The Famous German Interior Designers - The Herter Brothers

The Herter Brothers - Gustave (1830-1898) and Christian Herter(1807-1874) - were renowned interior designers of New York. The Herters were born in Stuttgart, Wurttemberg of Germany. Gustave was baptized Julius Gustav Alexander Hagenlocher, his unmarried mother’s surname. When his mother, Johanna Christiana Maria Barbara Hagenlocher got married to Christian Herter in 1835, he was adopted by his stepfather. In the year 1839, his half-brother, Christian Augustus Ludwig Herter was born to the couple.

Christian Herter, Gustave and Christian’s father, was a skilled cabinet maker who was expert in making case pieces for interior design out of veneer, marquetry and inlay. The Herters honored the tradition and followed their father in trade. In 1848, Gustave Herter came to New York City and till 1858 worked as an interior designer under his own name. After renouncing his Wurttemberg citizenship, he called himself Gustav Julius Alexander Herter. Some of his works were said to be influenced by Fourdinois’s. A rosewood armchair he made for Ruggles Sylvester in 1860 was similar to Fourdinois’s chair exhibited in Exposition Universelle in Paris.

From 1859 onwards Christian Herter was in New York City, joined his brother in 1864 and renamed the firm ‘Herter Brothers’. The interior design works of the Herter Brothers combine some of the best European designs as well. To create panels for the drawing room and card room at Elm Park and William Henry Vanderbilt’s new Fifth Avenue mansion, they engaged the talented French decorative painter Pierre Victor Galland in 1869. Among the prestigious interior design works of the Herter Brothers are the John Thatcher home (at present the Rosemount Museum) in Peublo, Colorado and The White House that covers every aspect of interior design.

Copies of European competitors’ works were generally avoided in the interior design works of the Herter Brothers. They maintained a usual consistency in the choice of gilding patterns, woods, marquetry, decorative mount and hardware. As the prominent interior design firm in America, Herters’ best works feature interior designs with birds, flowers, vines, and ribbons accented with jewel like panels. Satisfying the varying needs of their wealthy clients, materials such as ebonized wood, inlays of ivory, gilt and other showy materials are used in the interior design works. The best of their works are seen in 133 color and 167 black and white illustrations covering all minute details of interior designing.

Between 1868 and 1870, the Herter Brothers got involved in interior design works and furnishing of drawing rooms, rotunda galleries and music rooms; adorning ceilings, walls and floors with lighting devices, paintings, mosaics, decorative objects and custom-designed furniture. Christian Herter retired from business in 1881 and moved to Paris to continue with painting works. After coming back to New York, he died in the year 1883. The company was carried on into the 20th century. It was served by William Gilman Nichols, the president until 1907.

Part of the training for all interior designers in the UK is to gain a good understanding of the interior designers of the past such as the Herter Brothers. This London based company of Interior Design Consultants provide a modern interior decoration and design service.