Marcel Breuer
Also known as: Marcel Lajos Breuer
Biography
Breuer enrolled at Bauhaus in 1920, becoming one of its most successful students. By 1925, at age 23, he headed the furniture workshop as youngest master. His revolutionary tubular steel furniture, especially the Wassily Chair (1925) and B3 chair, epitomized Bauhaus design principles. Though most famous designs came after Weimar period, his foundation was laid there. His furniture combined industrial materials with elegant form, influencing modern design globally. Later became renowned architect in America.
Notable Works & Achievements
Wassily Chair
B3 chair
Tubular steel furniture designs
Cesca Chair
Long Chair
Whitney Museum of American Art
UNESCO Headquarters Paris
Saint John's Abbey
Connected Places in Weimar
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8, 99423 Weimar
Student then master at Bauhaus, developed furniture workshop
Evidence: Academic records and workshop documentation
Am Horn 61, 99425 Weimar
Designed furniture for this experimental Bauhaus house (1923)
Evidence: Design documentation and exhibition records
Historical Context
Bauhaus student (1920) then master, developed revolutionary furniture designs
Historical evidence: Student records and furniture workshop documentation
Weimar was the cradle of the Bauhaus, the revolutionary school of modern art, design, and architecture. In the aftermath of World War I, architect Walter Gropius merged the existing Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School and Arts and Crafts School to found the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919. Gropius's Bauhaus brought together painters, designers, and craftsmen with the radical aim of uniting fine arts with functional design. During its Weimar years (1919–1925), the Bauhaus faculty included celebrated figures such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, and Johannes Itten, who pioneered a curriculum blending avant-garde art theory with hands-on workshops. Students and masters collaborated on innovative works ranging from ceramics and furniture to graphic design and architecture. Notable projects of this era include the Haus am Horn (a model modern house built for the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar), which demonstrated the Bauhaus principles of form following function. Despite its creativity, the Bauhaus faced political hostility from conservative factions in Thuringia. Funding was cut after 1924 amid right-wing pressure. In 1925 the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, ending the Weimar chapter. Though brief, the Weimar period of the Bauhaus fundamentally influenced 20th-century art and design, making Weimar a pilgrimage site for modernist heritage (now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
Read more about this period →Quick Facts
1902
1981
Hungarian