What was Gerhard Marcks's role at the Bauhaus?

One of the first masters Gropius appointed, in 1919, becoming form master — artistic director — of the ceramic workshop.

Where was the Bauhaus's ceramic workshop?

Not in Weimar's own school buildings — it was set up at the master potter Max Krehan's pottery, with a further studio at Dornburg an der Saale.

Gerhard Marcks

1889–1981

German

sculptorBauhaus masterhead of the ceramic workshop

Biography

One of the first masters Gropius appointed, and the one whose workshop was not in Weimar at all: the Bauhaus pottery stood out at Dornburg on the Saale.

Called in 1919

Born in Berlin in 1889, Marcks was appointed by Walter Gropius in 1919 as one of the very first masters of the Staatliches Bauhaus, and became artistic director — form master — of the ceramic workshop. A sculptor over a pottery is the founding idea of the school in one appointment: the form master brought the eye, the workshop master brought the trade, and the students had to satisfy both.

A pottery in Dornburg

The workshop was set up in the workshop of the master potter Max Krehan, with a further studio at Dornburg an der Saale — so the Bauhaus's ceramics were made out at Dornburg, in a working pottery, rather than in the school's own buildings. It is the most literal version of the school's promise that students would learn a trade from someone who lived by it.

Out in 1924

Marcks left the Bauhaus in 1924 for a post at Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, a year before the school lost its funding in Weimar. He died at Burgbrohl in 1981, having outlived the movement he had helped begin by more than half a century.

Questions visitors ask

What was Gerhard Marcks's role at the Bauhaus?: One of the first masters Gropius appointed, in 1919, becoming form master — artistic director — of the ceramic workshop.
Where was the Bauhaus's ceramic workshop?: Not in Weimar's own school buildings — it was set up at the master potter Max Krehan's pottery, with a further studio at Dornburg an der Saale.
When did Gerhard Marcks leave the Bauhaus?: In 1924, for a post at Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, a year before the school lost its funding in Weimar.

Notable Works & Achievements

the Bauhaus ceramic workshop at Dornburg (1919–1924)

Connected Places in Weimar

Bauhaus-Werkstatt-Museum DornburgMuseum

Max-Krehan-Straße 1, 07774 Dornburg-Camburg

Gropius appointed him the workshop's form master in 1920, and this stable building is the one he ran it from — not the Weimar school's own buildings.

Historical Context

Bauhaus in Weimar (1919–1925)1919–1925

One of the first masters of 1919 and form master of the ceramic workshop until 1924.

The Bauhaus was founded in Weimar in 1919 and voted out by 1925 — time enough to change what a design school is, and not enough for the town that made it to keep it.

Quick Facts

Born:

1889

Died:

1981

Nationality: