Deutscher Werkbund

The Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation) was a German association of architects, designers and industrialists, an important precursor to the Bauhaus.

Related Topics:
German - Architects - Bauhaus

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It was founded in 1907 in Munich at the instigation of Hermann Muthesius, existed through 1934, then re-established after World War in 1950. Muthesius was the author of the exhaustive three-volume "The English House" of 1905, a survey of the practical lessons of the English Arts and Crafts movement. Muthesius was seen as something of a cultural ambassador, or industrial spy, between Germany and England.

Related Topics:
Munich - Hermann Muthesius - Arts and Crafts

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The Werkbund was less an artistic movement than a state-sponsored effort to integrate traditional crafts and industrial mass-production techniques, to put Germany on a competitive footing with England and the United States. Its motto "Vom Sofakissen zum Städtebau" (from sofa cushions to city-building) indicates its range of interest.

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The organization originally included twelve architects and twelve business firms. The architects include Peter Behrens, Theodor Fischer (who served as its first president), Josef Hoffmann and Richard Riemerschmid.

Related Topics:
Peter Behrens - Theodor Fischer - Josef Hoffmann - Richard Riemerschmid

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Other architects affiliated with the project include Heinrich Tessenow and the Belgian Henry van de Velde. The Werkbund commissioned van de Velde to build a theatre for its 1914 Cologne Exhibition in Cologne, the theatre which turned out to be his best work, and which only stood for one year before being destroyed as a result of World War I.

Related Topics:
Heinrich Tessenow - Henry van de Velde

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Key dates of the Deutscher Werkbund:

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• 1907 Establishment of the Werkbund in Munich
• 1914 Colonge exhibition
• 1924 Berlin exhibition
• 1927 Stuttgart exhibition (including the Weissenhof settlement)
• 1929 Breslau exhibition
• 1938 Werkbund closed by the National Socialists
• 1949 reestablishment
 
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