1865
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1865 Wilhelm Knoll starts producing seating in Stuttgart and founds his “leather shop”. |
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1900 Wilhelm Knoll is supplier to the royal court of Württemberg. |
| 1866 TV is invented. The first transatlantic cable is put into operation. |
| 1884 Thomas A. Edison discovers the emission effect in his light bulbs. |
| 1886 Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz invent the motorised automobile. |
| 1889 Gustave Eiffel builds the Eiffel Tower in Paris. |
| 1900 Maiden flight of the first steerable Zeppelin airship (built by Graf von Zeppelin). From 1900 the use of chrome salts revolutionises the tanning of leather. |
1906
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1906 The leather furnishings factory (Ledermöbelfabrik) becomes the leather seating factory (Ledersitzmöbelfabrik Wilhelm Knoll). |
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1907 Sons Walter and Wilhelm (known as Willy) take over the Wilhelm Knoll company. Wilhelm Knoll opens branches in Vienna and St. Petersburg. |
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| 1906 Peter Behrens is responsible for the architecture and corporate identity of AEG. |
1912
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1912 Nestra models on a woodenframe basis go into series production. |
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1925 Walter Knoll founds his own upholstered furniture factory “Walter Knoll”. Unlike Wilhelm Knoll, Walter Knoll stops using leather, preferring to use fabrics; a range of colours is also introduced. |
| 1919 Walter Gropius founds the Bauhaus in Weimar. |
1927
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1927 The patented Antimott system is a great success for Wilhelm Knoll. The Prodomo system by Walter Knoll causes a stir and makes for good sales. |
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1927 The drilled mott became the trademark of the “Antimott” programme. |
| 1927 “Die Wohnung” (The Apartment) exhibition on the Stuttgart Weissenhof Estate with furniture by Walter Knoll. |
| 1929 “Black Friday” on the New York Stock Exchange causes an economic crisis worldwide. |
1929
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1929 “Prodomo”-System from Walter Knoll captures the market. Start of tubular steel furniture manufacture at Walter Knoll. In spite of the economic crisis, the companies Walter and Wilhelm Knoll both expand. |
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1937 Walter Knoll moves 40 kilometres from Stuttgart to Herrenberg. Continuous expansion as well as extension of the collection in both companies. |
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1938 Walter Knoll’s son Hans, together with his wife Florence, founds “Knoll International” in America. |
| 1931 The Empire State Building in New York is completed. At 449 metres, it is the highest building in the world. |
1939
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1939> Expansion comes to a standstill at Walter and Wilhelm Knoll. Production has to concentrate on manufacturing articles important for the war. |
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1942 Serious bomb damage causes the Walter Knoll production to be closed. The company faces a new start. |
| 1939 Start of the Second World War. The German economy has to take second place to the war effort. |
1945
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1945 Serious war damage at Wilhelm Knoll too. Production is also restarted in Stuttgart with the help of Dieter Knoll, Willy’s son. |
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1946 Robert Knoll becomes a partner at Walter Knoll. |
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1947 To help with the rebuilding, Hans Knoll presents the company Walter Knoll with the successful Vostra model, a beechwood armchair belted at the back. |
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1950 The Furniture Fair in Cologne is the breakthrough for furniture by Wilhelm Knoll. |
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| Dieter Knoll takes over the running of the company Wilhelm Knoll after the death of his father, Willy. | |
| 1945 End of the war.< |
| 1948 IBM makes the first mainframe computer. |
| 1949 Founding of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Konrad Adenauer becomes Chancellor. |
| 1953 The establishing of the HFG College of Design in Ulm. Foundation of the Design Council (Rat für Formgebung). |
| 1957 Bundesrat (Upper House of Parliament) passes a bill on the equality of men and women. |
| 1961 Building of the Berlin Wall. |
1962
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1962 Dieter Knoll founds the company “Dieter Knoll” in Austria. |
| Extension of the Walter Knoll company premises in Herrenberg. | |
1964
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1964 Walter Knoll retires. The company is handed over to Robert Knoll and Dr. Walter Combe. |
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1971 Walter Knoll dies, aged 94. |
| 1968 Frei Otto designs the tent-like roof construction for the Olympic Stadium in Munich. |
| 1969 Moon landing; Neil Armstrong (USA) is the first man on the moon. |
| 1972 First electronic pocket calculator comes onto the market. |
1974
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1974 Wilhelm Knoll presents products at the Furniture Fair in Milan for the first time. |
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1975 Walter Knoll successfully introduces office furniture to its range. |
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1982 Stephan Combe and Michael Knoll become Managing Director of Walter Knoll. |
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1985 Walter Knoll takes over the company Wilhelm Knoll and continues to sell the products as the “Wilhelm Knoll Collection”. |
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| 1975 End of the Vietnam War. Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Mircosoft. |
| 1978 German Autobahn network is extended. Herrenberg gets its own junction. |
| 1983 First commercial mobile phone is launched onto the market (Motorola). |
| 1984 Discovery of the AIDS virus. |
| 1990 German reunification. |
1993
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1993 Walter Knoll is taken over by the Rolf Benz family. Markus Benz becomes Managing Director. |
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2001 Growth. Additional production site in Mötzingen, near Herrenberg. |
| 1993 Founding of the European Union (EU). |
| 1998 Greatest industrial merger of all time worldwide. Auto manufacturers Daimler-Benz and Chrysler merge. |
| 2002 Introduction of the Euro. |
2006
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2006 Inauguration of the multifunctional building in Herrenberg. |
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2007 Walter Knoll founds subsidiary company “Walter Knoll Australia”.. |
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Walter Knoll receives the Design Management Europe Award for their successful design management. |
Apple introduces the first generation of the iPhone.
Phoenix Mars lander is the first space probe to make a dig into Martian soil.