned by the family. It is Thonet's head office until today.

As Michael Thonet died 1871 in Vienna, the Fa. Gebrüder Thonet had sales locations across Europe as well as Chicago and New York City. Today, a museum in the factory in Frankenberg showcases the firm's history and the Thonet design.

In 1976 Thonet was divided into a German and an Austrian company (Thonet Vienna). The two companies are independent of each other. In 2006 Gebrüder Thonet became Thonet GmbH