Bauhaus: Still in the spotlight!

Dear Journalist/Editor 

The Bauhaus centenary year may be over, but the influential art and design movement remains in the international spotlight. Below is an article that includes comments from eminent publications, pointing out that 2019 was a catalyst for a new appreciation of the Bauhaus movement. And that interest continues in 2020. Inspired by exhibitions both in Germany and around the world, more and more visitors are planning vacations in BauhausLand, the German federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

This editorial contribution is, of course, free for use.

BAUHAUSLAND: ATTRACTING NEW FANS

In 2019, the worldwide celebrations for the centenary of the Bauhaus focused on the achievements of this influential art and design movement. The range of exhibitions appealed to aficionados, but they also attracted a brand-new audience.  Leila Stone wrote in The Architect’s Newspaper: “Bauhaus is architecture. Bauhaus is costume design. Bauhaus is textile design. Bauhaus is furniture…it has never been more clear that Bauhaus is everywhere.” With appreciation increasing, more and more fans are planning to visit BauhausLand to spend their 2020 vacations in the German federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

BAUHAUSLAND: THE HOT DESTINATION FOR 2020

GQ Magazine trumpeted the headline: “Why travel trendsetters are heading for the birthplace of Bauhaus.” The list of ‘must dos’ includes the striking new Bauhaus Museum in Weimar, where the ‘must sees’ range from Josef Albers’ ground-breaking Nesting Tables to Wilhelm Wagenfeld’s Glass Table Lamp, which is still manufactured today!  As for Architectural Digest, it names the brand-new Bauhaus Museum Dessau as one of its “Top 20 Places to Travel in 2020,” adding that “If you decide to go on a Bauhaus-themed pilgrimage, be sure to visit the Meisterhäuser, a group of white cubist homes where Gropius, Kandinsky, and other Bauhaus luminaries lived.”

THE SHOW NEVER STOPS

Visitors in 2019 were bowled over by the Bauhaus Museum Dessau. Its exhibitions continue, as does the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation’s program, Bauhaus Buildings Dessau: Original retold. This series of tours takes in well-known, classic Bauhaus structures and provides access to rooms that have not been open to the public for many years. Also in the city, the Triennial of Modernism explores the archaeology of Modernism, with simple, rediscovered, early-Bauhaus objects, such as door handles and bath tubs. And the iconic Bauhaus building itself celebrates its own centenary in 2026. But there is more. In Gera, 90 minutes south of Dessau, the Haus Schulenburg museum has an exhibition highlighting Thilo Schoder, one of the most successful architects of the Neues Bauen (New Building) movement in Thuringia. And, in Halle (Saale), the Feininger Audiowalk has been a huge hit since it was introduced. Fans of the German-American painter and Bauhaus professor can walk in his footsteps in the city center and see how specific sites relate to some of his most famous paintings. Feininger fans have also been heading to Quedlinburg and the Feininger Gallery, where the special exhibition of works by Feininger has been extended into 2020. He also features in the “Ways of modern" show at the Moritzburg Art Museum in Halle (Saale). 

THE BIRTHPLACE OF BAUHAUS

Not to be missed is The Bauhaus Comes from Weimar. Featuring treasures from the world’s oldest Bauhaus collection, some displayed for the first time, this stunning exhibition opened the other brand-new museum in BauhausLand, the Bauhaus Museum Weimar. It will run till 2024. Also in the city, the lovingly-renovated Haus Am Horn is once again furnished with pieces designed and built in the Bauhaus workshops by students, who went on to be legends: Marcel Breuer, Theodor Bogler and Alma Siedhoff-Buscher. No wonder this iconic building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A. J. Goldmann pointed out in the Wall Street Journal: “The Bauhaus was the 20th century’s most ambitious laboratory for unlocking the human spirit and attuning it artistically. The Bauhaus centennial should remind us how dynamic, exuberant, daring and unpredictable an artistic vortex the movement was and remains.” An easy way to see how the influence continues is to join a walking tour led by current Bauhaus University students. When visiting the two buildings that comprised the original Bauhaus, you can compare and contrast the ‘then’ and ‘now’ of design.  

APPROACHABLE, PRACTICAL AND FUN

For visitors from the U.S.A., visiting BauhausLand during the centenary celebrations made connections galore. There are so many links between the creativity of this small corner of Germany and everyday life in America today. As one visitor said: “We can see Bauhaus all round us, from skyscrapers to furniture in our homes. We really can relate to what was going on 100 years ago, and is still inspiring us today!” Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, who left Germany for Boston, where he taught at Harvard, would be delighted: “Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.”

MONEY & TIME SAVING TIPS

Exploring BauhausLand is easy with special cards that provide discounts on admission to major attractions. Use the WelterbeCard in the Heritage Region around Dessau and, in Thuringia, the Weimar Card, Thuringia Card and, new this year, BauhausCard 2019.

How we can help

Are you looking for suggested driving routes through BauhausLand? Detailed information on Bauhaus cities? Or the perfect image? We are happy to help!

Just go to www.saxony-anhalt-tourism.eu & www.visit-thuringia.com