Michael Thonet

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Michael Thonet was born in Boppard, the son of master tanner Franz Anton Thonet. After a carpenter's apprenticeship, he set up as an independent cabinetmaker in 1819. In the 1830s, Thonet began experimenting with glued and bent wooden slats, achieving his first success with the Bopparder Schichtholzstuhl in 1836. He acquired the Michelsmühle glue factory in 1837 to produce the adhesive for his process, but his attempts to patent the technology failed in Germany (1840) and in Great Britain, France, and Russia (1841). Thonet's breakthrough came when he succeeded in bending wood using hot steam, creating light, strong, and graceful shapes. At the Koblenz trade fair of 1841, he met Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, who invited him to the Vienna court. After financial difficulties forced him to sell his Boppard establishment, Thonet emigrated to Vienna with his family. There, he worked on the interior decoration of the Stadtpalais Liechtenstein before opening his own shop with his four sons in 1849. In 1853, he transferred the company to his sons under the name Gebrüder Thonet. Thonet produced his Nr. 1 chair in 1850 and received a bronze medal at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. He earned a silver medal at the 1855 Paris World's Fair and opened a factory in Koryčany, Moravia, in 1856. The 1859 chair Nr. 14, also known as Konsumstuhl Nr. 14, became the 'chair of chairs,' with some 50 million produced. Its innovative design allowed disassembly into components for efficient shipping—36 chairs could fit in a one-cubic-meter box. Thonet died in Vienna in 1871, by which time his company had sales locations across Europe, Chicago, and New York City.

Reader's Guide

Michael Thonet's significance lies in his revolutionary bentwood technique, which enabled the first industrial production of furniture. His chair Nr. 14, introduced in 1859, was a landmark of design and manufacturing: it could be disassembled, shipped in compact boxes, and assembled worldwide, making it a global success. Thonet's work departed from heavy, carved furniture, offering elegant, lightweight, and durable pieces that appealed to modern tastes. The company continued to produce iconic designs, including the rocking chair no. 1 (1860), models no. 18 and no. 56, and the no. 209 armchair admired by Le Corbusier. By 1912, Thonet production peaked at two million products annually. The company's legacy endures through Thonet GmbH in Frankenberg, Germany, and Thonet Vienna, with the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna housing the largest collection of original Thonet chairs. The Czech company TON continues to operate the oldest still-functioning bentwood factory in Bystřice pod Hostýnem, founded in 1861.

Did You Know?

• Thonet had seven sons and six daughters, but only five sons survived early childhood.
• His first success was the Bopparder Schichtholzstuhl (Boppard layerwood chair) in 1836.
• Thirty-six disassembled chairs Nr. 14 could fit into a one cubic meter box for shipping.
• The chair Nr. 14 is still called the 'chair of chairs' with some 50 million produced.
• The name Thonet is pronounced 'toe-net' with a hard beginning and ending t, not 'tho-nay'.

From Tanner's Son to Steam-Bending Pioneer

Michael Thonet entered the world on 2 July 1796 in Boppard, the son of Franz Anton Thonet, a master tanner. After completing a carpenter's apprenticeship, he established himself as an independent cabinetmaker in 1819 and shortly after married Anna Grahs, with whom he had seven sons and six daughters, though only five of the boys survived early childhood. For nearly two decades he worked in conventional woodworking before the 1830s brought a radical shift. He began experimenting with glued and bent wooden slats, and in 1836 produced what he called the Bopparder Schichtholzstuhl, a layerwood chair that marked his first real success. The following year he bought the Michelsmühle glue factory, securing independence over his supply chain. Yet his efforts to patent the process were rebuffed in Germany in 1840 and again in Great Britain, France, and Russia in 1841. The true breakthrough came when he discovered that hot steam could form light, strong wood into graceful curves, producing furniture that was simultaneously elegant, durable, and remarkably light—a stark departure from the heavy carved pieces that had dominated for centuries.

Court Patronage and the Vienna Breakthrough

At the 1841 Koblenz trade fair, Thonet's work caught the eye of Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, who was so impressed that he invited the cabinetmaker to the Vienna court. The following year Thonet presented his chairs to the Imperial Family, an endorsement that would prove transformative. When his Boppard establishment fell into financial trouble, he sold it and relocated his family to Vienna, where he collaborated with his sons on the interior decoration of the Stadtpalais Liechtenstein for the Carl Leistler establishment. In 1849 he reopened his own shop alongside his four surviving sons, and by 1853 he transferred the business to them under the name Gebrüder Thonet. The pivotal product arrived in 1850: the Nr. 1 chair, a design that encapsulated everything his steam-bending process made possible. That very next year, the Great Exhibition in London awarded him a bronze medal for his Vienna bentwood chairs, marking his first major international recognition. At the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, continued improvements in his production methods earned him a silver medal, and in 1856 he opened a new factory in Koryčany, Moravia, signaling that his enterprise was rapidly expanding beyond a single workshop.

The Chair That Changed the World

In 1859 Thonet introduced what would become the most consequential piece of furniture in industrial history: the chair Nr. 14, later renumbered 214 and affectionately known as the Konsumstuhl, or coffee shop chair. What made it revolutionary was not merely its elegant bentwood form but its engineering for mass production. The chair could be disassembled into a small number of components, enabling work-sharing processes across multiple factories. Even more remarkably, thirty-six fully disassembled chairs could be packed into a single cubic-meter box, making global export practical for the first time. This design philosophy allowed Thonet to become a true international company, and the chair went on to be manufactured in staggering numbers—some fifty million units produced over the decades, with production continuing to this day. At the 1867 Paris World's Fair, the chair earned Thonet's enterprise a gold medal. The success of Nr. 14 opened the door to a vast catalogue of bentwood pieces, including the rocking chair no. 1 of 1860, the later models no. 18 and no. 56, the curved-armrest no. 209 that Le Corbusier particularly admired, and the 1904 art nouveau armchair 247 designed by Otto Wagner for the postal savings banks.

A Living Legacy Across Generations

By the time Michael Thonet died in Vienna on 3 March 1871, the Gebrüder Thonet operation already maintained sales locations across Europe and as far as Chicago and New York City. The production network had grown to seven sites in Central Europe, with the first factory in Koryčany built in 1857 from the father's own plans, and a bentwood factory in Bystřice pod Hostýnem established in 1861 that remains the oldest continuously operating factory of its kind in the world, now run by the Czech company TON. The Frankenberg site in Hesse, added in 1889, survived both world wars as the sole family-owned location and serves as the head office to this day, where a museum displays the firm's history. In 1976 the business split into independent German and Austrian entities, and in 2006 the German arm became Thonet GmbH under Thorsten Muck. Direct descendants in the fifth and sixth generations still participate as associates and sales partners. The Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna holds the largest collection of original Thonet chairs in Austria, and the name—correctly pronounced "toe-net" rather than "tho-nay"—continues to signify a design lineage stretching from bentwood classics through Bauhaus-era tubular steel to contemporary collaborations.