Michael Thonet (1796-1871) and his five children were the most successful manufacturers of furniture in the Industrial Age. Michael Thonet left Germany to settle in Vienna, where in 1853 he founded the company "Gebrüder Thonet" by involving his five sons.
In the Hapsburg capital, Michael Thonet abandoned the more traditional technique of glued lamellar wood in favour of the industrial chemical-mechanical steam bent process. This innovation led him to begin producing wooden furniture, presenting a collection of elegant, yet practical designs that could be manufactured on a larger scale. He immediately supported this with a distribution and sales network that was capable of penetrating any market. It was during this time that products such as chair No. 1 designed for the famous Viennese Palais Schwarzenberg made their début, gaining fame as "typically" Thonet, and from which many other models were then designed, up to and including the classic chair No. 14.
The company’s use of high technology and production techniques, together with widespread fame and a growing reputation encouraged the most important Viennese architects to design new products.
More recently, GTV - Gebrüder Thonet Vienna has developed its work in a successful blend of the traditional and the modern, of continuity and renewal, with a new production program that begins by re-editing a series of Gebrüder Thonet classics. At the same time, GTV stands for contemporary furnishing. Advanced production techniques are applied to innovative designs and uses of materials, to create highly sought-after, multipurpose furnishing items. Truly original, up-to-date solutions that integrate well with the more classic products of its catalogue, now reworked.
GTV always succeeds in finding the perfect combination of tradition and innovation, assisted by continuous research into new, clear-cut, versatile designs. GTV is open and looking to the future, without, however, leaving the values and experience of the past behind. This collection is a true reflection of the evolution of our times.