Restoration Work

Dear visitors,

the Bauhaus Building and the Masters’ Houses are almost 100 years old. Besides, they are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Accordingly, the buildings must be permanently maintained and regularly renovated. Also at present, the Bauhaus Building and Masters’ Houses are being restored inside and outside. We try to keep the restrictions for visitors to a minimum. However, they cannot be completely avoided; but maybe you will see it as an opportunity: it is rare to see so vividly what it means to preserve a World Heritage Site.

Bauhaus Building

Floors

The Bauhaus Building has approx. 1,800 m² of stone-wood screed from the period of construction. These floors, which are now almost 100 years old, require renovation and subsequent maintenance in order to preserve this material for future generations. Especially cracks are visible to everybody. They visually disturb the homogeneity of the surface and can also lead to massive lasting damage to the material. Moisture can penetrate the screed and decompose its structure which can lead to considerable loss of material and thus substance. Now, after preparatory work, these cracks are filled with colour-matched material and thus sealed, so that further penetration of moisture and material destruction are prevented.
The first phase of renovation was completed in December 2021 in the corridors and some guest rooms of the studio building. The work will continue in the rooms of the Bauhaus Building in 2022. This will require the temporary closure of some sections of the Bauhaus Building.

Bauhaus Lettering and Plaster Work

The plaster on the facade of the south staircase needs to be renovated. After the plaster has been chipped off, it will be reapplied. This is a special plaster: it contains mineral mica components. The Bauhaus Building will then really shine in a special way.
The famous lettering on the Bauhaus Building is temporarily removed for the work.

Facade Monitoring

On the west facade of the studio building crack monitors were installed in autumn 2021. In conjunction with weather data from the German Meterological Service, this should provide information about the relationship between climatic conditions and crack behaviour.
Similarly, a scaffolding structure on the inside of the curtain facade has been used since December 2021 to monitor the effects of climatic and weather conditions on the aluminium structure.

Windows

On the east side of the bridge, the windows are being renovated, which is why there is a scaffolding here. Many of the window frames are heavily rusted and the panes are cracked. Therefore, the windows are gradually being completely removed with the help of a crane, renovated in a nearby workshop and reinstalled. The reinstalled window frames are only glazed and given their final colour coat on site.

Masters’ Houses

Windows + Doors

Currently, the wooden windows and doors in the historic Masters’ Houses are being renovated. Due to weather-related influences, parts such as weatherboards and lower frames have to be replaced. The panes that are not from the period of construction are being replaced with so-called Opti-White glass, which is very similar in effect to the historic crystal mirror glass. The frames will also be repaired, repainted and corrected in colour. The result of the renovation can be seen in the Feininger and Kandinsky Houses, where the work has already been completed.

Concrete Glaze

The facades of the New Masters’ Houses – Gropius House and Moholy-Nagy House – as well as the concrete wall enclosing the grounds were cleaned this year and given a new glaze.

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