Rolf Benz: Designer of the legendary “Wetten, dass ..?”-Couch is dead

Rolf Benz: Designer of the legendary “Wetten, dass ..?”-Couch is dead

Famous designer
He designed the legendary “Wetten, dass ..?”-Couch: Rolf Benz is dead






His designs revolutionized the furniture industry, made it to the museum and “bet, dass ..?”: Designer Rolf Benz wrote German history. Now he has died.

Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Iris Berben: The list of national and international stars who have taken a seat on the “Wetten, dass ..?” Couch is long. The piece of furniture has been an integral part of the ZDF show over the decades-and almost as famous as the people sitting on it. The couch designer Rolf Benz from Baden-Württemberg designed the couch. Now he died at the age of 91.

Rolf Benz: The Sofas triumphal march began in the 1960s

Benz, who came from a family of textile retail, was born in Nagold near Stuttgart in 1933. Already at the age of 15 he completed an upholstery teaching in the factory of his uncle. In 1964 he founded his own company. His vision at the time: think again. With his “AddiForm” line, he brought a breath of fresh air to German living room. Away from the stiff shape with a sofa and two armchairs, towards individually combinable living landscapes. Rolf Benz furniture was placed over Eck, expanded as desired or folded down to the sofa bed – a revolution in the sixties. It was also the changed leisure habits of the Germans who inspired Benz for this design.

“I felt the changes in society – something new had to come. It was a time of new beginning in every respect. The furniture no longer fit into the German living room because television competed. Better comfort were now just as popular as new design, “he said in 2023 at a strategy summit for family businesses.

That became from the “Wetten, dass ..?”-Couch

Rolf Benz’s triumphal march became unstoppable. His furniture not only stood for quality “made in Germany”, but also convinced from design aspects. In the eighties, the “6500” model is even exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The famous “Wetten, dass ..?” Couch, a six-meter-wide special production of the Rolf Benz 2000 program, is today in the company’s showroom in Nagold.

After the sale of the brand named after him, Rolf Benz and his family acquired the Walter Knoll company, one of the oldest upholstered furniture manufacturers in Germany. “It was important to me to continue to bring the family to the path of entrepreneurship and to continue knowing the knowledge as a family business,” said Benz. Today his eldest son Markus Benz is at the head of the company, the granddaughter Mara Benz has been the third generation since 2023 in the management.

Rolf Benz leaves his wife Hilde Benz, with whom he had been married since 1959, four children, 13 grandchildren and two great -grandchildren.

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Source: Stern

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