125th anniversary – this is a veritable rarity in the furniture industry, where there are only a handful of brands that are as old and continue to be under family ownership. And indeed probably none have undergone such a radical transformation as Bretz: from a mass-market furniture producer to a small, high-end manufacturer, from solid standard to sophisticated and nonetheless distinctive upholstered furniture. They are as distinctive as they are comfortable, often with an unorthodox shape, always covered in velvet and as brightly coloured as a bird of paradise – essentially „True Characters“. And the people behind the products are as well: individualists full of energy, ambition and determination. They are the reason that Bretz has been able to undergo change yet still remain true to itself.

Company founder Johann Bretz had a mind of his own. He was sixth child of a farming family living in Gensingen, who gave up on a career as a plumber after completing his apprenticeship to set up in business as an independent mattress manufacturer. He established his first factory in 1895. By contrast, his son Alexander, who expanded the product range to include upholstered furniture and increased the number of employees to 100, was left with nothing after the Second World War. Air raids had completely destroyed the factory – yet, he immediately rebuilt it. Karl-Fritz, the third generation of the Bretz family experienced both the company‘s heyday in the mid-1970s when the company had 1,600 employees, as well as its decline due to the oil price crisis, recession and the hapless purchase of another company – the company went into administration in 1986.
But the following year, he founded a company with five former employees, asked his sons for support and so ushered in a new era.

“Say no to normal” is the company‘s slogan, which only works in design if the workmanship can keep pace. Upholstery with ultra-deep recesses that also form precisely distorted squares, like the best-seller „Cloud 7“ model – but first you need to know how to produce such a unique piece. Or how to button-tuft not just the back and seat of a sofa, but densely over the entire product, as is the case with the “Cocoa Island” seating ensemble. And not forgetting the snail-shaped armrests on the „Gaudi“ or the tightly pleated edge and extra-thick piping of the „Ohlinda“ sofa that hark back to the company‘s mattress heritage. The upholsterers and sewers give of their best with every new design, and anyone who visits the extensive factory premises in Gensingen immediately understands how much design and craftsmanship are involved – and the wealth of hidden expertise. The new „Moonraft“ sofa, for example, „is intended to convey a feeling of floating,“ Norbert Bretz explains. It consists entirely of continuous upholstered tubes, rather like the chambers of an air mattress. And yet the filling could not simply be sewn under the covering to ensure that they appear light as if they were filled with air, at the same time remaining straight and in place.
Instead, each tube was given its own ticking, which in turn has its own zipper. Everything done by hand. Everything made in Germany. And ultimately, total teamwork.