World Cultural Heritage in Dessau

The 1,000 UNESCO natural and cultural heritage sites in 163 nations worldwide have included the Bauhaus sites in Weimar and Dessau since 1996. This status honours the outstanding architecture of the Bauhaus Building and the other buildings that have had a lasting influence on the image of modernism over the past century. The award also applies to the Bauhaus as an institution. Its conceptual thinking aimed to shape a complete modernism in which social and societal aspects played a role, as did all facets of housing and the way of living. The Bauhaus thus represents not only a milestone in architecture and art, but also a revolutionary contribution to the history of ideas of the twentieth century.

The Bauhaus Building in Dessau

Bauhaus Dessau, South view, 2009, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation / photo: Yvonne Tenschert

The Bauhaus Building is regarded as a seminal work of European modernism. In the building the principles of functionalism are combined with a remarkable architectonic quality for which then pioneering materials like glass and reinforced concrete were used. Built as an institute of higher education, the building is a manifestation of the Bauhaus’ ideas. Beyond the architectonic significance with its radical new approaches, the site has a historically unique impact. Here, essential contributions were made to the revolutionary renewal of art, design and architecture in the twentieth century. The building is currently the seat of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

The Masters’ Houses in Dessau

Master's House, 2011, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation / photo: Christoph Petras

The Masters’ Houses constitute a major architectural and artistic achievement. With their white, cubic structures and complex connections between exteriors and interiors they showed the way forward for modern architecture and testify to the debate about standardisation in housing construction. Above and beyond this, they are of huge significance as the homes and places of creative production of pre-eminent Bauhaus artists, among them Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. Today, the houses are used by the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

The former school of arts and school of arts and crafts in Weimar

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 2011, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation / photo: Christoph Petras

The Bauhaus was founded in Weimar in 1919 by Walter Gropius from his merger of the school of arts and the school of arts and crafts. In doing so he realised his fundamental idea of unifying education in the arts and the crafts. Both schools are therefore regarded as the birthplace of the Bauhaus, which remained active here until 1925. In light of his architectural aspirations the architect of both buildings, Henry van der Velde, is seen as a pioneer of modernism. Today both buildings are used by the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

www.uni-weimar.de

The Haus Am Horn in Weimar

Haus Am Horn Weimar, 2011, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation / photo: Christoph Petras

The Haus Am Horn is the sole example of Bauhaus architecture in Weimar. It was designed in 1923 for the first international Bauhaus exhibition. The experimental single-family home was simultaneously a prototype for a whole housing estate. The architecture is distinguished by an innovative groundplan and elevation and the use of the latest building technologies. All the interior fittings were made in the Bauhaus workshops. The building is currently used for exhibitions.

klassik-stiftung.de/en/haus-am-horn

2017: The Bauhaus World Heritage is being expanded

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, at its 41st session in Krakow, Poland, on 9 July 2017 has resolved to expand the World Heritage Site of the Bauhaus to include the architecture built under the guidance of the second Bauhaus director, Hannes Meyer: the Houses with Balcony Access built in 1929 in Dessau and the ADGB Trade Union School which opened in 1930 in Bernau bei Berlin. As a result, the World Heritage Site of the Bauhaus will be made up of buildings in three federal states – Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg.

Hannes Meyer, who succeeded Walter Gropius as director of the Bauhaus (1928–1930), realised the concept of collective work on a building project in the course of training in the Bauhaus Building department. According to Meyer’s concept, the planning process was informed by a scientific design methodology and a functional-economical design with a social objective. The Houses with Balcony Access in Dessau testify to the significant contribution made by the Bauhaus to the construction of social housing in the inter-war years. The ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau bei Berlin documents the design methodology for a complex construction programme integrated in the surrounding landscape. The complexity and global influence of the Bauhaus cannot be grasped without the work of Hannes Meyer.

The Houses with Balcony Access in Dessau

Houses with Balcony Access Dessau, 2012, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation / photo: Yvonne Tenschert

The five Houses with Balcony Access were built as a collective planning project in the Bauhaus Building department spearheaded by Walter Gropius in 1927 and led by Hannes Meyer. Their bold design reflects the functions of habitation and the extreme reduction of materials and building components yields a singular architectonic quality. The consistently rationally designed layout of the social housing serves its purpose with ingenious and well-grounded floorplans and fittings. Subject to sensitive modifications, the affordable flats with communal spaces still meet contemporary requirements and remain continuously occupied.