Weissenhof photo apartment house Mies van der Rohe Stuttgart Germany 2005-10-08

The Deutscher Werkbund (English: "German Association of Craftsmen"; ) is a German association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists established in 1907. The Werkbund became an important element in the development of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

and industrial design, particularly in the later creation of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

school of design. Its initial purpose was to establish a partnership of product manufacturers with design professionals to improve the competitiveness of German companies in global markets. The Werkbund was less an artistic movement than a state-sponsored effort to integrate traditional crafts and industrial

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...

techniques, to put Germany on a competitive footing with England and the United States. Its motto ''Vom Sofakissen zum Städtebau'' (from sofa cushions to city-building) indicates its range of interest.

History

The Deutscher Werkbund emerged when the architect Joseph Maria Olbrich left Vienna for

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

, Germany, in 1899, to form an artists' colony at the invitation of

Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse , spouses = , issue = , house = Hesse-Darmstadt , father =Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine , mother =Princess Alice of the United Kingdom , birth_date = , birth_place = New Palace, Darmstadt, Grand ...

.Wendy Moonan (7 December 2007)
German Design for an Industrial Age
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The Werkbund was founded by Olbrich,

Peter Behrens Peter Behrens (14 April 1868 – 27 February 1940) was a leading Germany, German architect, graphic and Industrial design, industrial designer, best known for his early pioneering AEG turbine factory, AEG Turbine Hall in Berlin in 1909. He had a ...

Richard Riemerschmid Richard Riemerschmid (20 June 1868 – 13 April 1957) was a German architect, painter, designer and city planner from Munich. He was a major figure in ''Jugendstil'', the German form of Art Nouveau, and a founder of architecture in the st ...

, Bruno Paul and others in 1907 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

at the instigation of

Hermann Muthesius Adam Gottlieb Hermann Muthesius (20 April 1861 – 29 October 1927), known as Hermann Muthesius, was a German architect, author and diplomat, perhaps best known for promoting many of the ideas of the English Arts and Crafts movement within German ...

, existed through 1934, then re-established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1950. Muthesius was the author of the exhaustive three-volume "The English House" of 1905, a survey of the practical lessons of the English Arts and Crafts movement. Muthesius was seen as something of a cultural ambassador, or industrial spy, between Germany and England. The organization originally included twelve architects and twelve business firms. The architects include

, Theodor Fischer (who served as its first president), Josef Hoffmann, Bruno Paul,

Max Laeuger Max Laeuger (30 September 1864 – 12 December 1952) was a German architect, artist, and ceramicist. He was born and died in Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg. Working initially in an Art Nouveau style, he was perhaps the most important figure ...

and

. Other architects affiliated with the project include Heinrich Tessenow and the Belgian

Henry van de Velde Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium.' ...

. By 1914 it had 1,870 members, including heads of museums.Joan Campbell, ''The German Werkbund: The Politics of Reform in the Applied Arts'' (Princeton University Press, 2016) The Werkbund commissioned van de Velde to design a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

for the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. The exhibition was closed and the buildings dismantled ahead of schedule because of the outbreak of World War I.

Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen. Lif ...

was made corresponding member of the Deutscher Werkbund in 1914 and was invited to participate in the 1914 Cologne exhibition. Among the Werkbund's more noted members was the architect

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

, who served as Architectural Director.

Key dates of the Deutscher Werkbund

* 1907, Establishment of the Werkbund in Munich * 1910,

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...

, Paris * 1914, Werkbund Exhibition, Cologne * 1920, Lilly Reich becomes the first female Director * 1924, Berlin exhibition * 1927, Stuttgart exhibition (including the

Weissenhof Estate The Weissenhof Estate (German: Weißenhofsiedlung) is a housing estate built for the 1927 Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany. It was an international showcase of modern architecture's aspiration to provide cheap, simple, effici ...

) * 1929, Breslau exhibition * 1934, Werkbund declare dissolution * 1947, Reestablishment

100th anniversary

The '' Verband Deutscher Industrie Designer'' (Association of German Industrial Designers, or VDID) and the ''Bund Deutscher Grafik-Designer'' (Federation of German Graphic Designers, or "BDG-

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kre ...

") held a joint meeting to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Deutscher Werkbund. A juried exhibition and opening was held on 14 March 2008.Werkbund Museum
/ref>

Museum der Dinge

The collections and archives (Werkbundarchiv) of the Werkbund are housed at the Museum der Dinge (Museum of Things) in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. The museum is focused on design and objects used in everyday life in the 20th century up to the present. Among other exhibits, it includes a Frankfurt kitchen.

Members

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...

* Adolf Arndt * Anker-Werke Delmenhorst *

Ferdinand Avenarius Ferdinand Avenarius (20 December 1856, in Berlin – 22 September 1923, in Kampen) was a German lyric poet, a leading representative of the culture reform movement of his time and the first popularizer of Sylt. Life Avenarius was born in Berli ...

* Otto Bartning * Willi Baumeister * Adolf Behne *

Hendrik Petrus Berlage Hendrik Petrus Berlage (21 February 1856 – 12 August 1934) was a Dutch architect. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School. Life and work Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Berlage and An ...

* Richard Berndl * Johann Michael Bossard * Raymund Brachmann *

Fritz August Breuhaus de Groot Fritz August Breuhaus (February 9, 1883 – December 2, 1960) was a German architect, interior designer, and designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In pra ...

* Bazon Brock * Ulrich Böhme * Max Burchartz *

Charles Crodel Charles Crodel (September 16, 1894 – November 11, 1973) was a German painter and stained glass artist. Life Crodel was born in Marseille, he studied in 1914 with Richard Riemerschmid, one of the founders of the Deutscher Werkbund, at the Mun ...

* Carl Otto Czeschka *

Wilhelm von Debschitz Wilhelm Siegfried Kurt von Debschitz (21 February 1871 – 10 March 1948) was a German painter, interior designer, craftsman, art teacher and founding director of an influential art school in Munich. Early life and education He was born on 2 ...

Franz Karl Delavilla Franz Karl Delavilla (6 December 1884 – 2 August 1967) was an Austrian-German graphic artist, illustrator, designer and art professor. Education Born in Vienna, Delavilla first received a one-year apprenticeship at the and then was a pupil a ...

* Peter A. Demeter * Walter Dexel *

Eugen Diederichs Eugen Diederichs (June 22, 1867 – September 10, 1930) was a German publisher born in Löbitz, in the Prussian Province of Saxony. Diederichs started his publishing company in Florence, Italy, in 1896. He moved on to Leipzig, where he publish ...

* Bruno Dörpinghaus * Karl Duschek * Adolph Eckhardt * Egon Eiermann * Albert Eitel * August Endell * Jupp Ernst *

Lyonel Feininger Lyonel Charles Feininger (July 17, 1871January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. He was born and grew up in New York City, traveling to Germa ...

* Wend Fischer * Karl Ganser *

Hansjörg Göritz Hansjörg Göritz (English: Hansjoerg Goeritz; born 5 June 1959) is a German-American architect, professor, author and designer associated with pure and minimalist architecture that emphasizes place, space, light and material. For his early works ...

* Hermann Gretsch *

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

* Moritz Hadda * Richard Hamann * Luise Harkort *

Hugo Häring Hugo Häring (11 May 1882 – 17 May 1958) was a German architect and architectural writer best known for his writings on "organic architecture", and as a figure in architectural debates about functionalism in the 1920s and 1930s, though he had a ...

* Hans Heckner * Max Heidrich * Erwin Heerich * Hans Hertlein * Max Hertwig * Lucy Hillebrand *

Georg Hirth Georg Hirth (13 July 1841 in Tonna – 28 March 1916 in Tegernsee) was a German writer, journalist and publisher. He is best known for founding the cultural magazine '' Jugend'' in 1896, which was instrumental in popularizing Art Nouveau. B ...

* Theodor Heuss * Ot Hoffmann * Helmut Hofmann *

Ferdy Horrmeyer Ferdy or Ferdie is a given name, often a diminutive of the masculine given name Ferdinand. It may refer to: People * Ferdie Aston (1871–1926), English-born South African rugby union player * Ferdie Bergh (1906–1973), South African rugby union ...

Paul Horst-Schulze Paul Horst-Schulze (5 October 1876 – 27 December 1937) was a German painter, graphic artist and artisan. His stage name Horst-Schulze came about by combining his middle name with his original family name.Andreas Höhn: ''Werkbundgründer un ...

* Klaus Humpert *

Walter Maria Kersting Walter Maria Kersting (8 July 1889, in Münster – 5 May 1970, in Waging am See) was a German architect and industrial designer. Career In 1928, he published the ''Bilderbuch für Kaufleute'', (‘Picture book for business people’) a publi ...

* Harald Kimpel * Moissey Kogan * Hans P. Koellmann * Ludwig König * Ernst Kühn *

Hugo Kükelhaus Hugo Kükelhaus (March 24, 1900 – October 5, 1984) was a German carpenter, writer, pedagogue, philosopher and artist. Kükelhaus is best known for his infant toys "allbedeut" and the " Erfahrungsfeld zur Entfaltung der Sinne." Throughout his li ...

* Klaus Küster * Ferdinand Kramer * Günter Kupetz *

Emil Lange Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

Carl Langhein Carl Johannes Louis Langhein (29 February 1872, Hamburg – 26 June 1941, Hadamar) was German painter and graphic artist. Life and work He was born to Carl Jacob Martin Langhein (1846–1914), an upholsterer and decorator, and his wife, Louise ...

* Josef Lehmbrock *

El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...

* Johannes Ludovicus Mathieu Lauweriks * Richard Luksch * Gerhard Marcks *

Ewald Mataré Ewald Wilhelm Hubert Mataré (25 February 1887 in Burtscheid, Aachen – 28 March 1965 in Büderich) was a German painter and sculptor, who dealt with, among other things, the figures of men and animals in a stylized form. Career Mataré began ...

Ernst May Ernst May (27 July 1886 – 11 September 1970) was a List of German architects, German architect and :German urban planners, city planner. May successfully applied urban design techniques to the city of Frankfurt am Main during the Weimar R ...

Kunstmuseen Krefeld The Kunstmuseen Krefeld (''Krefeld Art Museums'') is an art museum in Krefeld, Germany. It is particularly dedicated to modern art, modern and contemporary art. Three houses constitute the museum—the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Haus Lange and Haus ...

Erich Mendelsohn Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic Functionalism (architecture), functionalism in his projects for department ...

* Wolfgang Meisenheimer * Georg Metzendorf *

* Leberecht Migge * Anna Muthesius *

* Friedrich Naumann * Walter Neuhäusser *

Hans Neumann Hans Neumann (a.k.a. Hans Newman) (18??–1919(?)) was a founding member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. Neumann had previously been very active in the Social Democratic Federation, being a public speaker for that party and secretary of i ...

Karl Ernst Osthaus Karl Ernst Osthaus (15 April 1874, in Hagen – 25 March 1921, in Merano) was an important German patron of avant-garde art and architecture. Life Osthaus was born to a wealthy banking family, who also owned several businesses in the textile a ...

* Ludwig Paffendorf * Bernhard Pankok * Karl Poser * Walfried Pohl * Jan Thorn Prikker * Peter Raacke *

Adolf Rading Adolf Peter Rading (2 February 1888, in Berlin – 4 April 1957, in London) was a German architect of the Neues Bauen period, also active in Palestine and Great Britain. Career After finishing architecture school in Berlin, Rading briefly wor ...

* Jochen Rahe *

Dieter Rams Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932) is a German industrial designer and retired academic who is closely associated with the consumer products company Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtru ...

Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and liberal politician. During the First World War of 1914–1918 he was involved in the organization of the German war economy. After the war, Rathenau s ...

* Carl Rehorst * Lilly Reich *

Albert Reimann Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert C ...

Albert Renger-Patzsch Albert Renger-Patzsch (June 22, 1897 – September 27, 1966) was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity. Biography Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg and began making photographs by age twelve. After military service in the F ...

* Paul Renner *

* Alexander Michailowitsch Rodtschenko * Gregor Rosenbauer *

Walter Rossow Walter Rossow (28 January 1910 - 2 January 1992) was a leading German Landscape architect and, during his later years, a university professor. After 1945, together with leading architects of the time such as Egon Eiermann and Paul Baumgarten, ...

* Werner Ruhnau *

Hans Scharoun Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...

Karl Schmidt-Hellerau Karl Camillo Schmidt-Hellerau (1 February 1873 – 6 November 1948) was a German carpenter, furniture manufacturer and social reformer. He was born in Zschopau, and is notable as the founder of Hellerau Hellerau is a northern quarter ''(Stad ...

* Willy Schönefeld * Werner Schriefers *

Rudolf Alexander Schröder Rudolf Alexander Schröder (26 January 1878 – 22 August 1962) was a German translator and poet. In 1962 he was awarded the Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Career Much ...

Reinhard Schulze Reinhard is a German, Austrian, Danish, and to a lesser extent Norwegian surname (from Germanic ''ragin'', counsel, and ''hart'', strong), and a spelling variant of Reinhardt. Persons with the given name *Reinhard of Blankenburg (after 1107 – 11 ...

Fritz Schupp Fritz Schupp (22 December 1896 in Uerdingen – 1 August 1974 in Essen) was a German architect. He was educated from 1914 to 1917 at the Universities of Karlsruhe, München and Stuttgart. Despite mostly working alone, he formed a partnership based ...

* Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky * Walter Schwagenscheidt * Rudolf Schwarz * Hans Schwippert * Ferdinand Selle * Bernd Sikora * Anna Simons * Carl Sonntag jun. * Friedrich Spengelin * Bernhard Stadler * Anton Stankowski * Heinz Stoffregen *

Ludwig Sütterlin Ludwig Sütterlin (July 23, 1865 – November 20, 1917) was a graphic artist who lived in Berlin, Germany, and was most notable for designing and creating the old German blackletter handwriting Sütterlinschrift (Sütterlin script) or simply Süt ...

Heinrich Straumer Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman who served as chancellor in 1923 (for 102 days) and as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929, during the Weimar Republic. His most notable achievement was the reconci ...

Bruno Taut Bruno Julius Florian Taut (4 May 1880 – 24 December 1938) was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author of Prussian Lithuanian heritage ("taut" means "nation" in Lithuanian). He was active during the Weimar period and is kno ...

* Heinrich Tessenow * Paul Thiersch * Emil Thormählen * Walter Tiemann * Paul Ludwig Troost * Otto Ubbelohde *

* Theodor Veil * Otto Voelckers * Heinrich Vogeler * Fritz Wärndorfer * Wilhelm Wagenfeld * Otto Wagner *

Udo Weilacher Dr. Udo Weilacher (born 1963 in Kaiserslautern) is a German landscape architect, author and Professor for Landscape Architecture. Biography Udo Weilacher was educated as a gardener in 1984. He studied landscape architecture at the Technical Univer ...

* Werkbund Werkstatt Nürnberg *

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." ...

* Alfred Wiener *

Karl With Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

Dieter Witte Dieter or dieter may refer to: * A person committed to dieting People Dieter is a German given name (), a short form of Dietrich, from ''theod+ric'' "people ruler", see Theodoric. Given name *Dieter Althaus (born 1958), German politician ...

Georg Wrba Georg Wrba (3 January 1872 – 9 January 1939) was a German sculptor and graphic artist. He created some 3,000–4,000 works, including as a collaborator of the Zwinger (Dresden), Zwinger workshop. Life Wrba was born in Munich in 1872, the so ...

* Christoph Zöpel * Berta Zuckerkandl

References

External links

*
Werkbundarchiv: Museum der Dinge
– official site {{Authority control Bauhaus 1907 establishments in Germany Industrial design Graphic design Modernist architecture in Germany Architecture groups