A cross the Hill Country, the region’s rich German heritage is still deeply felt, from the flavorful cuisine to the ubiquitous stone buildings telling stories of generations past. Adding to this indelible European legacy is the Kleinhans family, who moved to Fredericksburg from their native Germany in 2022.
Together with their daughter, Maya, Stefan and Annette Kleinhans opened Kleinhans Steel & Style in a former printing shop on North Milam Street in 2024. There, the brand offers solid, hand-crafted metal tables and daybeds, along with imported furnishings, state-of-the-art clocks, and luxury accessories from Europe’s leading design brands.
On a cool sunny day in December, sunlight poured through the showroom’s gleaming windows and onto the display of elegant furnishings. “I love to work with my hands,” Stefan said as the afternoon waned. “I’ve worked with metal for so many years now that I feel I have it in my genes.”
Today, every table and daybed at Kleinhans Steel & Style is handmade by Stefan at the family’s dedicated workshop in Johnson City. The metalsmith was just a teenager when he began experimenting with the medium, later attaining a Master level status before he and Annette started their own metal construction business in Germany in 1991. Though the bulk of their work was commercial in nature, the couple’s shared passion for furniture design never wavered.
The first piece of furniture Stefan ever made was a metal daybed designed by Annette called the “Anna.” “It is a part of our story,” she said proudly. “After that, we had this passion to build other furniture for ourselves.”
The couple would later design and build metal-framed beds for their children, along with school desks and garden tables, and always with a focus on quality through and through. Today, the Kleinhans’ hand-crafted aluminum tables are their most sought-after commodity. Available in three different sizes, they can be customized with a range of tops, including quartz, glass, German oak, or Texas pecan and mesquite, to name a few. The resulting design is both contemporary and timeless, with a mix of materials that imbues each finished product with a pleasing tactile nature.
“Germans are perfectionists, but he is a super perfectionist,” joked Maya, who serves as the company’s onsite sales manager. “I have worked with him a little bit in the past, and just to set these stainless-steel elements together and grind it all so that every edge and hole fits perfectly … it could take a day for two people on a table like ours.”
In an era of mass-produced material goods, Stefan stays true to his love of old-world craftsmanship, finding pleasure in welding aluminum, bending metal by hand, and making many of his elemental design components using old lathes and tools brought over from Germany. Each table’s feet, for example, are constructed of thick stainless-steel discs, which can adjust the height of the table up to four inches. The feet also give the designs their sturdy, stable quality, making them popular in both residences and commercial settings, including offices and hospitality venues.
We have had customers who come back after ten years and tell us the quality is still like new.
– Annette Kleinhans
“We have had customers who come back after ten years and tell us the quality is still like new,” Annette shared. “Stefan always says what he sells to customers must meet the same standard as if he were building it for himself; nothing goes out if he is not completely satisfied.”
Bringing their commitment to quality and passion for furniture building to the United States was a leap of faith for the Kleinhans, who visited Texas for the first time in 2018. “When we arrived, we fell in love with Fredericksburg,” Annette remembered. The couple became enamored with the kindness of the community, the town’s walkability and history, and the German culture that was vaguely reminiscent of their life back home. “It is like a little Germany,” Stefan said, smiling.
One year later, the couple ventured back to Texas with Maya and their love deepened further. “We decided to sell everything we have and bring this branch of our company here,” Annette confessed of leaving their home in Viernheim, located between Heidelberg and Mannheim. “It was a long process, but we got our business visa and arrived in 2022.”
Today, the Kleinhans’ showroom, located at 105 North Milam Street, is open to the public. Visitors passing through can admire the family’s striking tables and contemporary daybeds, or custom order fine furnishings, including luxury upholstered sofas and chairs from the award-winning German design firm, KOINOR. On the showroom wall, two clocks by the German brand, QLOCKTWO reveal the time via a crossword puzzle-like matrix of letters, inviting all who see it to pause and reflect. “It is a clock … but it’s also an art piece that gets you to enjoy the moment,” Maya shared of the imported timepieces, which are available for purchase. In another room, shelves of polished Victorinox knives are displayed next to wallets by the popular Dutch brand, Secrid, and menorah-like metal candle holders, hand-bent by Stefan himself.
Collectively, the business – and the goods within it – are a testament to one dedicated and hard-working family who is bringing a new generation of German craftsmanship to the Texas Hill Country. “We think it’s interesting to bring a little bit of our culture, because there is the German heritage here … but it’s not just about selling,” Annette remarked. “We love Texas and connecting with this community.”