Dessau Bauhaus

The Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau in 1925 and Walter Gropius designed a new building for it, completed in 1926: an asymmetric arrangement of wings for workshops, teaching and studios, with the workshop wing sheathed in a glass curtain wall that turns the corner without a visible support, a construction that was new at the time and became a defining image of modern architecture. Nearby stand the Masters' Houses, semi-detached studio homes for teachers including Kandinsky, Klee and Feininger. The school left Dessau in 1932 and closed the following year. UNESCO listed the buildings in 1996; several Masters' Houses were rebuilt after wartime loss.

History

The building was put up in 1925-1926 to plans by Walter Gropius for the Bauhaus school of art, design and architecture, after the school left Weimar, and together with the Masters' Houses nearby it made the Bauhaus an icon of modernism. War-damaged and altered parts were largely reconstructed in the spirit of the original from 1965, the building was restored and partly modernised in 1976 and repaired again between 1996 and 2006 according to the principles of historic preservation, and since 1996 it has been part of a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Bauhaus Dessau).

What's there

• The glass curtain wall - a workshop facade turning the corner without support.
• The Masters' Houses - studio homes built for Kandinsky, Klee and Feininger.
• The interiors - restored fittings, lettering and colour schemes.
• The rebuilt houses - replacements for buildings lost in the war.

When to go

April to October; the buildings are open year-round with guided tours at set times. Some rooms can be booked as accommodation in the former student studios.

Things to know

Interiors are seen partly on guided tours. Some Masters' Houses are modern reinterpretations, not reconstructions. Dessau itself is a plain industrial town.

Nearby

Wörlitz lies east; Wittenberg is northeast.

Key facts