Unique Tubular Steel Table Thonet HT 70 Bauhaus Design Prototype 1933 / 1936 Design & Patent by German Jewish Designer Kurt Frankenschwerth (Berlin 1901 – London 1982)
This museal Table is characterized by its formal simplicity and the pure, clean style of the Bauhaus era. The Berlin-based jewish Designer Kurt Frankenschwerth invented an invisible functional design feature for adjusting the height with one single twist that makes this piece unique and one of a kind.
Furthermore this Thonet HT 70 is the only existing piece worldwide.
Berlin-based Jewish Kurt Frankenschwerth (Berlin 1901 – London 1982) was closely linked to the Bauhaus in Dessau. He developed HT 70 for Thonet Germany (Frankenberg) and patented the ingenious invisible height adjustment mechanism by German Patent No. 583227. Two heights could be chosen: normal height (72 cm) and low level as a tea table (54 cm). The Thonet HT 70 got additional international protection of the unique design.
HT 70 was officially listed in the Thonet catalogue 1935 and did also appear in Thonets price list until autumn of 1936 (see photographs) although the table remained in prototype stadium. Frankenschwerth could not finish the final development before he was forced to leave Germany in 1937 accompanied by his wife, the poet Henriette Hardenberg (Berlin 1894 – London 1993).
He continued to work in London on patents for technical production processes and new interior designs. Frankenschwerth also worked as an essay writer and was in close contact to German exile poets like Thomas Mann. He was also an active member of the Jewish community in London and member of the P.E.N. Club.
The ultra-rare museal table will be accompanied by an extensive documentation of the history and fate of the Family Frankenschwerth / Hardenberg between 1933-45 including a collection of documents concerning the Shoah: Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem Memorial, Gedenkbuch Berlins der jüdischen Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (1995), Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden German Bundesarchiv (1986), British Museums (Audio Interview with 78-year-old K. Frankenschwerth) etc.
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