Biedermeier is not „stuffy", as the word is sometimes used today. It is the German answer to the heavy French Empire form: less gold, fewer columns, more clear surface. What defines the Biedermeier style is the reduction to the essential - form, veneer and a few details (small columns, swan necks, lyre shapes).

The wood is usually cherrywood or walnut - in southern Germany rather cherrywood, in northern Germany rather walnut or mahogany. The veneers are often laid pyramid-style towards the centre, so each piece has a calm focal point. In restoration we pay close attention to keeping this pattern and not painting it over with too much polish.

Biedermeier furniture works particularly well in modern apartments because it does not try to prove anything. It steps back and gives space to whatever else is in the room. Below all Biedermeier pieces currently in our workshop.

When buying, look at three things: the veneer pattern (calm, laid towards the centre, without crude patches), the proportion (Biedermeier stands light, even large pieces do not feel bulky) and the fittings (plain, often gilded rosettes - showy fittings usually point to later style copies made around 1900). Where the line to the stricter Empire style runs is explained in our comparison Biedermeier or Empire?. The typical woods have their own pages: cherrywood and walnut.