f 1
\
/
hH
Hf! >'
<
Josef Hoffmann: Rauchzimmer im Kleinen Landhaus, Kunstschau 1908,
Wien; aus: Moderne Bauformen VII/1908, 371 Josef Hoffmann: Smoking
room in a small country home, Kunstschau 1908, Vienna; in: Moderne
Bauformen VII/1908, 371
cially for hospitals 12 -or were they already meant for the
battlefield hospitals. Issue No. 59 from 1916 then an-
nounced a general price increase of 25%. 13 The war-re-
lated delays in payment caused an increasing amount
of difficulties for Thonet. In 1917, the Company was dealt
a major blow by the Communist Revolution in Russia,
which thwarted any hope of large Stocks being returned.
A post-war inventory recorded Stocks in Moscow (still in
pre-war crowns) at 250,000 crowns, in St. Petersburg
at 180,000 crowns, and in Odessa at 500,000 crowns-
a total of almost one million crowns, therefore, more than
the Stocks in the whole of Western Europe combined. 14
In the United States, however, significant Stocks could
be saved successfully thanks to the Thonet's relationship
to the Wanner family.
After the war, the Situation of the bentwood furniture in-
dustry itself seemed completely hopeless: The Austro-
Hungarian monarchy had disintegrated into successor
States, which had caused the individual Companies, facto-
ries, and businesses to move abroad seemingly overnight.
Although production rose again, in 1921, it still hadn't
yet reached the level of pre-war production again:
594 442 chairs were sold in 1913, compared to only 538 433 in 1921.
Although more workers were employed in the early 1920s than before
the war, productivity could not be further increased. 15
Nevertheless, Leopold Pilzer, an entrepreneurfrom Galicia and the head
of the Mundus Corporation, founded in 1907, was able to consolidate
the entire industry, while safeguarding the interests and laws of the suc
cessor States. In 1917, with the help of a banking consortium led by the
Austrian Credit-Anstalt [Credit Bank], he succeeded in buying all the
shares of the Company, which had already been converted into the Erste
Österreichische Actien-Gesellschaft zur Erzeugung von Möbeln aus ge
bogenem Holze Jacob & Josef Kohn [First Austrian Corporation for the
Production of Bentwood Furniture Jacob & Josef Kohn] in 1901. After
the dissolution of the double monarchy, a central, supranational Mundus
Group in which all national Mundus Companies were joined, was regis-
tered in Zürich in the spring of 1920. Gebrüder Thonet, on the other
hand, still under family ownership until that point, continued to try to
remain independent. However, due to the problems already described
above including financial problems, the form of the Company changed in
1921: Gebrüder Thonet became Gebrüder Thonet AG.
But three years later, they had to take shelter under the roof of Mundus.
On 12 November 1923, the Thonet Mundus Group Zürich was register-
ed in Zürich. 16 Thus, Mundus AG holding Company became one of the
largest international furniture manufacturers. The producing Companies
and businesses of the Mundus Group supplied 80% of the world market
for bentwood furniture-even though the furniture was still marketed under
the renowned names Thonet and Kohn. The Thonet family itself held a
50% stäke in the Thonet Mundus Group but could not prevent the former
family business from being converted into independent national Companies
12 Cf. ZA No. 55, 30 September 1915.
13 Cf. ZA No. 59, 31 March 1916.
14 Minutes from the Company Management Conference in Vienna from 10-15 July 1919.
Cf. The TON Company archive, which is located in the Moravian National Archives in Brno.
15 In 1920, Thonet’s gross sales were 6,743,182 K, with 3 093 employees, compared with
6,719,936 K and 3,408 employees in 1921. Therefore, more workers were producing less:
In 1920, it was 2,180 K and a year later it was 1,971 K per person. Compare with the balance
sheets from the Company archives of the corresponding years.
16 Cf. The relevant documents in the Commercial Register Office of the canton of Zürich (officially verified
copy from 18 January 1994). The author thanks Peter Ellenberg for information and documents.
55
