Icons of Thonet

Icons of Thonet

200 years of Thonet, 200 years of design icons. In its unique history, the furniture manufacturer Thonet has repeatedly realised classic chair designs. Created in the pulse of their time, the value-stable furniture then and now accompany people all over the world. In addition to the bentwood and tubular steel classics that still form the foundation of Thonet, and are made with love for handcraft and the original design, contemporary designs such as those by Stefan Diez or Sebastian Herkner complete the portfolio of the German producer.

Thonet's history is marked by groundbreaking innovations in material, form and production technology. At the end of the 19th century, for example, Michael Thonet succeeded for the first time in bending solid wood and thus revolutionising the manufacture of chairs and armchairs. The legendary Viennese coffee house chair marked the transition from craft to mass production and Thonet wrote industrial history.

Inextricably linked with Thonet is Bauhaus: the Bauhaus legends Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe experimented with cold-bent tubular steel in the 20th century and invented the cantilever chair and in Thonet found a producer with the necessary pioneering spirit.

Browse through the anniversary edition of the Thonet Magazine for more background information, interviews and inspiration: