Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus' move from Weimar to Dessau. The round anniversary will give rise to lavish celebrations in the city and German cultural institutions. Various events, exhibitions, scientific conferences and even the construction of new buildings according to the designs of Walter Gropius are planned. The enthusiasm of the city authorities is not shared by members of the right-wing AfD party, which has directed harsh criticism at the Bauhaus.
It would seem that the more than a century that has passed since the opening of the first Bauhaus facility in Weimar has been enough for the public to become accustomed to the legacy of the famous school, understand it and appreciate the contribution it made to the development of modern architecture. However, it turns out that the yearning for prominent cornices, carved friezes and capitals crowning rows of columns in facades is still extremely strong. Surprisingly, a striking critique of architecture under the Bauhaus has recently unexpectedly emerged in its German homeland.
Hans-Thomas Tillschneider
Photo: blu-news.org © CC SA 2.0 | Wikimedia Commons
the wrong path of modernity
"The Wrong Way of Modernity - a Critical Look at the Bauhaus," is the translated title of a motion that the far-right AfD (Alternative fur Deutschland) party submitted to the German parliament in recent days. Representatives of the group, most notably Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, AfD vice-chairman in Saxony-Anhalt, target Bauhaus modernism with a number of accusations. They see it as a movement that, by promoting universalism, has led to uniformity and standardization of design, and consequently, "blurring regional differences" and doing damage to the field of cultural diversity. In their conclusion, the AfD raise questions about the Bauhaus' links to communism, and sum up the Bauhaus' activities with the words:
The emphasis on subdued form and minimalism often led to impersonal architecture that is perceived as cold, unfriendly and unattractive.
avoid glorification
The arguments put forward by the AfD are expected to become a reason for changing plans for next year's centennial celebration of the Bauhaus' move from Weimar to Dessau. The politicians want not so much to abandon the organization of celebrations and events, but rather to change the discourse conducted around the Bauhaus in connection with the anniversary. The AfD is thus trying to "prevent one-sided glorification" and calling for a more critical view of the Bauhaus legacy and the consequences for architecture of the spread of modernist ideas. Today the controversial proposal is being discussed in the Land Parliament in Magdeburg.
The Bauhaus headquarters in Dessau
Public domain | Wikimedia Commons
AfD as NSDAP
Comparisons to the policies pursued just before and during World War II by the NSDAP began to appear very quickly in the German press. Analogies to Nazi rhetoric were noted by Claudia Roth of the Green Party and Andreas Silbersack of the FDP (Free Democratic Party), among others. Barbara Steiner, director of the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, also commented on the situation, assuring that the organization has been promoting an objective approach to researching the Bauhaus legacy for years. In an interview the researcher gave to the Swiss portal Neue Zürcher Zeitung, she mentioned, among other things, attempts to evaluate the impact of the modernist revolution on the environment.
Barbara Steiner
Photo: Christopher Adams © CC BY SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Such juxtapositions are not surprising, given the history of the school founded by Walter Gropius. Problems with the Nazis began in 1932, when the party withdrew funding for the school, which had operated in Dessau since 1926. The move to Berlin was of little use, as the following year funding was cut there as well, and a cordon of Nazi functionaries lined up in front of the Stieglitz telephone factory, inside which classes were held, to close the school.
not so Bauhaus as they paint it
What is strange is the short-sightedness, lack of adequate factual background, or simply hypocrisy of the representatives of the "Alternative for Germany". Despite the positive reception of the Bauhaus by the German public, a critical view of the activities of this institution and its members has been practiced by researchers for a long time - and for good reason. The actions of Fritz Ertel, one of the most talented Bauhaus graduate architects, who in 1942 became deputy head of the Waffen-SS Central Construction Bureau at Auschwitz, are well known. However, he was involved in the construction of the concentration camp from its inception, designing with Walter Dejaco the layout of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the barracks there and the gas chambers.
Is this how the AfD envisions the future of German architecture?
Photo: GZagatta © CC BY SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
It's hard to imagine that AfD representatives didn't visit, or at least hear about, the exhibitions held in Weimar last year. "Bauhaus and National Socialism," as the exhibition's title translates, presents facts that are inconvenient to Bauhaus history, as well as works commissioned by the totalitarian regime: from posters promoting the 1937 Olympics to busts of Adolf Hitler. Curators and curators pointed out that as many as 188 Bauhaus members belonged to the NSDAP. Ruhr University Bochum professor Lucian Hölscher called the Bauhaus a "utopia and a disappointment" in his lecture series. Nonetheless, the AfD continues to demand that the university's work be looked at with a critical eye, taking into account not only its impact of its universalist methodology on the design process or the resulting social consequences, but also aesthetic criteria - aspects that are difficult to weave into a substantive discussion, but work well as a vehicle for propaganda content.
The Bauhaus is an example - I'll say it in a rather unceremonious way - of bottomless ugliness, an architectural sin; it 's impossible to look at ," Hans-Thomas Tillschneider exclaimed from the rostrum.
I am a fan of Grunderzeit [Wilhelminian era style - ed.] and Art Nouveau , " Oliver Kirchner, head of the AfD party, said in turn on Monday.
architecture in the political game
So, does it really come down to reliable research on architecture, as demanded by AfD representatives? It seems that the proposal submitted by the party is rather an example of the instrumentalization for political purposes of an important cultural and historical phenomenon, such as the Bauhaus legacy. Although the case of the German right-wing party is extremely media-savvy (which is not at all surprising, given the threads that run through it), it is worth remembering that this is not the only example of such an action, and similar processes using architectural heritage for propaganda purposes have been taking place all over the world for years. Also on the Vistula River.
