Thonet today, as in the past, is considered a pioneer of furniture design throughout the world.
The company was established in 1819 by Michael Thonet to produce his own designs, using the then new bentwood process, which he developed. Within a short period of time it became a major furniture manufacturer with a global distribution network.
In the 1930′s a major expansion took place with the addition of tubular steel furniture from famous Bauhaus associated designers such as Mart Stam, Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe.
Today, as well as continuing with the manufacture of many of the tubular steel and bentwood classics, Thonet, in their long established tradition of innovation and design quality, introduce products by renowned contemporary architects and designers such as Stefan Diez, Naoto Fukasawa, Hadi Teherani, Delphin Design, Lepper Schmidt Sommerlade, James Irvine, Glen Oliver Löw . This family enterprise managed by the 5th generation of Thonets, has its corporate headquarters and production facility in Frankenberg, Germany.
Michael Thonet’s lifetime achievements impressively reflect the transition from handcraft to industrial mass production in the 19th century. However, the success of Thonet’s production process was not only based on perfecting the bending of solid wood; it was the entrepreneurial vision of master joiner Michael Thonet that guaranteed the continual development of products and production techniques over the years. The best proof of his extraordinary abilities is the bentwood furniture, which has been in continuous production in Frankenberg following the originals by Michael Thonet. The Museum Thonet started out on a very small scale. Many pieces were acquired or exchanged on site since the factory has been producing furniture in Frankenberg since 1889.
Georg Thonet, a great-grandson of founder Michael Thonet, delivered the decisive boost to the collection due to his passion for finding and purchasing Thonet furniture even in the most remote corners of the world. The reopening of the Museum Thonet in 1989 took place precisely one hundred years after the establishment of the Thonet factory in Frankenberg.
