Gelderland
In 1936, Koene Oberman, son of a Frisian wood merchant was given 200 Guilders by his father to start his own business. In Culemborg, which had a long tradition in artisanal furniture manufacturing, he was one of the first to start serial production of furniture. Thus ‘Meubelindustrie Gelderland’ was born. From the former locomotive shed at the station, Oberman built Gelderland into a major player. Shortly after the war he took his own plane to realize international growth.
As a result, foreign manufacturers took Gelderland models into production. In the 1950s, Oberman attracted outside designers. Danish design by Ib Kofod Larssen was produced under license and Rob Parry designed several pieces of furniture. In 1969, Jan des Bouvrie made his debut as a furniture designer with the Cube Sofa. In that tradition, many designers followed such as Henk Vos and his sons Bart Vos and Roderick Vos, Scholten & Baijings, Remi Meijers, Lex Pot and Studio Truly Truly. In short, Gelderland offers a fine sampling of Dutch design history.
