The bentwood furniture industry near the Beskids – Piotr Kenig

Few industries were as closely connected with ancient Austria as the production of bent wood furniture, which was commonly called "Viennese furniture" around the world. Cieszyn Silesia and the neighboring areas of western Galicia, which until 1918 remained within the borders of the Habsburg Monarchy, played an important role in this field of production. The large forest complexes of the Beskid Mountains were rich in beech forest necessary for production.

In 1842, at the invitation of Chancellor Klemens von Metternich, Michael Thonet, a carpenter from the Rhineland who experimented with bending and gluing wood, moved to Vienna. In 1849, he founded his own furniture company in the Danube capital, and at the World Exhibition in London (1851) he won a bronze medal and international recognition for his products. In 1853, he handed the company over to his sons, who from then on ran it under the name Gebrüder Thonet (Thonet Brothers). Since there was not enough beech wood in the vicinity of Vienna and labor was more expensive, production was soon moved to Moravia (Koryčany, Bystřice pod Hostýnem, Velké Uherce, Halenkov near Vsetín). Thonet Brothers factories were also established outside Austria: in Radomsko, which was under Russian rule (1881) on the Warsaw-Vienna railway, and in Frankenberg in Hesse (1889). The company became the largest manufacturer of bent furniture in Europe.

Soon competition appeared. The Jacob & Josef Kohn company, operating since 1849, launched a bentwood furniture factory in Vsetín in Moravia in 1868, and further plants were opened in Cieszyn (1871), Radomsko (1884) and Holešov in Moravia (1890). In 1901, the company was transformed into a joint-stock company, employing 6,300 employees and producing 5,500 pieces of furniture a day.

In 1873, in Buczkowice in the Żywiec region, Rudolf Wagner (1829–1909), an evangelist from Bielsko, started making furniture. The main sales market of the company operating under the name Wagner & Comp. was initially Russia. In the early 1880s, a plant was built in Piwniczna in the Beskid Sądecki Mountains, but it burned down in 1885. Reconstruction was abandoned, but the plant in Buczkowice was modernized. Exports were mainly directed to Germany. Around 1891, Wagner's company was taken over by a Jewish entrepreneur from Strakonice, Czech Republic, Dr. Rudolf Weill (1863–approx. 1910), who was soon joined by Leopold Pilzer (1871–1961), born in Oświęcim. Another plant was built in Rybarzowice (1893) and a sawmill in Cisna in the Bieszczady Mountains, where approx. 4,000 were purchased. ha of beech forests and a 27 km long narrow-gauge railway was launched. The former twine factory, which was acquired in 1898, was also probably used, leased from the Buczkowice commune. The headquarters of Rudolf Weill & Co. it was initially Bielsko (1894–1897), and later Kraków. To facilitate transport, in 1907 both partners applied for the construction of a railway line from Łodygowice to Buczkowice, but the project was never implemented.

Another bent furniture factory was established in 1874 in Sibica, now part of Český Cieszyn. The company was founded by three partners, but soon only one remained: Josef Jaworek. The company's branch was located in Vienna (1876–1898) and also in Gradec in Slovenia (1877–?).

Employees of the Kohn furniture factory in Cieszyn 1908

Thonet-Mundus factory in Buczkowice, 1920s

Hugo Reich's factory in Łodygowice, 1930s

One of the leading entrepreneurs in the wood industry on the Galician-Silesian border was a Jewish merchant from Zabłocie in Żywiec, Josef Hofmann (1811–1884). Representative offices of his trading company operated in Vienna, Bielsko, Szczawnica Wyżna and Tylawa. In 1872, Hoffmann purchased a steam sawmill in Jasienica, and in 1880 a match factory in Bielsko. In both facilities, his successors started the production of bent furniture. From 1896, the company was called Josef Hofmann Nachfolger (J. Hofmann's heir). In the years 1898–1905, the Bielsko factory belonged to the company Fuchs & Freund from eastern Galicia, later it returned to Hofmann's heirs for a short time, and in 1909 the new owners transformed it into a textile factory. The expanded main plant in Jasienica in 1909 employed approximately 700 workers.

At the beginning of the 20th century, in the Austro-Hungarian bentwood furniture industry, apart from the leading companies of Thonet and Kohn, there were several smaller companies operating in it. On the initiative of Leopold Pilzer, with the participation of the Austrian Credit Union, some of them united, creating in 1907 the Joint Stock Company of the United Austrian Bentwood Furniture Factories based in Vienna. At the beginning of the following year, the company was named Mundus (world), which demonstrated the aspirations of its creators. At the time of its foundation, the Austrian Mundus included seven companies, three of which were located at the foot of the Beskids: Rudolf Weill & Co. (Buczkowice), Josef Hofmann Nachfolger (Jasienica) and Josef Jaworek, (Cieszyn-Sibica).

In 1917, after Mundus took over most of the shares of J. & J. Kohn, the Mundus-Kohn Joint Stock Company was established. In the fall of 1918, as a result of the collapse of the Danube Monarchy, furniture factories were located in several different countries. The Thonet brothers, who in 1921 transformed their company into a joint-stock company, for political and tax reasons established separate companies in several countries, and in 1923 they merged with Mundus, creating the Thonet-Mundus Joint-Stock Company based in Zug (Switzerland). The world's largest furniture empire, with 20 factories and a number of trading companies, was in the hands of Leopold Pilzer. Under his leadership, the Thonet-Mundus company, employing over 10,000. employees, quickly reached 75% of its pre-war turnover, supplying and selling approximately 75% of the world's production of bent furniture. In the further part of the article, we present only the fate of the company's Polish factories.

The headquarters of Thonet-Mundus, Polskie Fabryki Mebli Giętych, SA was in Bielsko, and Leopold Pilzer also lived here. The factories were located in Cieszyn, Jasienica, Buczkowice and Radomsko. The enterprise with a capital of PLN 1,500,000 employed a total of approximately 1,700 workers and 40 technical staff and officials. During the economic crisis (1929–1933), production in Buczkowice (1930) and Cieszyn (1932) was stopped and never resumed. In Jasienica, the factory's production was disrupted by a great fire (1929), and it was rebuilt only in 1934. In Radomsko, the former Thonet factory remained the property of the concern, while in the Kohn factory, since 1922, Fabryka Mebli Giętych Mazowia SA operated

In 1938, after the occupation of Austria by Nazi Germany, the Thonet-Mundus concern was dissolved. Leopold Pilzer emigrated to the United States. As a result of the agreement, the Thonet brothers had the rights to the brand in Germany and Austria, while Leopold Pilzer retained them in France, England and the USA (in the latter country he had three factories, which were in close contact with Thonet in Europe).

There were two bentwood furniture factories operating in the close vicinity of Bielsko, which were not part of the Thonet-Mundus concern. Jewish entrepreneur Hugo Reich (1897–circa 1942) started production in Łodygowice in 1905; from 1936, the company was leased by J. Herc i S-ka. In 1938, the share capital was PLN 10,000 and 200 workers were employed. In 1904, Adolf Wech (1862–1936), a Catholic from Bielsko, previously an associate of Weill & Co., opened his own factory in Buczkowice. After his death, the company was taken over by his sons. The company had capital of PLN 350,000 and employed 350 workers.

In March 1945, the buildings of the Thonet-Mundus factory in Buczkowice, used for storage purposes by the German army during World War II, burned down, and the ruins were demolished in the 1950s. The factory in Jasienica was also damaged. After nationalization, it operated from 1951 as Bielsko Zakłady Przemysłu Drzewnego, initially including plants in Jasienica and Buczkowice (formerly Adolf Wech). In 1954, the nearby wood products factory of Count Larisch-Mönnich in Jaworze was incorporated, and in 1955, the sawmill of Alfred Rybiński from Rajcza was also incorporated. Since 1959, the company has operated under the name Fabryka Mebli Giętych in Jasienica, with plants No. 1 in Jasienica, No. 2 in Jaworze, No. 3 in Buczkowice and No. 4 in Rajcza. In the 1990s, they were purchased by the PAGED SA Capital Group

In March 1945, the buildings of the Thonet-Mundus factory in Buczkowice, used for storage purposes by the German army during World War II, burned down, and the ruins were demolished in the 1950s. The factory in Jasienica was also damaged. After nationalization, it operated from 1951 as Bielsko Zakłady Przemysłu Drzewnego, initially including plants in Jasienica and Buczkowice (formerly Adolf Wech). In 1954, the nearby wood products factory of Count Larisch-Mönnich in Jaworze was incorporated, and in 1955, the sawmill of Alfred Rybiński from Rajcza was also incorporated. Since 1959, the company has operated under the name Fabryka Mebli Giętych in Jasienica, with plants No. 1 in Jasienica, No. 2 in Jaworze, No. 3 in Buczkowice and No. 4 in Rajcza. In the 1990s, they were purchased by the PAGED SA Capital Group

The Hugo Reich factory in Łodygowice, operating as the State Łodygowice Furniture Factory since 1945, started producing upholstered furniture in 1956. In 1973, the plant was subordinated to the Katowickie Furniture Factory. Around 1980 there were 280 employees.

In Radomsko, the Mazowia SA bentwood furniture factory was closed by the Germans in 1939 and never resumed production. The nationalized Thonet-Mundus plant was initially called Fabryka Mebli Giętych No. 1, and in 1951 it became part of the Radomsko Zakłady Przemysłu Drzewnego, since 1959 operating under the name Zakłady Mebli Giętych "Fameg".

Leopold Pilzer, the creator of the Thonet-Mundus bentwood furniture empire, died in the USA in 1961.

Advertising prints of furniture companies from the 19th and 20th centuries

Piotr Kenig – resident of Bielsko, historian, particularly interested in the history of Bielsko and Biała in the 18th–19th centuries. Since 1990, he has been a researcher at the Museum in Bielsko-Biała, and since 2001, the curator and manager of the Old Factory (formerly the Museum of Technology and Textiles). Author or co-author of numerous publications, including: Monography of Bielsko-Biała, book Stara Fabryka. Industry of Bielsko-Biała in the 19th and 20th centuries and a series of articles devoted to local factory families and their achievements, published since 2009 in the quarterly "Relacje-Interpretacje".