In Germany, the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus are beginning

Building of the University of Applied Arts in Weimar (author: Henry van de Velde)

Berlin – In Germany, year-long events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus begin tonight. More than 700 exhibitions, lectures, artistic performances, and other events will bring the art school, associated with world-renowned architects such as Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe, closer to the public this year. Two new museums will also open in honor of the anniversary, while another is currently in development.

Although the art school founded in 1919 in Weimar could only operate until 1933 when it was closed by the Nazis, it nevertheless left an indelible mark on modern architecture, design, and applied arts. "For artists and creatives, it was not just about a new philosophy of creation. The Bauhaus aimed to attempt a social change shortly after the end of World War I," reminded Monika Grütters, the German government's Commissioner for Culture, before the celebrations began.

In this spirit, the Bauhaus – which also influenced world-class painters such as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee – will be commemorated across Germany and in several other countries this year. "Thinking anew about the world" is the motto of the celebrations, centered in the three cities most associated with the art school – Weimar, where Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in April 1919, Dessau, to which the school moved in 1925 due to political pressure, and Berlin, where it operated in its last two years, namely 1932 and 1933.

In Thuringian Weimar, the anniversary exhibition, which will showcase part of the 13,000 objects in the local collection, will open on April 6 in the premises of a new museum created for this occasion. The Saxony-Anhalt city of Dessau will also receive a new Bauhaus museum this year, where an exhibition starting on September 8 will highlight how commonplace the products of this art school have become today, whether they be furniture, wallpapers, typefaces, or architecture.

In Berlin, where a new building will be added to the existing Bauhaus museum in a few years, one of the highlights will be a nine-day festival featuring concerts, theater performances, installations, and debates. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will officially open it today at 7:00 PM.

The entire program of celebrations, which is funded with 21 million euros (over 537 million CZK) from the federal level alone, can be found on the website www.bauhaus100.de.