Fritz Hansen

The Fritz Hansen A / S, also known under the name of Republic of Fritz Hansen, a Danish furniture manufacturer that was known by the production of drafts Danish designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Hans J. Wegener and Børge Mogensen. The company's headquarters is located in Allerød.

History

The company was founded in 1872 by master carpenter Fritz Hansen as a carpentry workshop in Copenhagen in the area of the castle Amalienborg. 1896 a production facility with sawmill north of Copenhagen was built in Lillerød. As Hansen's son Christian Edvard (* 1874, † 1954) took over the company in 1899, it had 50 employees. Fritz Hansen died in 1902. Headed by Christian E. Hansen, the company has grown from a craft business into an industrial operation. 1915, the company produced the first steam- bent wood chair in Denmark.

The two sons of Christian E. Hansen, Poul Fritz Hansen and Søren Christian Hansen were active in the company since 1928. Especially Poul Fritz Hansen started in 1934 with the architect Professor Kaare Klint and work the architect Arne Jacobsen. Klint was built by Hansen shelving systems and wall units. The cooperation with Jacobsen chair, which he used for the restaurant at the Bellevue Theatre in Klampenborg arose. Henceforth Jacobsen developed all his chairs as the chairs Ant, Grand Prix and the Series 7, as well as the Egg and Swan chairs - both works for his Gesamtkunstwerk SAS Royal Hotel - with the help of Hansen. The company got out of the Jacobsen license to produce his furniture designs. Also Hans J. Wegner and Børge Mogensen worked in the 1940s with Fritz Hansen. Wegner developed in 1944 the China Chair and Morgensen 1945 Spokeback sofa.

In the 1960s, production was relocated to the north of Copenhagen located Allerød. The company was bought in 1979 by the Skandinavisk Holding. A collaboration with McDonald's in 2007 ended after McDonald's also replica of those used alongside furniture by Fritz Hansen in his restaurants in England.

Company data

The Fritz Hansen A / S 2008 had a total of 279 employees. It achieved 2008 annual revenues of about 88 million euros. In the markets of Scandinavia with 49 percent, followed by Europe and Asia. Seven percent of the products go to North America. Armchairs and couches had a share in 2008 38 percent of the products in front of chairs (36 percent) and tables ( 16 percent).