1890

Chair of the chair factory Alsfeld - Türpe, 1961

Alsfeld sits!Beginning of the Alsfeld chair factory

The abundance of forests in the Vogelsberg and the available labor force were probably the incentive for Joseph Hirsch, director of Hammonia Möbelfabrik – Hamburg, to acquire a plot of land below the Liedenteich in 1890 for the construction of a steam sawmill.

As early as 1892, women and girls were sought for the chair weaving workshop, but already in 1893, surprisingly, bankruptcy had to be declared. Only one year later, 10 investors, mainly Alsfeld citizens and merchants, founded the Alsfelder Möbelfabrik GmbH.

From then on, a 45-meter-high chimney underscored the company’s upswing. With chairs made of “bent wood”, the clientele soon extended all over Germany.

In 1934, the Alsfeld company merged with the A. Türpe jr. company, which had been in existence in Dresden since 1867 and also produced furniture made of bent wood.

After the World War, very successful years began. “Alsfeld chairs” were in great demand. About 80,000 pieces alone were sold to the German armed forces in one year. Since 1955, the company name was Stuhlfabriken Alsfeld-Türpe GmbH. At the end of the 1970s, harder times began for the company, which was finally followed by bankruptcy in 1988. NH