Eiermann 2 Table Frame

The Design

In 1953 Egon Eiermann created a table frame that would go on to adorn offices for the next six decades. With its characteristic oblique support cross bar the Eiermann table frame is a table frame like no other. No less unique is the free choice of table top for the table frame: in principal anything can be used. However because the refined design of the original Eiermann Table Frame 1 was sometimes perceived as being impractical, Eiermann table manufacturer Richard Lampert also produce a second, adapted and licence-free, version of the Eiermann table frame. Created in 1965, so a few years after Egon Eiermann has completed his original design, the workshop manager at the Technical University of Karlsruhe, where Eiermann taught, devised an slightly altered version of the design. Popularly referred to as the "Eiermann Table Frame 2", this version features a vertical support crossbar, thus allowing more freedom under the frame than in the Eiermann 1 version. Two versions of the Eiermann 2 frame are available from Richard Lampert, one with the support crossbar placed centrally and one with it slightly offset

The Hortenkachel. Developed in 1960 by Egon Eiermann

Eiermann 2 frame, offset and central

Production

In the 1990s Stuttgart based furniture manufacturer Richard Lampert acquired the license for the Eiermann Table Frame 1 and in addition to producing the original Eiermann also brought an adapted and licence-free version, the Eiermann 2, onto the market. The Eiermann table frame is available in a range of materials and colours and can be combined with a table top, also supplied by Richard Lampert.

Designer

Born in 1904 in Neuendorf (now part of Potsdam-Babelsberg) Egon Eiermann is among the most important architects of the post-war Germany. Eiermann studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin and in the following decades worked on numerous projects - perhaps most notably, and at the same time most controversial, of which being the 1961 New Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. A further much discussed aspect of Egon Eiermann's oeuvre was his numerous constructions for the Stuttgart department store chain Horten AG: constructions which gave the world the so-called Hortenkacheln -a true love it or hate it piece of facade styling. Much less controversial are Eiermann's furniture designs. Created from the 1950s onwards Eiermann's chairs and tables are widely regarded as design classics and for all the Eiermann table is more popular today than ever. Egon Eiermann 1970 died in Baden-Baden.

Historical Context

Although Egon Eiermann studied architecture from 1924 to 1927 - so at the height of Bauhaus - his work stands in no relation to the avant-garde design and architecture movement. Egon Eiermann's main work was created after the Second World War and is considered part of the so-called "second modernity". Only later, on a study trip to the USA in the 1950s, die Eiermann become acquainted with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, and a few years later with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Eiermann's work stands for modernity, mediates a freshness and lightness, symbolizes progress and remains to this day an inspiring and exiting oeuvre. In addition Eiermann's designs also reflect that time honoured principles of functionalism and good form expression.

Manufacturer

The Eiermann Table Frames are manufactured by Stuttgart based producer Richard Lampert. The company itself was founded in 1993 by Lampert upon his acquiring the license for the Eiermann Table Frame 1. Since then the company has grown and today offers a sophisticated, international furniture range of classic and contemporary furniture by international designers such as, for example, Peter Horn, Herbert Hirche and Otto Sudrow. In addition of course to Egon Eiermann.