Germany is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus

Berlin - Exhibitions, creative workshops, symposiums, and many cultural events are commemorating this week in the East German city of Weimar the 90th anniversary of the founding of the famous architectural school Bauhaus. Perhaps the most significant school of architecture and product design of the last century was founded on April 1, 1919, by architect Walter Gropius in the city of writers Goethe and Schiller. The main idea of the school and the movement, namely the unity of art under the guidance of architecture and a close relationship with craftsmanship, continues to influence the thinking of architects and designers to this day.
    This year's Bauhaus celebrations are concentrated in three cities where the avant-garde art school, officially named "Das Staatliche Bauhaus," operated between the World Wars. It moved from Weimar in 1925 to the town of Dessau and then to Berlin in 1932, where it had to be closed in 1933 after the rise of the Nazis, who considered the style too "Jewish-Marxist".
    In Weimar, celebrations began this week with a colorful parade through the city and the opening of an exhibition held at several locations in the city featuring 1200 exhibits. "We want to show that Weimar is the cradle and garden of Bauhaus,” said the head of the organizing foundation Klassik Stiftung Hellmut Seemann. The exhibition, which will last until July 5, also proudly bears the title "Bauhaus Comes from Weimar." The University of Bauhaus also operates in the city.
    In the summer, a major exhibition dedicated to the anniversary will also take place in Berlin. Starting July 22, about a thousand exhibits will be displayed in 18 exhibition halls of the Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum, named after its architect and the great-uncle of Walter Gropius. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, significant collections from both former German states will be presented together for the first time.
    The city of Dessau, located about 50 kilometers northwest of Leipzig, boasts the largest concentration of Bauhaus-style buildings, which is closely related to functionalism but is somewhat more playful. Former school headquarters, Bauhaus Dessau, is also located there. The entire complex of buildings, characterized by direct lines and clean style, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.
    In Dessau, along with exhibitions and expert meetings, there will also be film, theater, and dance performances. In original films, people can glimpse the creative activities not only of Walter Gropius himself but also of his famous students, including Vasily Kandinsky, Oskar Schlemmer, and László Moholy-Nagy.
    From July 22 to 31, an international summer school "Bauhaus City - Get on Site!" is to take place in the city, where students from various countries will engage with the history and present of Bauhaus.