Rolf Benz: Luxury German Furniture in Sarasota

Rolf Benz Orginal Location, Nagold in the Black Forest

Known By Designers For Beautiful design and Exacting Standards

Rolf Benz has been a standard in contemporary and modern furniture for over 50 years. The company story is a wonderful tale from within Germany’s Black Forest, where creators dreamt up the most sought-after sofa designs. This furniture has always represented superior design, terrific quality, and craftmanship that puts German furniture design on the map. From its inception to today’s modern designs, Rolf Benz has moved through the decades representing the best possible German furniture on the market.

Rolf Benz ADDIFORM philosophy

It Began With An Idea

Rolf Benz, an upholsterer from Black Forest, held ideas that developed the ADDIFORM philosophy. In 1964, he founded his company, Rolf Benz Furniture, with pieces that broke free from the basic living room structure. Gone were the days of a simple sofa, two facing chairs, and a coffee table. Benz introduced the flexibility for families to build their own personal arrangements, from adding a connecting side table to a chair or positioning an armchair in a snug corner. These arrangements became known as furniture landscapes, which pushed the living room into a new era. The fold out sofa bed in this collection was revolutionary and changed the traditional sitting room from a place of formal meeting to a more relaxed space for get-togethers. The 60’s transitioned the formality of the 50’s home into the relaxing, welcoming feel of the 70’s living room, with Rolf Benz leading the way. The Addiform collection is functional, simple, beautiful, and practical simultaneously. It maintains a modern feel even today, as Rolf Benz continues to reflect on current furniture trends.

Rolf Benz 650 Chair

Moving into the 70’s

As other nearby companies were moving more toward cheaper furniture, Rolf Benz Furniture was continuing to concentrate on quality. His company began to experiment with new materials and ideas inspired by innovations from around the world while insisting on the best possible product. This was the age of simple bean bag style furniture pieces, and Benz realized he was up against a get-it-now style.

He faced this challenge by securing a booth in the Cologne Trade Fair in 1971, where he presented his higher quality furniture to a more selective audience. Luckily for Benz, the world was on an economic upswing, and the desire for cheaper, fast furniture was not a consuming phenomenon. People still wanted high quality furniture that would last well beyond the bean bag chair. Benz launched the Scenery line in 1971, using updated technology and materials to maintain the superior quality that had begun with the company only a few years earlier. This is also when the company coined its slogan, “living at its best”. Benz purchased a Motzingen upholstery factory, proving that high-end furniture remained profitable through the rise of low-cost, yet low-quality, competing furniture brands.

Rolf Benz 4500

Riding Strong into the 80’s

The reflection of the 80’s was social change and freedom. Benz moved into this decade reflecting the dreamy movements of equality and freedom to choose. Everyone wanted to see the world, so Benz gave it to them through its on location photo shoots. The high-quality sofa was photographed everywhere, from a movie theater to a museum, mixing solid workmanship with the whimsy that punctuated this decade. Advertising was not the only swing in the company, however, with the introduction of the 4500 sofa model. This model included sweeping, molded contours from Antoni Gaudi, a Catalan architect. The sheer luxury of this piece spoke for the whole of the company. The innovation and use of modern ideas continued to be the backdrop for the high quality of these pieces, which became iconic in the world of furniture. The 6500 sofa model remains a staple piece in today’s Benz lineup.

Rolf Benz Flexibility

Embracing Global Trends in the 90’s

As the company moved into the next decade, it became one of Germany’s most desired furniture brands. This is the decade when Rolf Benz truly began to build an international empire. The Forum 255 collection led the way, stealing the show on television talk shows across Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and beyond. This attention brought the Rolf Benz name into more living rooms, making it one of the best known furniture brands in Germany by the end of the decade.

Rolf Benz EGO Sofa

Rolf Benz Since 2000

The 90’s allowed Rolf Benz to seize a place in the furniture industry at the turn of the century. It grabbed a position as the must-have German luxury sofa. The creative, cosmopolitan, urban public sought premium workmanship, and found it in the Rolf Benz designs. The company celebrated its 40th anniversary with the DONO collection. This was a lightweight, clean design that seemed to float in its space. Like all it predecessors, it exudes comfort, quality and value. DONO enjoyed the highest success of all sofas during this decade.

The PLURA and MIO models soon followed, becoming stark representatives of flippant luxury, rejecting status. The company rolled out the EGO sofa in 2003 to serve the most discerning among their clientele. Today, the VIDA and the ONDA retain the feeling of these models. Creative customers bring an interest in individualization, being given the freedom of configuration with this furniture line. The slender contours and form clarity of the Rolf Benz lines have transformed how all furniture companies create high quality pieces. Rolf Benz continues to give customers the same options as in 1964: a sense of classy style with the flexibility to create unique living spaces.

The sofa by Rolf Benz is the ultimate adjustable piece for all homes. Only the best manufacturing and freshest ideas are allowed to touch every piece in this company, giving people amazing quality for over 50 years. This is furniture designed for the living space, not for the stuffy, sitting area. Rolf Benz has been, and always will be, synonymous with comfort, class, style, quality, and innovation in design.