The History of the Bauhaus

The Bauhaus was opened in Weimer, Germany in 1919 shortly after WW1 ended. At the time Germany was at a crossroads. They were having to adapt to changing governing structures and there was an heir of uncertainty over leadership status. The country was on the brink of creating a new republic. The Bauhaus became one of the spaces where new cultural ideas could brew. They shared their manifesto to the country, attracting creative students with unique ideas. The school was exposed to political pressure due to the change they represented. This was apparent in 1925 and led to many masters leaving the institution. The Weimar Masters had terminated their contracts before considering the future options. The Bauhaus simply needed to relocate. The move could easily have spelled the end of the Bauhaus. But the fame of this new type of school proved such that, in the course of the next few months, a number of cities expressed interest in giving the Bauhaus a home. From Dessau, Frankfurt/Main, Mannheim, Munich, Darmstadt, Krefeld and Hamburg. Ultimately, however, the only offer of substance was to come from Dessau, a city governed by the Social Democrats and whose mayor, Fritz Hesse, expressed his personal support for the Bauhaus. The body of Masters agreed to the move, and what had been a state school now became a municipal institution. Gropius was the head of the Bauhaus in Dessau for three years. During this period the school reached another pinnacle in its career. However, the school continued to face political pressure and in 1932 they relocated again to Berlin. Eventually the school closed its doors in 1933, amidst the political turbulance of Nazi Germany who believed the Bauhaus to be a centre for communist thought.