Paul Klee
Biography
Paul Klee, born near Bern in 1879, taught at the Bauhaus for ten years, the first four and a half of them in Weimar: Walter Gropius called him in 1920, he began on 10 January 1921, and as form master he ran the bookbinding, metal, glass-painting and weaving workshops while his form theory became part of the school's preliminary course. He lived with his family at Am Horn 53, went with the school to Dessau in 1925, left it in 1931 for a professorship in Düsseldorf, was dismissed by the National Socialists in 1933 and died in Switzerland in 1940.
Called to the Bauhaus, 1920–1921
In 1920 Walter Gropius called Klee, already an established painter, to the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar.[1][2][3] He began teaching on 10 January 1921, at first in a fortnightly rhythm, and in mid-April took over the bookbinding workshop as its form master.[1][2] In September 1921 he moved to Weimar for good with his family.[2]
Four workshops and the theory of form, 1921–1925
In 1922 he took on the workshop for gold, silver and coppersmithing and, from the second half of the year, the glass-painting workshop.[2] When the school reorganised its preliminary course under László Moholy-Nagy in 1923, Klee's teaching of form theory became a fixed part of that basic training, and he took over the weaving workshop as well.[2] The lectures were written down: in 1925 his Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch appeared as volume 2 of the Bauhausbücher edited by Gropius and Moholy-Nagy.[1]
Am Horn 53, 1921–1925
In Weimar Klee first lodged at a pension at Am Horn 39; in the same year, 1921, he took a rented flat at Am Horn 53, a comfortable first-floor flat where he lived with his wife Lily and their son Felix — the house is still private today.[2][4]
Dessau, Düsseldorf, Bern, 1925–1940
The Weimar Bauhaus was dissolved under political pressure in 1925; Klee began teaching in Dessau on 23 June 1925, and after the school's move in July 1926 he and his wife took one half of a masters' double house built by Gropius, the Kandinskys the other.[1][2] He handed in his resignation with effect from 1 April 1931 and on 1 July 1931 accepted a professorship at the Düsseldorf academy.[3][2] In 1933 the National Socialists defamed him as a Galician Jew, and on 21 April he was dismissed without notice; on 23 December 1933 he emigrated to Bern.[1][2] Seventeen of his works hung in the Munich exhibition Entartete Kunst of 1937.[2] He died at Muralto near Locarno on 29 June 1940.[1]
Questions visitors ask
- When did Paul Klee teach at the Bauhaus in Weimar?
- From 10 January 1921, called by Walter Gropius in 1920, until the Weimar school was dissolved in 1925; he then taught in Dessau until 1931.
- Which workshops did Klee run at the Bauhaus?
- As form master, bookbinding from April 1921, the metal workshop and glass painting from 1922, and the weaving workshop from 1923; his form theory was part of the preliminary course from 1923.
- Where did Paul Klee live in Weimar?
- At Am Horn 53, in a first-floor flat with his wife Lily and their son Felix, from 1921; the house is still private.
- What is the Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch?
- Klee's written Bauhaus teaching, published in 1925 as volume 2 of the Bauhausbücher edited by Gropius and Moholy-Nagy.
- Why did Klee leave the Bauhaus, and what happened after?
- He resigned with effect from 1 April 1931 and took a professorship at the Düsseldorf academy; dismissed by the National Socialists on 21 April 1933, he emigrated to Bern on 23 December 1933 and died at Muralto in 1940.
Sources (4)
- Klee, Paul — Neue Deutsche Biographie 11 (1977), by Christian Geelhaar — Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, retrieved 30 August 2026
- Paul Klee — Wikipedia (de), retrieved 30 August 2026
- Paul Klee — Biografie — Bauhaus Kooperation Berlin Dessau Weimar, retrieved 29 August 2026
- Bauhausstätten in Weimar — Stadt Weimar, retrieved 29 August 2026
Notable Works & Achievements
Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch (1925)
Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre (the Bauhaus lectures)
Schöpferische Konfession (1920)
Connected Places in Weimar
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8, 99423 Weimar
He taught in van de Velde's buildings from January 1921 and was form master of four workshops there.
Stéphane-Hessel-Platz 1, 99423 Weimar
Work by Klee is in the collection, from his years teaching in the Weimar school.
Historical Context
A master of the Weimar school from 1921 to 1925, whose form theory became part of the preliminary course.
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
1879
1940
German-Swiss
Historical figures
Historical figures
1897–1983 • weaver • Bauhaus student, then head of the weaving workshop
She studied under him during her weaving years — his form teaching is the theory behind those textiles.
1904–1933 • dancer • gymnastics and sports teacher at the Bauhaus
She rented a room in the Klee family's master house from 1928 to 1930.
1893–1983 • designer • metalworker • photographer
She took his classes during her Weimar years.
1885–1955 • bookbinder • binding artist • teacher at the Staatliches Bauhaus
Klee was the form master over the bookbindery; Dorfner was the craft master in it.[^ksw-blog-dorfner]
1883–1969 • architect • founder and director of the Bauhaus • teacher
Gropius called him to Weimar in 1920.