Martin Kimbel (1835–1921). Przyczynek do historii wnętrzarstwa śląskiego
Martin Kimbel (1835–1921). Contribution to the history of Silesian interior design

Summary/Abstract: Martin Kimbel was one of the most outstanding masters of artistic furniture related to Wrocław. He came to the city in 1866, soon establishing a furniture factory. He prepared interior design and furnishing designs for individual orders in which original furniture filled rooms decorated with richly decorated ceilings, doors, paneling, fireplaces, etc. He was also a theoretician of the craftsmanship. In 1893 he published Nothruf des Kunstgewerbes! Schulung und Niedergang desselben in Preussen, which received several dozen reviews of the artistic community not only in Germany, triggering heated discussions. He took part in numerous exhibitions of crafts and industry. Kimbel was born in Mainz. First he learned from his father, the owner of a furniture factory. He lived in Philadelphia for several years. He was active in Lower Silesia, and his company created many high-scale projects at the beginning of the 20th century, when the seats of industrial tycoons were established (including the interiors of the palace in Brynek for Hugon Henckel von Donersmarck, the palace in Repty for Guid Henckel von Donersmarck), and cities built new town halls (the interior of the town hall in Kamienna Góra, 1905). In Wrocław a notable realization is the so-called Music Salon at Georg Hasse’s villa, which today serves as the German Consulate. Martin’s son, Wilhelm, born in 1868, worked for a time in the USA, creating furniture for the richest clientele. After his return, he settled in Berlin, where he founded the Kimbel & Friederichsen company, considered one of the most outstanding in the capital market, which carried out many prestigious projects, including the interior of the imperial palace. Many of his projects are located in Berlin and its vicinity, at the Wernigerode castle (Saxony-Anhalt), in Silesia, and also in Łódź, where several manufacturers of German origin commissioned him to make the interiors of their palaces.

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