The Bauhaus Connection (Germany, Israel, Japan, Netherlands)

2019 marks the centenary of the foundation of the Bauhaus. Although the Bauhaus was just a small part of the modern architecture movement in Europa, it is still interested to see how many famous examples of modern architecture have a connection to the Bauhaus or one of its architects. Therefore the modern architecture is here captioned with The Bauhaus Connection. As architectural history is not one of my main themes, I mainly oriented myself by the UNESCO World Heritage List. If you think that I have missed any important example of European pre-war modern architecture in this post please tell me in a comment.

While preparing this post I realised that I still miss things about some famous example of modern architecture in my collection. If anybody could help me with stamps or postcards about these things I would love to swap: Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp, Complexe du Capitole in Chandigarh, Musterhaus am Horn in Weimar, Neues Frankfurt, Tugendhat Villa in Brno, Unité d’habitation in Marseille.

Walter Gropius, who later founded the Bauhaus, was born in 1883 in Berlin. His great-uncle was the architect Martin Gropius, who is famous for his representative buildings in the style of the Historism. At the age of twenty, in 1903, Walter Gropius began his studies of architecture in Berlin, which he continued in Munich in 1906, but which he terminated without graduation in 1908. His biggest problem was the drawing of blueprints.

Nonetheless Gropius was able to begin working at the architect's office of Peter Behrens in the same year. Peter Behrens was known for his industrial buildings and is today considered as the first industrial designer in history, as he designed the entire corporate identity for the Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG). His most famous building is the AEG Turbine Factory in Berlin. Beside this, Behrens' importance for the modern architecture is also justified by his architect's office, which became a working place for many now World-famous young architects. These architects include beside Walter Gropius also Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Adolf Meyer.

After working for Peter Behrens for two years, Walter Gropius went into business for himself in 1910. The most famous building of this early independent period is the Fagus Factory, a shoe last factory in the small town of Alfeld in modern day Lower Saxony. It was commissioned by its owner Carl Benscheidt and was designed by Walter Gropius together with Adolf Meyer between 1911 and 1925. It is considered to be a landmark in the development of modern architecture and industrial design and still today it is used for the production of shoe lasts, although also a museum was established in a part of the complex and although it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2011.

In 1917 a movement of artists and architects emerged in the Dutch of Leiden, which would later have an important influence on the architecture of the Bauhaus - De Stijl. Proponents of De Stijl advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour. Theo van Doesburg, one of the movement's most important members, later even moved to Weimar. Without a permanent position at the Bauhaus he still held architectural lectures and influenced the students and professors.

The most famous example of the De Stijl architecture is the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht. It was commissioned by Ms Truus Schröder-Schräder as family house and was designed by the architect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld. It was built in 1924.

UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000

In 1919 the Weimar Saxon Grand Ducal Art School and the Weimar Academy of Fine Art were merged to form a new school. The school became known as Bauhaus and Walter Gropius became its first director. The Bauhaus soon gathered outstanding architects, artists, craftsman and designers. Its aim was to unite art and craft and shape and function for the creation of a functional total artwork for the mankind in the industrial age. Based on the fundamental courses (Josef Albers, Johannes Itten, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy) the Bauhaus offered for example courses in printing (Lyonel Feininger), pottery making (Gerhard Marcks), weaving (Georg Muche), mural art (Wassily Wandinsky), glass painting (Paul Klee) and sculpting (Oskar Schlemmer). The students, which included many foreigners and women, were encouraged to become both artists and craftsmen.

Due to the pressure of conservative parts in the Thuringian government the Bauhaus had to present its first exhibition in 1923. Although the professors thought it would be too early, the exhibition became a success. The main product of the exhibition was the Musterhaus am Horn, the first real Bauhaus-style building which was created as collaboration of the different courses.

Also after the exhibition the pressure of the Thuringian government did not decrease, in fact they even reduced the funding in 1924 and terminated the professors' contracts for 1925, which forced the Bauhaus to find a new home. This new home was found in Dessau, which had a liberal city council and where the aircraft manufacturer Hugo Junkers offered financial help. In Dessau the Bauhaus had its heyday. There many new pieces of furniture were designed and the cooperation with the industry began. Also the most famous Bauhaus-style buildings, the Bauhaus Building and the Masters' Houses, were built in Dessau.

In 1927 Walter Gropius designed two houses for the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart. The Weissenhof Estate was built for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition and was an international showcase of modern architecture. All together it included 21 houses, which were designed by 17 European architects. The estate in Stuttgart became the first in a series of six, which are currently trying to get the European Heritage Label (EDIT: They got the label in 2019!).

Another famous architect who was involved in the Weissenhof Estate was Le Corbusier. In 2016 17 projects by Le Corbusier in seven countries were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement.

One of Le Corbusier's two houses at the Weissenhof Estate

Le Corbusier's National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo

In 1928 Walter Gropius resigned as director of the Bauhaus. The new director became the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer. Meyer intensified the cooperation with the industry and focused more on architecture. One of the most famous buildings designed by Hannes Meyer is the ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau bei Berlin.

One of the big problems of the Weimar Republic was the acute shortage of affordable housing. During Hannes Meyer's time as director the Bauhaus took part in a project in Dessau, which tried to produce relief - the Dessau-Törten Housing Estate. It was conceived as a solution for cost-effective mass housing.

Another important modern housing estate of that time was the Großsiedlung Siemensstadt, which was built with the participation of Walter Gropius in Berlin between 1929 and 1931. Unlike the other significant public housing projects of the time, which were produced under government sponsorship, the Siemensstadt was constructed by a private housing cooperative as worker housing for Siemens' nearby electrical factory. The Siemensstadt is the youngest of the six Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008.

After Hannes Meyer had become the new director, he shifted the orientation of the school further to the left than it had been under Gropius, which resulted in conflicts with Dessau's city council. In 1930 Meyer was fired by the city's mayor. His successor became Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, but at this time the days of the Bauhaus were already numbered. In 1932 the NSDAP gained control in the city council and proceeded to close the Bauhaus. Rohe tried to save the school by moving it to Berlin and privatising it, but after the Nazi seizure of power the school was forced to voluntarily shut down.

New National Gallery in Berlin (built after the war)

But the closure of the school did not bring an end to its ideas. In fact it even helped to spread them, as in the following time many members of the school emigrated. Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for example went to the USA, where they continued their teachings, and Hannes Meyer went to the Soviet Union. As many of the students were Jews, many of them later also went to Israel, where they created the White City of Tel Aviv. Still until today the Bauhaus influences architecture, art and design and during a jubilee year like 2019 this becomes even clearer again.

1917: Первая мировая война and World War I (Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Faroe Islands, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Monaco, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Thailand, United Kingdom)

Originally posted on 11th October 2018

12th January - Big Protests in Hamburg due to the bad situation of the civilian population in the German Steckrübenwinter (Turnip Winter)

16th January - The secret Zimmermann Telegram is issued from the German Foreign Office that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the case that the USA declared war on the Central Powers and that promised Mexico the recovery of various lost former territories. The British intercepted the telegram and later decoded it.

1st February - Resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare by the German Empire

The Resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare impressively shows how the war also affected a neutral territory, the Faroe Islands. Already short after the declaration of war there were shortages in supply on the Faroe Islands, as the belligerents put up naval blockades. In these times of dearth the Faroese started to experiment around to get the most necessary goods. For example they used roe to extend rye flour or blubber as lamp oil and fuel for motorboats. On 1st February 1917 the German Empire declared the waters around the British Islands as war zone, which also stretched to the southern part of the Faroe Islands, and announced to dump all boats in the zone by submarines, but full of hope the Faroese still sent out their fishing boats. The tragedy occurred on the 23rd and 24th May 1917, when a German submarine dumped altogether eight Faroese boats. 

21st February - Beginning of the Toplica Uprising

The Toplica Uprising was a Serb rebellion in 1917 carried out by Serbian guerrillas in the Toplica District in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Serbia against the Bulgarian occupation force. Serbia was occupied since October 1915, but when Romania entered the war in August 1916, new hope awakened among the Serbian population. Some armed themselves and took to the forests. Even a secret resistance organisation was founded. On 21st February the rebellion broke out and the Serbs started to liberate some cities. On 15th March the Bulgarians started a counter-attack with Austro-Hungarian support and although some rebels survived and escaped, the order was fully restored by the 25th March. During the rebellion several thousand people were killed including civilians. It was the only rebellion in the territories occupied by the armies of the Central Powers during World War I.

8th March - Beginning of the February Revolution

In the early 20th century Russia was coined by the conservative and authoritarian government of Tsar Nicholas II and a growing proletariat in the cities, but at the beginning of World War I the country was still caught by a wave of nationalism. Heavy military setbacks and the horrible situation of the civilian population at home however changed the people's mind. Soon this would also led to a loss of confidence in the regime, as the Tsar was made responsible for all the problems. Beginning in February 1917 there were big strikes and demonstrations in Saint Petersburg. On 8th March (or 23rd February according to the Julian calendar used then in Russia), International Women's Day, small demonstrations turned into economic and political gatherings. A few days later factories and other enterprises had to be closed down, as too many workers were demonstrating. The Tsar hoped that the available soldiers would quell the riots, but when he actually ordered the army to suppress them, many soldiers began to mutiny. After he figured out his desperate situation, he abdicated on 15th March. One day later a Provisional Government was established. Already four days earlier the socialists had formed the Petrograd Soviet. In the following time these two bodies competed for power over Russia. Thus they created a factual dual power.

11th March - Bagdad is captured by the British.

19th March - As part of the Operation Alberich, which began on the 9th February, the German Empire had withdrawn to new positions on the shorter and more easily defended Hindenburg Line on the Western Front.

6th April - The USA enter World War I alongside the Entente.

Although they had already supplied the Entente countries earlier, the USA officially remained neutral during World War I until their declaration of war on Germany on 6th April 1917. Reasons for the entry included the resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare and Zimmermann Telegram. The USA were an independent power and did not officially join the Entente, but they closely cooperated militarily. American soldiers arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. 110,000 of them died and never came back home.

9th April - Beginning of the Battle of Arras

9th April - Beginning of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought in 1917 between the German Empire and the British Empire and is a part of the Battle of Arras. It was the first battle in which the four divisions of Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together and became a symbol of Canadian national achievement. It ended with a victory of the British Empire. 

11th April - The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), which later played an important role in the Weimar Republic, is founded.

16th April - Beginning of the Battle of Chemin des Dames

The Battle of Chemin des Dames, also known as Second Battle of the Aisne, was fought between the German Empire and France in April and May 1917. The battle began as part of a meticulously planned Franco-British offensive, but had to be abandoned after many French divisions mutinied. It ended with a tactical victory of the German Empire. Prince Louis II of Monaco, who volunteered to serve in the French Army in August 1914, took part in the battle.

22nd April - Beginning of the Second Battle of Doiran

After Bulgaria's entry into the war the Balkan theatre saw successful campaigns of rapid movement in 1915 and 1916, but soon the conflict degraded into a state of trench warfare. The Second Battle of Doiran was fought between Bulgaria and the United Kingdom in April and May 1917. It ended with a Bulgarian victory and thus thwarted an Allied breakthrough at the Balkan front.

12th May - Beginning of the Tenth Battle of the Isonzo

4th June - The Polish military contingent known as Blue Army is created in France to fight alongside the Entente. After fighting on the Western Front it was later moved to Poland to fight for the return of Poland's independence.

7th June - Beginning of the Battle of Messines Ridge

The Battle of Messines Ridge was fought near the village of Messines in West Flanders in June 1917. The battle resulted in a British victory and the recapturing of the Messines Ridge. During the battle Irish soldiers, supporting and opposing the ideas of the Easter Rising, fought together.

29th June - Greece enters the war alongside the Entente.

1st July - Although big parts of the population and the soldiers were against a further participation in the war, Alexander Kerensky, Minister of War in the Provisional Government, decided to start a new offensive against the Central Powers, the Kerensky Offensive. After an initial success the offensive ended on 19th July with a military catastrophe, which further weakened the Provisional Government.

14th July - The German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg resigns.

20th July - The Corfu Declaration is signed.

After Serbia was occupied by the Central Powers, Corfu became the new seat of the Serbian government in exile. On 20th July 1917 Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian politicians in exile with the support of France and the United Kingdom signed there the Corfu Declaration, which enabled the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after the war.

22nd July - Thailand enters World War I alongside the Entente.

Thailand, back then known as Siam, is possibly one of the least well-known participants in World War I, although an Expeditionary Force was sent to France to fight on the Western Front, which began operations in the middle of September 1918. Siam was the only state in Southeast Asia to enter the conflict entirely of its own free will and as an equal of the European powers. During the war 19 soldiers of Siam died. After it Siam became a founding member of the League of Nations.

22nd July - Beginning of the Battle of Mărăști

When Romania entered World War I alongside the Entente in 1916, there were soon some victories of the Romanian forces aided by Russia against the Central Powers, but when the Central Powers started to fight back, big parts of Romania were occupied by the end of 1916. The three battles of Mărăști, Mărășești and Oituz, which were fought between July and August 1917 and which all ended with Romanian successes, left the remaining Romanian territories unoccupied and seemed like a relief, but the situation once again took a turn for the worse for Romania in November 1917, when Russia's involvement in the war ended with the October Revolution.

31st July - Beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele

The Battle of Passchendaele, which is also known as Third Battle of Ypres or Dritte Flandernschlacht in German, was fought by Belgium, the British Empire and France against the German Empire between the 31st July and the 10th November 1917. The battle ended, when Canadian troops captured the village of Passchendaele. The quite big gains of territory for the Allies were bought with horrible losses and thus the battle became another symbol of the absurdity and brutality of the war. The Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the World, is located on the former battleground.

14th August - China enters the war alongside the Entente.

17th August - Beginning of the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo

3rd September - Riga is captured by the Germans.

At the beginning of World War I the Latvian territory was a part of the Russian Empire and had a direct border with the German Empire. Already in August 1914 Liepaja and the Užava Lighthouse were attacked by German troops, but just in May 1915 the war reached the whole of Latvia leading to many Latvians leaving their region. Also much of the region's industry was evacuated to Russia and was lost forever. In September 1917 Riga was captured by German troops. After the Russian Revolution parts of Latvia were given to the Germans according to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, who quickly established an occupational regime which ruled between March and November 1918. After the end of World War I the Latvian War of Independence was fought, which ended with the recognition of the Latvian Republic by Soviet Russia in 1920.

24th October - Beginning of the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo

The region around Kobarid was located near the Isonzo Front and was hard fought between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. After a long trench warfare the Battle of Kobarid, fought in October and November 1917, resulted in a victory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the collapse of the Italian Second Army. The battle is also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, Battle of Caporetto (Italian name of Kobarid) or Battle of Karfreit (German name of Kobarid).

26th October - Brazil enters World War I alongside the Entente.

31st October - Beginning of the Battle of Beersheba in Ottoman Syria, which ended with a British victory and thus paved the way for the Battle of Jerusalem

2nd November - The Balfour Declaration is issued by the British government.

The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government on 2nd November 1917. With it the British government announced their support for the Zionist aim of establishing a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, which was then still under Ottoman rule. Thus the British hoped to mobilise new resources.

7th November - Beginning of the October Revolution

In the unstable time of the dual power Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, returned with German help from his exile in Switzerland to Russia. His return was enabled by the democratisation of politics after the February Revolution and the legalisation of formerly banned political parties. One of his main political aims as formulated in his April Theses was the accession to power by the soviets. At the beginning Lenin's Bolsheviks formed a minority in the both big cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but in the following months various events led to a strengthening of their power. The October Revolution finally began on 7th November (or 25th October according to Julian calendar), which saw the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the accession to power by the Soviets. This event would later mark the beginning of the spread of communism in the 20th century and would create the Soviet Union as new global power, but for the moment it laid the foundation for the Russian Civil War.

17th November - Beginning of the Battle of Jerusalem

The Battle of Jerusalem was a part of the British Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire. The battle started on 17th November 1917 and already on the 9th December Jerusalem surrendered to the British, although fightings continued until the 30th December. When General Edmund Allenby entered the Old City on 11th December, he was the first Christian in many centuries to control the holy city. The capture of Jerusalem was a great morale boost for the British Empire and led to a loss of prestige for the Ottoman Empire in the Arabic World. After the battle the British established a new strategically strong fortified line.

20th November - Beginning of the Battle of Cambrai

4th December - Russia and the German Empire sign a ceasefire agreement. One day later a ceasefire agreement with all Central Powers followed.

9th December - Romania and the Central Powers sign the Armistice of Focșani.

15th December - Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice.

22nd December - Beginning of peace negotiations between Russia and the Central Powers in Brest-Litovsk