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

The Deutscher Werkbund (; ) 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, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

and industrial design, particularly in the later creation of the

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

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 An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...

than a state-sponsored effort to integrate traditional crafts and industrial

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

techniques, to put Germany on a competitive footing with England and the United States. Its motto ''Vom Sofakissen zum Städtebau'' (from

sofa A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, chesterfield, or Davenport (sofa), davenport, is a cushioned piece of furniture that can seat multiple people. It is commonly found in the form of a bench (furniture), bench with Upholstery, upholstered ...

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

, Germany, in 1899, to form an artists' colony at the invitation of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse.Wendy Moonan (7 December 2007)
German Design for an Industrial Age
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. The Werkbund was founded by Olbrich, Peter Behrens, Richard Riemerschmid,

Bruno Paul Bruno Paul (19 January 1874 – 17 August 1968) was a German architect, illustrator, interior designer, and furniture designer. Trained as a painter in the royal academy just as the Munich Secession developed against academic art, he first ca ...

and others in 1907 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

at the instigation of Hermann Muthesius, existed through 1934, then re-established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

. 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 Peter Behrens, Theodor Fischer (who served as its first president),

Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann (15 December 1870 – 7 May 1956) was an Austrians, Austrian-Sudeten Germans, Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architect ...

, Max Laeuger and Richard Riemerschmid. Other architects affiliated with the project include Heinrich Tessenow and the Belgian Henry van de Velde. 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 to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

for the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. 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 and American Architecture, 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 Ee ...

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, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...

, who served as Architectural Director.

Key dates of the Deutscher Werkbund

* 1907, Establishment of the Werkbund in Munich * 1910, Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1914, Werkbund Exhibition, Cologne * 1920, Lilly Reich becomes the first female Director * 1924, Berlin exhibition * 1927, Stuttgart exhibition (including the Weissenhof Estate) * 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-Kreuz ...

") 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
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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 of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. 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 and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

* Friedrich Adler * Adolf Arndt * Anker-Werke Delmenhorst * Ferdinand Avenarius * Otto Bartning * Willi Baumeister * Adolf Behne *

Hendrik Petrus Berlage Hendrik Petrus Berlage (; 21 February 185612 August 1934) was a Dutch architect and designer. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School. Life and work Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Ber ...

* Richard Berndl * Johann Michael Bossard * Raymund Brachmann * Fritz August Breuhaus de Groot * Bazon Brock * Ulrich Böhme * Max Burchartz * Charles Crodel *

Carl Otto Czeschka Carl Otto Czeschka (22 October 1878 – 30 July 1960) was an Austrian painter and graphic designer associated with the Wiener Werkstätte. Life Carl Otto Czeschka was half Bohemian and half Moravian origin. His father Wenzel Czeschka ...

* Wilhelm von Debschitz * Franz Karl Delavilla * Peter A. Demeter * Walter Dexel * Eugen Diederichs * Bruno Dörpinghaus * Karl Duschek * Adolph Eckhardt * Egon Eiermann * Albert Eitel *

August Endell August Endell (April 12, 1871 – April 13, 1925) was a designer, writer, teacher, and German architect. He was one of the founders of the Jugendstil movement, the German counterpart of Art Nouveau. His first marriage was with Baroness Elsa, Els ...

* Jupp Ernst * Lyonel Feininger * Wend Fischer * Karl Ganser * Hansjörg Göritz * Hermann Gretsch *

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...

* Moritz Hadda * Richard Hamann * Luise Harkort * Hugo Häring * Hans Heckner * Max Heidrich * Erwin Heerich * Hans Hertlein * Max Hertwig * Lucy Hillebrand * Georg Hirth *

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...

* Ot Hoffmann * Helmut Hofmann * Ferdy Horrmeyer * Paul Horst-Schulze * Klaus Humpert * Walter Maria Kersting * Harald Kimpel * Clemens Klotz * Moissey Kogan * Hans P. Koellmann * Ludwig König * Ernst Kühn * Hugo Kükelhaus * Klaus Küster * Ferdinand Kramer * Günter Kupetz * Emil Lange * Carl Langhein * Josef Lehmbrock * El Lissitzky * Johannes Ludovicus Mathieu Lauweriks * Richard Luksch * Gerhard Marcks * Ewald Mataré * Ernst May * Kunstmuseen Krefeld *

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

* Wolfgang Meisenheimer * Georg Metzendorf *

* Leberecht Migge * Anna Muthesius * Hermann Muthesius *

Friedrich Naumann Friedrich Naumann (25 March 1860 – 24 August 1919) was a German Liberalism in Germany, liberal politician and Protestant parish pastor. In 1896, he founded the National-Social Association that sought to combine liberalism, nationalism and ...

* Walter Neuhäusser * Hans Neumann * Else Oppler-Legband * Karl Ernst Osthaus * Ludwig Paffendorf * Bernhard Pankok * Karl Poser * Walfried Pohl * Jan Thorn Prikker * Peter Raacke * Adolf Rading * Jochen Rahe *

Dieter Rams Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932) is a German industrial designer who is most closely associated with the consumer products company Braun (company), Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalism (architecture), functionalist school of ...

Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (; 29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and politician who served as foreign minister of Germany from February 1922 until his assassination in June 1922. Rathenau was one of Germany's leading ...

* Carl Rehorst * Lilly Reich * Albert Reimann * Albert Renger-Patzsch * Paul Renner * Richard Riemerschmid * Alexander Michailowitsch Rodtschenko * Gregor Rosenbauer * Walter Rossow * Werner Ruhnau *

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

* Karl Schmidt-Hellerau * Willy Schönefeld * Werner Schriefers * Rudolf Alexander Schröder * Reinhard Schulze * Fritz Schupp * 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 *

Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman during the Weimar Republic who served as Chancellor of Germany#First German Republic (Weimar Republic, 1919–1933), chancellor of Germany from August to November 1 ...

Bruno Taut Bruno Julius Florian Taut (4 May 1880 – 24 December 1938) was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author. He was active during the Weimar period and is known for his theoretical works as well as his building designs. Early l ...

* Heinrich Tessenow * Paul Thiersch *

Emil Thormählen Emil may refer to: Literature *''Emil and the Detectives'' (1929), a children's novel *"Emil", nickname of the Kurt Maschler Award for integrated text and illustration (1982–1999) *''Emil i Lönneberga'', a series of children's novels by Astr ...

* Walter Tiemann * Paul Ludwig Troost * Otto Ubbelohde * Henry van de Velde * Theodor Veil * Otto Voelckers * Heinrich Vogeler * Fritz Wärndorfer * Wilhelm Wagenfeld * Otto Wagner * Udo Weilacher * Werkbund Werkstatt Nürnberg * Edward Weston * Alfred Wiener * Karl With * Dieter Witte * Georg Wrba * 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