In 1953, work began on construction of the new Ulm College of Design. A total of 2 million Deutschmarks was available for the entire project, which was far below a budget typical for that time. The designers Hans Gugelot and Max Bill, who also designed the building, therefore made a conscious decision to keep the furniture simple.
The Ulm stool is the result of a close collaboration between the head of the school’s woodworking studio, Paul Hildinger, and the head of the metal workshop, Josef Schlecker. The company Ulmia manufactured the stool in the woodworking studio on a circular saw. The stool consists of three spruce boards, which are joined together by a finger joint, as well as a beech wood dowel, which also holds the sides together and can be used as a handle for transportation. The open bottom edges of the sides are reinforced with strips of beech wood to protect them from wear and tear. The stool can be used for sitting on, for carrying books, as a low table, pedestal or desk and, if several are arranged in a row, as a shelving unit. The stool was used in the college canteen, in classrooms, and in student dormitories and could also be purchased by private persons. In 1960 it cost 11 Deutschmarks.
After the school closed due to ongoing financial difficulties, Paul Hildinger continued to produce the stool in small series in his own workshop in Ulm. From the 1970s onwards, it was produced by various companies in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Today, the Zurich-based company wb form AG is the licensed manufacturer. Its workshops employ people with disabilities and produce the Ulm stool in various woods and colors. It currently costs 209 euros and bears a characteristic stamp signature with Max Bill’s name on the underside of the seat. On its website, the company mentions Hans Gugelot as the co-designer of the stool, but not the two workshop managers Paul Hildinger and Josef Schlecker.
The College of Design (HfG) in Ulm was created with the aim of educating designers for an anti-fascist and democratic post-war Germany. The school was founded by Inge Scholl, the sister of the murdered resistance fighters Sophie and Hans Scholl, and her husband, the graphic designer Otl Aicher. After the Nazi era and reconstruction, the HfG Ulm wanted to carry on the teaching traditions of the Bauhaus. Until its closure in 1968, the college changed its pedagogical concept many times. At the beginning, under the influence of the founding rector Max Bill, the course structure and academic content were strongly oriented toward those of the Bauhaus and had a distinctly practical focus. Later, they shifted increasingly toward theoretical and scholarly content. The pedagogical concept and the name were adopted by the College of Design in Offenbach am Main in 1968.