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Biegen von Rücklehnen, Fotos von Herman Bramer, „Lisa“, Werkstätte für 
Lichtbildtechnik, Wien, 1929 Bending of backrests, photos by Herman 
Bramer, “Lisa" workshop for photography, Vienna, 1929 
Industrial Production Starting in 1856 
However, it was not the year that the Company was founded, but rather 
the year 1856 which was decisive: In addition to the Thonets being grant- 
ed Austrian citizenship, the construction of the first factory in Koritschan, 
Moravia and the granting of the patent for bending solid wood laid the 
two foundations for the subsequent, unstoppable rise of the Gebrüder 
Thonet Company. 
Michael Thonet’s goal was always to build high-quality chairs using as 
few individual pieces as possible, to use identical components for as 
many applications as possible, and to be able to produce them quickly 
and en masse. With the invention which allowed for the bending of solid 
wood, he had achieved this goal in the mid-1850s. All of the three-part 
seat frames as well as the corresponding rear leg/backrest construction 
were already massively bent, but not yet completely solid, i.e. not yet 
made from one single piece; this wasn’t achieved until the beginning of 
the 1860s. 
The distinction between “solid” and “completely solid” is essential. In the 
seat frames, three massively curved individual parts were glued after 
drying to form a very stable construction, an additional layer was placed 
inside the crest rail for reinforcement of the rear leg/backrest construction, 
which had already been bent from a single piece. With this method of 
production, it was believed that one could produce on a large scale and 
be successful, and the factory in Koritschan was built, because “the 
Thonet production method requires the use of large-scale production, 
which must have large, expensive, special equipment in order to be eco- 
nomically significant.” 26 The years from 1856 to 1861 were a transitional 
period during which certain regularities emerged, but also the most varied 
combinations of components could be found. At the beginning of the 
1860s, it was finally possible to produce curved seat frames using one 
single part. 
In the course of five years the great goal was achieved: The creation of 
completely solid curved components in one single Operation. The gluing 
could be eliminated. Thus, the production of furniture made of bentwood 
was perfected for factory-based, industrial production. While in a certain 
sense the development stops here, the success story of a chair that was 
to conquer the world begins exactly at this point-chair No. 14: “The suc 
cess story of the Koritschan factory in 1859 was important for the bent 
wood furniture industry. The creation of the consumer chair No. 14, the 
26 Bruno Otto, Die Entwicklung der mitteleuropäischen Bugholzmöbel-Industrie, Eberswalde 1931, 14. 
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