Welcome

The Bauhause School of Design a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius. The name Bauhaus stems from the German words for "to build" and "house." In spite of its name and the fact that its founder was an architect, the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department for the first several years of its existence. Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design.

The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design and typography.

The school existed in three German cities (Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932, Berlin from 1932 to 1933), under three different architect-directors (Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1927, Hannes Meyer from 1927 to 1930, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 to 1933). The changes of venue and leadership resulted in a constant shifting of focus, technique, instructors, and politics. When the school moved from Weimar to Dessau, for instance, although it had been an important revenue source, the pottery shop was discontinued. When Mies took over the school in 1930, he transformed it into a private school, and would not allow any supporters of Hannes Meyer to attend it.

About Us

The Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design in Berlin is concerned with the research and presentation of the history and impact of the Bauhaus (1919-1933), the most important school of architecture, design, and art of the 20th century.

It is the most complete existing collection focused on the history of the school and all aspects of its work and is accessible to all. The collection is housed in a building drafted byWalter Gropius, the founder of the school.back to top

History

The Bauhaus Archive was founded in Darmstadt in 1960 by Hans Maria Wingler, in order to give a new home to the material legacy of the Bauhaus which had been strewn all over the world after 1933. With the support of Walter Gropius and other members of the Bauhaus, the Bauhaus Archive started building up a collection in 1961 in the Ernst-Ludwig-Haus on the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt. Work began rapidly with the production of many exhibitions and catalogues. In 1968, the Bauhaus Archive substantially contributed to the exhibition "50 Jahre Bauhaus" ("50 years Bauhaus") which attracted wide international interest. The collection had by now grown so much that the idea of a museum building was born, for which Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus, developed plans. The project to build the museum in Darmstadt failed, however the Land Berlin declared its readiness to take on the Bauhaus Archive, providing financial means together with a building plot for the museum.

In 1971, the institution moved to Berlin, with a first address in the Schloßstraße in Charlottenburg. The collection was growing rapidly and was presented in theme exhibitions. In 1976, the cornerstone for the new museum was laid, an event which attracted, once again, Bauhaus members from all over the world. The building was finished in 1978 and the museum moved in the following year. back to top

Conditions for activities and exhibitions were now greatly enhanced. Comprehensive shows can be organised in parallel to the permanent collection, which occupies the larger part of the exhibition space. These have been devoted to the central Bauhaus artistsWassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, Georg Muche or Herbert Bayer, to the Bauhaus architects (Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Hannes Meyer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) and to the specific Bauhaus workshops (pottery, metal, photography, and advertising). 1993 saw a large exhibition on the work of Henry van de Velde. Guest shows (i.e. 1988 in the Bauhaus in Dessau, or 1995 in Tokyo) lead to a better knowledge of the Bauhaus beyond the "homestead"; likewise, important exhibitions (i.e. 1983 the presentation of the Busch-Reisinger-Museum of Harvard University Art Museums, or 1987 the School of Design in Ulm) came to Berlin. The Bauhaus Archive is now not only treating historical themes from the Bauhaus context, but also actual questions concerning contemporary architecture and design. back to top

Museum

The museum is open daily except Tuesday 10 am to 5 pm.

The Bauhaus was the twentieth century's most important school of design, architecture and art. Its programme and products have maintained their influence on design up to the present day.

Objects from our Collection, which is the world's largest on the subject and represents the entire spectrum of Bauhaus activities, will be presented in the spacious galleries of the Museum throughout the year 2006: architecture, furniture, ceramics, metalwork, photography, stage pieces and student work from the Preliminary Course, as well as works created by the school's famous teachers: Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, Oskar Schlemmer, László Moholy-Nagy and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. back to top

References

• Curtis, William [1987]. "Walter Gropius, German Expressionism, and the Bauhaus", Modern Architecture Since 1900, 2nd Ed., Prentice-Hall, p.309-316. ISBN 0135866944.
• Magdalena Droste, Peter Gossel, Editors. Bauhaus, Taschen America LLC, 2005. ISBN 3822836494 Marty Bax. Bauhaus Lecture Notes 1930–1933. Theory and practice of architectural training at the Bauhaus, based on the lecture notes made by the Dutch ex-Bauhaus student and architect J.J. van der Linden of the Mies van der Rohe curriculum. Amsterdam, Architectura & Natura 1991. ISBN 9071570045
• Frampton, Kenneth [1992]. "The Bauhaus: the evolution of an idea 1919-32", Modern Architecture: a critical history, 3rd ed. rev., New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, Inc., p.124. ISBN 0500202575.
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