Today and in the past, Thonet furniture has been a part of the lives of many people all around the world. Some appreciate them as classics with history and patina, others as timeless design icons with a collector’s value, and people of a younger generation perceive the style and the culture which a Thonet original represents.
The unique success story began with the work of master carpenter Michael Thonet (1796-1871), which established the transition from manual furniture production to industrial production making the breakthrough to industrial production in 1859 in Vienna with chair No.14, later called the “Vienna coffee house chair“, for which the innovative technique of bending solid beech wood was used.