Bauhaus.Atelier (Brendel's studio)
About This Site
A glass-domed painter's studio of 1886 in the university courtyard, which fed the Bauhaus for six years and sells its souvenirs now.
Built for an animal painter, 1886
The university calls the building a small sensation in the year it went up: a studio for the animal painter Albert Brendel, then director of the Weimar art school, with an iron frame carrying a glass dome that gave the animal-drawing class ideal light.[1] It stands in the courtyard behind the main building, which is why most visitors walk past it without seeing it.
The Bauhaus canteen, 1919–1925
Then it was given a kitchen extension, and from 1919 to 1925 it served the Bauhäusler above all as a dining hall — the Bauhaus-Mensa.[1] Every account of the school describes its workshops and its masters; the room where its students actually ate three times a day is a glass painter's studio in a back courtyard, and it is still standing.
What it is now, with a caveat, since 2009
After a thorough restoration the building reopened in 2009 as the Bauhaus.Atelier | Info Shop Café, the university's visitor point: information, souvenirs, coffee, and the starting point for the student-led Bauhaus walks on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.[1] The courtyard is confirmed as the walks' meeting point;[2] the café's own operating hours are less certain.[3]
Questions visitors ask
- What was this building originally?
- A glass-domed studio built in 1886 for the animal painter Albert Brendel, then director of the Weimar art school — the university calls it a small sensation in the year it went up.[1]
- What was its Bauhaus-era use?
- A kitchen extension turned it into the Bauhaus-Mensa: from 1919 to 1925 it was where Bauhaus students actually ate three times a day, in a glass painter's studio tucked in a back courtyard.[1]
- What is it today?
- After restoration it reopened in 2009 as the Bauhaus.Atelier | Info Shop Café — the university's visitor point, with information, souvenirs and coffee, and the starting point for the student-led Bauhaus walks on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.[1]
Sources
- Bauhaus.Atelier | Info Shop Café — Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, retrieved 29 August 2026
- Bauhaus-Spaziergang — Stadt Weimar, retrieved 28 August 2026
- Sonderverkauf zur Schließung des Bauhausateliers — Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, retrieved 29 August 2026
Visit Information
Free to enter; a shop and a café
Mon–Fri 11:30–17:30, Sat 13:00–17:00, per the university's page
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 6a, 99423 Weimar
In Weimar's history
Historical periods
The school's canteen from 1919 to 1925 — a glass studio with a kitchen bolted on.
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.