UNESCO World Heritage Site #162: Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau

Posted: 29 Nov 2011 04:44 PM PST

The Bauhaus is an outstanding example of the Modern Movement, which revolutionized artistic and architectural thinking and practice in the 20th century, and in particular of the progressive architectural concepts of the Jugendstil.

In 1919 the Schools of Art and of Applied Arts of the Grand Duchy of Saxony were combined to form the State Bauhaus of Weimar. The building of the former had been constructed in two phases, in 1904 and 1911, to the designs of Henry van de Velde (1863-1957), replacing the original structure of 1860.

The new building is representative of the progressive architectural concepts of the Jugendstil, in the transitional phase between Historicism and Modernism. The building was decorated with murals painted by Herbert Beyer in 1923 following the internationally famous Bauhaus exhibition. Van de Velde was responsible for the design of the former School of Applied Arts (1905-6), also in the Jugendstil tradition. Oskar Schlemmer added wall sculptures in 1923, which had disappeared, but have been replaced by copies.

Was the Bauhaus movement important? Yes.

In fact, I dare say I like most of the things with a Bauhaus design.

That, however, does not mean it was easy to take photos of this site. The locations for the UNESCO sites are divided between Weimar and Dessau. I visited them in Weimar.

While the Bauhaus movement was started in Weimar, and Bauhaus University is currently in Weimar, that doesn’t mean there is a lot to see. There is a Bauhaus museum in the city center, but that isn’t technically part of the UNESCO site. The university building itself isn’t that special. If you pop your head inside however, you can see some great design work inside.

The photo above is from the main stairwell in the main building at the University.

This was the seventh stop on my November 2011 Eurail trip to European UNESCO sites.

View my complete list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Originally posted on the Everything Everywhere Travel Blog. Discover great travel photos.