Gunta Stölzl
Biography
She enrolled in Weimar in 1919, in the school's first intake, learned to weave in Georg Muche's workshop, and ended up running that workshop herself.
Weimar, from the first year, 1919–1925
Born in Munich in 1897, Stölzl enrolled at the Bauhaus in 1919 and studied there until 1925: Johannes Itten's preliminary course first, then glass painting, wall painting and weaving. From 1921 to 1924/25 she learned the loom in Georg Muche's weaving workshop,[1] alongside teaching from Itten and Paul Klee — the two masters whose form classes shaped what the weavers actually made.
From the loom to the head of the workshop, 1925–1931
She moved with the school to Dessau, was appointed craft master of the weaving workshop in 1925 and directed it from 1926 until 1931.[1] A student who enrolled in the school's first year in 1919, was made craft master in 1925 and directed the workshop from 1926 is evidence that the Bauhaus's own training did what it claimed.
After the Bauhaus, 1931–1983
She left in the spring of 1931 and went to Switzerland, where she went on weaving and where she died at Küsnacht in 1983.[1] What she took with her was a Weimar training: dye, warp, loom and cost, learned in a workshop run by a painter who had never woven.
Questions visitors ask
- What was Gunta Stölzl's path at the Bauhaus?
- She enrolled in 1919, in the school's first intake, studying Itten's preliminary course, then glass painting, wall painting and weaving. From 1921 she learned the loom in Georg Muche's weaving workshop.[1]
- Did Gunta Stölzl lead a Bauhaus workshop?
- Yes — appointed craft master of the weaving workshop in Dessau in 1925, she directed it from 1926 until 1931, the same workshop where she had trained.[1]
- What happened to Gunta Stölzl after the Bauhaus?
- She left in spring 1931 for Switzerland, continued weaving there, and died at Küsnacht in 1983.[1]
- Can I visit where Gunta Stölzl studied in Weimar?
- Yes, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, in the van de Velde buildings where she took Itten's preliminary course and studied glass painting, wall painting and weaving.
Sources
- Gunta Stölzl — Bauhaus Kooperation, retrieved 29 August 2026
Notable Works & Achievements
the Bauhaus weaving workshop under her direction (1926–1931)
Connected Places in Weimar
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8, 99423 Weimar
She studied in van de Velde's buildings from 1919 — Itten's preliminary course, then glass painting, wall painting and weaving.
Historical Context
One of the school's first students in 1919, and from 1926 the head of the workshop she had learned her trade in.
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.
Read more about this period →Quick Facts
1897
1983
German
On stage
On stage
Schauspiel
Named by the house among the biographies the conversation uses to test what became of the utopias.