Founded in Vienna in 1881, Kalmar began as a manufacturer of fine cast bronze objects. Julius Theodore Kalmar, son of the company's founder, studied under Josef Hoffmann at the Vienna School of Applied Arts and at the Birmingham School of Art and Design. When directorship of the company was bestowed upon the young Kalmar, his experience as Hoffmann's pupil inspired him to move the Kalmar brand towards modernity and the Arts and Crafts Movement. By 1930 Kalmar had directed its focus to high end interior light fixtures, and grew to be revered as a staple of modern Viennese design.