Walter Gropius
Biography
Walter Gropius was the founder of the Bauhaus and a pioneering modern architect who indelibly marked Weimar's history. In 1919, in the upheaval after World War I, Gropius persuaded the new Thuringian government to let him create a radical art school in Weimar by merging existing institutions. As Bauhaus director (1919–1925), Gropius formulated its visionary curriculum blending crafts and fine arts, and he penned the Bauhaus Manifesto in Weimar. He assembled an extraordinary faculty – including artists like Klee and Kandinsky – and fostered an atmosphere of creativity and experimentation that put Weimar at the forefront of modern design. Gropius also engaged with local industry and organized the seminal 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition (for which he designed the Haus am Horn). Due to political pressure, he relocated the Bauhaus to Dessau in 1925, but by then the movement he launched was unstoppable. Gropius went on to a stellar career (later emigrating to the USA), but he fondly recalled Weimar as the birthplace of the Bauhaus. In Weimar today, Gropius's influence is felt at the Bauhaus University (the successor of his school), and his name graces streets and exhibitions. The Haus am Horn and the restored Bauhaus buildings stand as monuments to his legacy. Gropius's brief Weimar tenure changed the course of 20th-century architecture and design, making the city a byword for creative modernism.
Famous Quotes
“The ultimate goal of all visual artistic activity is construction! Architects, painters and sculptors must learn again to know and understand the multi-faceted form of building in its entirety as well as its parts.”
“A modern, harmonic and lively architecture is the visible sign of an authentic democracy.”
Notable Works & Achievements
Bauhaus Manifesto (1919)
Bauhaus School Building (Dessau)
Haus am Horn (Weimar)
Fagus Factory
Harvard Graduate Center
Connected Places in Weimar
Stéphane-Hessel-Platz 1, 99423 Weimar
His early Weimar Bauhaus works and teachings are showcased here (museum dedicated to Bauhaus's founding)
Evidence: Museum exhibits highlight Gropius's 1919 founding of Bauhaus in Weimar (display of Manifesto etc.)
Am Horn 61, 99425 Weimar
Planned the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition including this model house (built under his direction)
Evidence: Gropius organized the Bauhaus Exhibition where Haus am Horn was built as a prototype
Historical Context
Founded the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919 and led it until 1925, launching Weimar's modernist era
Historical evidence: Gropius opened the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919, merging art schools
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
1883
1969
German