Walter Knoll is a German family company for premium upholstered and lounge furniture from Herrenberg (near Stuttgart), with a history reaching back to 1865: Wilhelm Knoll opens a leather goods shop in Stuttgart and becomes a purveyor to the Royal House of Württemberg. In 1907 his sons Willy and Walter take over, introduce the first club armchair to Germany and make the company the industry's first exporter. Walter Knoll founds his own company, Walter Knoll & Co. GmbH, in 1925; the Prodomo collection is considered the first modern upholstered furniture programme in history. In 1927, Walter Knoll furnishes five Mies van der Rohe apartments at the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart — the opening of an association between the company and the architectural avant-garde that remains defining today. Son Hans Knoll emigrates to the USA in the 1930s and founds Knoll Inc. there in 1941 — two companies, one origin. Since 1993 Markus Benz (son of Rolf Benz) has led the company; his daughter Mara Benz has joined as CIO, representing the next generation.
Production: exclusively in Herrenberg, Made in Germany. Notable references: Berlin Tegel Airport VIP Lounge 1975 with the Berlin Chair (co-designed with Meinhard von Gerkan), German Embassy Brasília, Hearst Building New York, Thomas Mann House Los Angeles. Key products: Foster 500 Sofa, Living Landscape 755, Grand Suite, Muud Sofa, Vostra Chair (1945), Fabricius armchair (Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm), Legends of Carpets rug collection. International showrooms in Düsseldorf, London and further metropolitan cities.
For interior designers, contract planners and institutional buyers seeking a German premium upholstered furniture manufacturer with over 160 years of company history, documented ties to architectural modernism and a breadth stretching from executive offices to embassies, Walter Knoll is the benchmark address in the German luxury interiors segment.