The History of the Sofa: A Journey from Antiquity to Modern Times

Watching TV, reading, sleeping, eating, making phone calls, surfing the internet, sitting together with friends and family - the sofa is used for all these things today. There are probably very few households in Germany that do not have at least one sofa. But the sofa is not only found in private households today. It can also be found in offices, restaurants and airports. Sofas have been around since ancient times. But the piece of furniture has changed massively in terms of appearance, type of use and comfort. Over the centuries, it has developed from an uncomfortable piece of resting furniture to a luxury item and finally to a mass product.

The earliest forms of today's sofa existed in ancient Greece: the so-called kline was a bench or couch made of wood, marble, ivory or metal. These pieces of furniture were undoubtedly very splendid, but they were rather uncomfortable. Clinics were used both in private households and in public places. The Greeks sat down on these early sofas to dine. The ancient Greeks also had something like our sofa set: the triclinicum. This was an ensemble of three clinics.

What sounds a bit like a Bavarian toast is the original name for the piece of furniture from which our present-day sofa developed. "Suffa" is the Arabic word for sofa and means something like bench. The term "bench" is a clear indication of how comfortable - or not - the first sofas were. Suffas were already much more comfortable than the clinics of the ancient Greeks. As early as the second century B.C., the Greeks were making wickerwork from cords and straps on which skins, blankets and cushions were draped. The term "sofa", however, has only been in German usage since the 17th century.

For centuries, there were no sofas in German homes and no furniture that came close to the comfort of today's upholstered seating. There were common rooms, usually the kitchen, where cooking, housework and eating took place. Seating was provided by stools, chairs and benches, which, if you were lucky, had blankets or cushions for comfort. In addition, there were bedrooms that had no other function and were unused during the day.

The 17th and 18th centuries were a time of luxury and pomp - at least for a small group: the nobility in Europe. They lived in palaces and other stately homes, surrounding themselves with art and luxury of every kind. This also included high-quality pieces of furniture such as sofas. At that time, sofas were primarily found in the private chambers of the nobility. This is where the nobility rested during the day.

The sofa of the 17th/18th century was much more like the piece of furniture we call a sofa today: It had a frame made of wood, which was usually made by a carpenter or saddler. For comfort, the piece of furniture was upholstered with wool, horsehair or feather cushions. Finally, the piece of furniture was covered with a fabric. The first sofas of this type were still quite solid, but over time they became more and more delicate. Particularly luxurious examples can still be seen today in castles that can be visited by the public.

The Chesterfield sofa still enjoys great popularity today. The sofa is characterised by its striking shape with armrests that are the same height as the backrest. Other design features of this classic include the leather upholstery as well as the diamond pattern and the button stitching. It was invented by Lord Phillip Stanhope, the fourth Earl of Chesterfield. The idea for the Chesterfield sofa was that it should offer space for several people to sit comfortably. It was important to the lord that clothes should not be creased when sitting.

The sofas of that time were more reminiscent of today's recamières or ottomans. Most of them did not have a backrest to lean against and therefore served more as reclining furniture. In the 19th century, a special form of sofa developed: the fainting sofa. Ladies of high society could rest on them after a fainting spell to regain their strength.

The industrial revolution made it possible to mass-produce many products that were once made exclusively by hand as individual pieces. The sofas built in this way from the end of the 19th century were, like most sofas today, equipped with backrests and springs. Nevertheless, sofas were still very expensive. The sofa was one of the luxury furnishings. Accordingly, sofas were not placed in the kitchen or other rooms used on a daily basis at that time. The sofa was part of the furnishings of the parlour, the living room where the family or even guests gathered at the weekend or for parties. Usually, the upholstered set consisted of a sofa and two armchairs.

In the middle of the 20th century, during the time of the Second World War as well as shortly afterwards, there was a massive shortage of living space after the destruction of large parts of German cities. Many flats were occupied by more than one family, so that the luxury of pure living rooms had to be dispensed with in most cases. If sofas had survived the war, they were placed in the kitchen-living room. For there were no living rooms and the bedroom served most of the time as a place for all family members to sleep.

It was not until the years of the economic miracle that there was more living space again and thus also the possibility of furnishing a living room. The living room still served representative purposes. But more and more, the function of the living room as the centre of the family prevailed. This is also reflected in the design of sofas in the last century: While the look of sofas in the 1950s and 1960s was characterised by wood and fabric, upholstered furniture in the 1960s became increasingly colourful and the shapes also became more extravagant. The covers were now often made of leather or plastic.

Today's sofas come in an enormous variety of colours, shapes and comfort levels. Most sofas are mass-produced. But there are also many manufacturers who specialise in manual production. Here, each sofa is actually a real one-of-a-kind. But even with mass-produced products, there is often the possibility of configuring one and the same sofa model according to your own wishes. Often you can choose the colour and the cover quality, and often there are also adjustment and reclining functions available as an option. And finally, many models are also available with a sleep function and bed base.

As already mentioned, there is hardly a household in Germany that does not have at least one sofa. The classic place for a sofa is still the living room. However, there are also sofa benches that are used in the kitchen or in the open-plan living area as cosy seating furniture at the dining table. Sofas are also increasingly found in guest rooms and youth rooms. Sofa beds are usually chosen here because they fulfil a practical dual function. Since most modern sofa beds are as comfortable as normal beds, this does not mean any compromise in sleeping comfort.

Moreover, sofas are no longer only used indoors. There has long been a trend to use sofas in the conservatory or gazebo to create a second living room close to nature. In the meantime, there are also outdoor sofas that can remain outdoors all year round. The materials are so robust that they can even withstand moisture and fluctuating temperatures. These sofas are also equipped with comfortably upholstered seat and back cushions, so that these pieces of furniture actually deserve the name sofa.

A look back shows that the sofa has always been a mirror of society: for a long time, the sofa was a piece of furniture for a small, select class. Only gradually could the common people enjoy the luxury of a sofa. But at first, the sofa was still a luxury item, something to be cherished. Then the sofa became a commodity. And now that the sofa has also conquered the garden or terrace or balcony, sofas for animals are also available. Sofas for dogs and cats are the new baskets for the four-legged friends. They offer the animals a lot of comfort and also look chic. While dog baskets and cat blankets are always a foreign body in the interior, modern pet sofas fit seamlessly into the furnishing concept.