Wilhelm Ritz

Wilhelm Ritz, born in 1932, son of a sawmill owner in Oberelchingen near Ulm. After an apprenticeship in body-making and the construction of vehicles, structural engineering, furniture and interior design, and qualifying as a master craftsman in cabinet making, this multi-talent studied at the Academy of Design in Ulm (HfG). In 1959 he wrote his diploma paper on the subject of a new kind of laminated wood. For the purpose of practical application, he designed a highly flexible, lightweight laminated wood chair. This marked the birth of the 400 range, produced by Wilkhahn for almost 40 years. The range won many international design awards. At the development institute which Ritz founded later on, he went on to design yet another best-seller and long-seller in the form of the 232 swivel chair. The shell-structure chair with a distinctive swivel joint was produced from 1972 to 1989.
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