thonet.deImage source: Thonet
© Thonet and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research.
Brand
Thonet
GermanyThe history of Thonet began with the cabinetmaker and joiner Michael Thonet, who opened his first workshop in 1819 in Boppard on the Rhine. Encouraged by the Austrian State Chancellor Prince Metternich, he moved to Vienna, worked on the…
Brand Story
Heritage
The history of Thonet began with the cabinetmaker and joiner Michael Thonet, who opened his first workshop in 1819 in Boppard on the Rhine. Encouraged by the Austrian State Chancellor Prince Metternich, he moved to Vienna, worked on the interiors of Palais Liechtenstein, and in 1849 founded a company there, renamed Gebrüder Thonet in 1853. Furnishing Café Daum with chair No. 4 made the firm famous across Vienna from 1850; the international breakthrough came in 1859 with chair No. 14 (today the 214), the Vienna coffee house chair whose bent solid beech made near-industrial production possible.
Image source: Thonet · © Thonet and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official website ↗ · Image use & copyright policy
Philosophy
Thonet describes its principle as rational construction and exceptional material efficiency: modular parts produced by division of labour and shipped flat, 36 chairs to a cubic metre. Its furniture is made to last for generations and can be repaired in Frankenberg. The company states that its bentwood and tubular steel originals remain living collections rather than museum pieces.
Iconic Works
- 214 coffee house chair (1859) and the 209 armchair
- B 9, which Thonet names its first tubular steel furniture
- S 32 / S 64 cantilever chairs and S 35 chair by Marcel Breuer
- 118 by Sebastian Herkner, a contemporary reference to the 214
Image source: Thonet · © Thonet and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official website ↗ · Image use & copyright policy
Today
Thonet GmbH is headquartered in Frankenberg (Eder), Germany, where the factory has produced furniture since 1889 and the Museum Thonet opened in 1989. It remains a family business, partly owned by the fifth and sixth generations of the Thonet family and partly by the Benner family office. Recent designers include Stefan Diez, Norman Foster, Naoto Fukasawa, Piero Lissoni and Sebastian Herkner. The 214 received the German Sustainability Award Design 2021 and the German Ecodesign Award 2024.
Gallery
thonet.de
thonet.de
thonet.de
thonet.deImage source: Thonet
© Thonet and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research.
Designers
knoll.comLudwig Mies van der Rohe
DE
thonet.deLepper Schmidt Sommerlade
knoll.comMarcel Breuer
US
en.wikipedia.orgStefan Diez
DE
thonet.deChristian Werner
thonet.deGebrüder Thonet
thonet.deGlen Oliver Loew
andtradition.comIndustrial Facility
en.wikipedia.orgMichael Thonet
DE
thonet.deRandolf Schott
sebastianherkner.comSebastian Herkner
DE
Studio Irvine
Collections
Products
S 1200 Desk
Randolf Schott's compact tubular steel desk of 2014 with slanted frame, footrest and accessories.
S 35 Cantilever Armchair
Marcel Breuer's tubular steel lounge chair, a double cantilever in one continuous line.
S 533 Cantilever Chair
Mies van der Rohe's curved cantilever chair of 1927 in a single circle of chrome-plated steel.
S 60 Cantilever Chair
Glen Oliver Löw's 2001 cantilever chair: a plywood shell joined to the steel frame by the armrests.
S 840 Conference and Visitor Chair
Lepper Schmidt Sommerlade's 2006 swivel chair for conference and visitors, with a plywood shell.
S 1070 Table
Glen Oliver Löw's 2004 dining table with a curved tubular-steel frame and a wooden top.
214 Chair
Michael Thonet's 1859 coffee house chair in bent solid beech: the start of modern furniture.
2000 Chair Range
Christian Werner's range 2000: bentwood armchair 2001, sofa 2002, ottoman and cushions (2015).
404 Chair
Stefan Diez's 2007 wooden chair for Thonet, with legs that merge in a bentwood knot.
218 Bistro Chair
Thonet's bistro chair, the hairpin-back model no. 18 of 1876, again made in Frankenberg.
B 22 Shelf
Marcel Breuer's 1928 tubular steel shelving unit with two evenly spaced shelves.
S 220 Moulded Plywood Chair
Industrial Facility's 2022 stackable moulded plywood chair on a tubular steel frame, after the 214.
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