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was born on 2.7.1796 as son of a tanner in Boppard. He completed an
apprenticeship as cabinet maker and, at the age of 23, established his own
business as joiner and cabinet maker in Boppard. Thonet began to produce
furniture parts such as curved chair backs from layered and veneered wood,
until he finally brought entire chairs in bent-wood forms onto the market.
He patented his invention in England, France and Belgium. In 1841 he
exhibited his layered wooden chairs in Koblenz, where the Austrian
chancellor, Prince Metternich, who also came from Koblenz, saw them and was
amazed by them. He recommended that Thonet go to Vienna. In 1842, his wife
and 5 sons followed him.
On 16.07.1842, Thonet was granted the following 'working privilege': "To
bend any type of wood, even the driest and most brittle kind in to whatever
form or bow using chemical-mechanical methods". In Vienna Thonet worked for
the parquet manufacturer, Carl Leistler, and created magnificent parquet
flooring and chairs for Liechtenstein palace. When the contract with
Leistler ran out, Thonet who was now 53 years old established his own
business in April producing bent-wood furniture.
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Using his No. 4 Chair,
the Thonets exhibited their first contract at a public locality: the Daum
coffeehouse Vienna. At the World Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London
Thonet exhibited luxury furniture for the first time attracting a lot of
attention because of its originality and elegance. He won the bronze medal.
In 1855 Thonet Bros. Company attained the silver medal at the Paris World
Exhibition. He continued to export abroad. - The bent-wood furniture could
be taken apart and was very suitable for export because of the low transport
costs. Additional factories were set up in Moravia, Hungary and Poland. The
No. 14 Chair, developed in 1859, made from solid beech wood proved to be the
most successful model; up to 1893, 15 million pieces were produced.
In 1867 the Thonets attained the highest recognition: The gold medal at the
World Exhibition in Paris. In 1869 the 'working privilege' from 1856 expired,
but since he dominated the market it was not renewed. Michael Thonet died on
3.3.1871 in the circle of his children; the 5 sons continued to expand
production.
Around the mid-1870s, the Thonets employed 4,500 workers and produced 2,000
pieces of furniture daily - of this number just 1,750 are chairs. After the
First World War the family business was changed to a stock-holding company.
Soon afterwards, they amalgamated with their most important competitors, the
company of Jacob and Josef Kohn. Today the Thonet Bros. Company produces
considerable amounts, including classic models, in Frankenberg/Eder. Under
the management of the great grandson, Michael Thonets 300 employees continue
the bent-wood tradition.
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