Rainer Daumiller was born in 1939 in Oberlenningen, Germany. In the difficult post-war context, food was scarce, and foraging for fruits and berries was a common practice. From an early age, Daumiller developed a deep connection with nature—a bond he would preserve throughout his life and express fully through his work as a designer.
While still in school, he began designing furniture - a desk and a wardrobe - which he managed to have produced by a local joinery, carving the handle details himself. He then trained in cabinetmaking and later studied at the Waldorf school, embracing the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. His aim? To "listen" to the wood and let its story guide the form of each piece.
In 1959, he moved to Denmark and joined the Furniture Department at the Kunstværkerhåndskolen (School of Arts and Crafts) in Copenhagen, which would later become the Design School. For his final project, he chose a material that was innovative for its time: acrylic.
He then began creating his own furniture in solid pine, a local wood often overlooked in favor of more fashionable materials like teak or mahogany. This choice, driven by an early ecological awareness, reflected his desire to elevate the natural grain, texture, and color of the wood.
His iconic armchair was discovered in 1977 by the Danish manufacturer Hirtshals Sawmill during an exhibition at the Bella Center in Copenhagen. This marked the beginning of a twenty-five-year collaboration, during which his pieces were produced and distributed on a larger scale.
Rainer Daumiller’s creations combine robustness and simplicity of form with an aesthetic close to sculpture. The strength of his structures allows them to endure through the decades: they are designed to withstand both daily use and the most festive moments of life. The curves carved into the material follow the contours of the human body, revealing his deep attention to comfort and ergonomic design.