Kunstmuseet i Tønder

The Art Museum in Tønder is a prize winning museum for Nordic art and design. One of its main focus areas is to describe the major role that Wegner played in the history of furniture design in the mid 20th Century, the ‘golden age’ of Scandinavian design.

In 1995 the water tower in Tønder underwent a radical reconstruction and converted into an exhibition tower in which to display some of Hans J. Wegner’s best known chairs. The conversion of the tower into a museum was made possible through the support and a grant from the A. P. Møller fund. The Tower was inaugurated by Denmark’s  Queen Ingrid and opened to the public, 12 August 1995.

The conversion included a conference room on the top floor of the tower accomodating 25 PP503 Round Chairs and a specially commissioned table designed by Marianne Wegner and the room,  furnished by PP Møbler, offers panoramic veiws over the South Jutland contryside.

In 2014 the Museum celebrated the birth of Hans J. Wegner in the town with the exhibition Hans J. Wegner. A Nordic design icon from Tønder and the publication of a book with the same title. The exhibition ran from 5th of April to 2nd November 2014.

The book related to the exhibition is an anthology that includes articles from Wegner’s childhood in Tønder and his impact on Scandinavian design. The book has detailed analysis of the 37 Wegner chairs that were gifted to Tønder by the designer in 1995 to be displayed in the reconstructed Water Tower.

The book also contains interviews with five contemporary Nordic designers, Wegner’s daughters Eva and Marianne and with cabinet makers Henry Fisker and Ejnar Pedersen the last surviving collaborators to have worked closely with Wegner.

Anne Blonde, who curated the exhibition edited the anthology.

The book related to the Exhibition Hans J. Wegner. A Nordic Design Icon from Tønder that marked the Centenary of Wegner’s birth in the town.

A children’s story about a boy, a talking tree and a town with a water tower.