Biedermeier: the Home Style between Empire and Historicism

Biedermeier is a style of furniture and interiors from roughly 1815 to 1848 in Germany, Austria and parts of the Nordic countries. It is simple, practical and middle-class, with light woods such as cherry and birch, clean lines and little decoration. The name comes from a fictional character, Gottlieb Biedermaier.

Facts

A home for the burgher

After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 Central Europe was politically static. Chancellor Metternich governed with censorship and police, and people withdrew to the home. There one could read, play music and socialise without risk. The growing middle class had money but not the court’s mighty palaces, and it wanted furniture that was comfortable, durable and not too expensive.

So Biedermeier arose. The name was created only later, in the 1850s, when the humorous magazine Fliegende Blätter published poems by the fictional teacher Gottlieb Biedermaier, a contented, comfortable middle-class man. The name was at first a joke about everyday life of the time but became a label for the style. Read more under Biedermeier and the German Biedermeier period.

The forms

Biedermeier starts from the strict forms of Empire but makes them softer and more practical. The Biedermeier chair often has a slightly curved back, sabre legs and a solid, simple line. The sofa, like the Empire récamier sofa, becomes broader and deeper. The surface is smooth, and the decoration consists of veneer with clear grain, sometimes black lines or small inlays of darker wood.

Most typical is the secretaire, a writing cabinet with a fall-front writing surface, and the chest of drawers with straight, smooth fronts and small drawers, as in the Swedish Karl Johan chest. The furniture could be made by joiners on a large scale. The firm of Thonet in Boppard and Vienna, Michael Thonet, began in precisely this setting to experiment with bent wood. The Vienna manufacturer Josef Danhauser published picture catalogues of his furniture, which helped the style spread across the whole Habsburg Empire.

Glass, porcelain and pictures

Biedermeier also applied to glass and porcelain. The rich, coloured and cut Biedermeier beakers with painted views and flowers were popular gifts. Anton Kothgasser’s beakers, painted in bright colours, are among the period’s most sought-after glass. Homes were filled with small pictures of landscapes, family scenes and portraits, as in Austrian art, see Austrian Biedermeier.

The painters of Biedermeier depicted the small life: the family, the garden, the children and the landscape. There is a kinship with Romanticism but without its drama; read in the guide to Romanticism in art. In Sweden the period corresponds to the Karl Johan style, with buildings such as Rosendal Palace.

Recognising Biedermeier and telling it from other styles

Check the wood first: light cherry, birch or ash with visible grain often means Biedermeier. Then look at the form: simple, comfortable and symmetrical, with a slightly sculptural back. Compare Empire, which is more decorated with bronze, and Gustavian, which is lighter and more feminine. Read about the Swedish comparison in the guide to the Karl Johan style.

After 1848 Biedermeier disappeared, and the style was replaced by the heavy, decorative forms of historicism. But in the twentieth century it was rediscovered. Its clarity and functionality foreshadowed modernism, and many designers in Vienna looked back on it. Follow the styles in the guide to furniture styles in chronological order, learn the terms in furniture terms and see the category furniture.

How to recognise it

Exercise

Where does the name Biedermeier come from?