Women of the Bauhaus Laura Brodie Weimar, Germany 1919 After the first world war, supplies in Germany

were extremely low. Many people were living in poverty, and starving without any materials to remake their former lives. It was also a time of violence where revolts were suppressed in Berlin and Munich (Anscombe 131). This may seem an unlikely environment to support an artistic revolution, and an even more unlikely environment for any kind of feminist advancement. Never-the-less, for the designers of the Bauhaus, this was the beginning of a rewarding struggle. "In a world as chaotic as the European world after World War I, any exploratory artistic work had to be experimented in a very comprehensive sense. What had existed had proved to be wrong; everything leading up to it seemed wrong too. Anyone seeking to find a point of certainty amid the confusion of upset beliefs, had to start at the very beginning." - Anni Albers (Anscombe 132) Founding of the Bauhaus Before the war there had been a kunstgewerbeschule (school of arts and crafts) in Weimar. The director, Henry van de Velde, had been a leader in the European arts and crafts movement. In 1919, a successor to the former kunstgewerbeschule was formed by the town, and van de Velde chose Walter Gropius to direct the new school (Anscombe 131). Gropius founded the Bauhaus school of arts and crafts on socialist ideologies including an interdisciplinary combination of fine arts and crafts, a search for artistic universals of form, and a promotion of aesthetics in industrial production (Anscombe 132,137). "In order to become an artist one must be an artist, and in order to become one when one already is one, one comes to the Bauhaus; to make of that 'artist' a human being again is the task of the Bauhaus." - Ottie Berger (Wingler 528) Co-Education Ideology Unlike other art schools in Germany Bauhaus classes were not segregated. After completing the preliminary study requirements, students were free to choose the workshop discipline they wanted. The majority of female students went into the weaving workshop which was run by women. The study of textiles was not seen as less important than other crafts, and some women entered other fields. However, it was very rare for male students to study textiles (Anscombe 134,135). Number of Women at the School The Bauhaus always had a rather small student body. It began with about 40 students in 1919, and towards the end in 1930 there were about 190 students (Wingler 486). In the beginning about one fourth of the students were women. By 1929 there were 170 students in the Bauhaus, 51 (30%) of them were women, and 19 of the women were in the weaving workshop (Anscombe 133,135).

"So we women, too, came to this school because we, every one of us, found work to do here, which we durst not neglect! May no one begrudge us this work! Thanks to those who already accord it to us." - Kthe Brachmann, student (Dearstyne 49) Bauhaus Atmosphere Overall the Bauhaus was a place of color, excitement, and youth that encouraged an atmosphere of artistic creativity, individuality, and discipline (Anscombe 131). It was a close community of artists and friends. This was partially because the students were not completely accepted by the Weimar community and often found themselves isolated (Wingler 84). To the Weimar community the students were extremely radical in appearance and behavior. Many of the men had served in the war and decorated their old uniforms with cloth scraps. The women often had short hair and modern dresses (Anscombe 137). Friendships between the masters and the students were encouraged. All students had to go through a preliminary course which was taught by Johannes Itten. Itten was very popular with the students and became a token of the Bauhaus. He often encouraged unconventional practices such as a vegetarian diet and breathing exercises in class (Anscombe 133). The Bauhaus dances were a pride of the school. They were famous primarily for the student jazz band (Wingler 84). Parties and carnival balls were given a theme that clued the guests into what to wear and make for decorations (Wingler 483). "Dances and festivals played a big role in our activities when Kandinsky came to the Bauhaus, he held a huge exhibition of his paintings in the studio and we danced there in the evening. What unforgettable parties, all the couples dancing before the large forms and glowing colours of his paintings I believe today that our life there was the most important thing. It was, above all, discovery, experience, encounter, friendship: friendships which lasted for decades." -Gunta Stlzl (Anscombe 131) Founding of the Weaving Workshop The first Christmas that the school was open, the students made toys and decorations out of paper, wood, and fabric scraps to sell at a "Dada-ist stall" in the Weimar Christmas market. It was a very successful venture, and from this experience textiles became one of the first Bauhaus workshops (Anscombe 134). Gunta Stlzl and two other women students asked Gropius to start a class for women in which they made wall hangings, covers, and toys from scraps of material donated by women Weimar. Stlzl then found a needle work teacher named Helen Brner. Brner had taken over the looms of the former Weimar kunstgewerbeschule during World War I. The looms and the dye shop from the old school were taken over by the Bauhaus under Brner's supervision even through she knew embroidery not weaving (Anscombe 135). Paul Klee was made form master for a short time, but Georg Muche succeeded him with Helen Brner as technical director (Dearstyne 123). For the early years of the workshop students were primarily self-taught. Gunta Stlzl and Benita Otte began to learn dying weaving on the machines by trial and error (Anscombe 135). The students sought technical knowledge and learned from each other in textiles more than in any other workshop (Woven 66). In 1921, the weaving students were able to go for 2 month courses in the textile town of Krefeld to learn dyeing and weaving techniques

(Anscombe 135). The Role of Georg Muche When the school was beginning, Gropius appointed many artists with the understanding that they would not be "real" teachers (Naylor 68). Georg Muche arrived in 1921 "not because of the programme, but because of the people" (Naylor 70). He agreed to act as form master with the understanding that he was a painter and had no interest in the actual activities of the workshops (Naylor 109). First he was an assistant to Itten in the preliminary course. After which he was appointed form master in the wood workshop, and then changed to the weaving workshop (Naylor 70). Georg Muche had little actual involvement with the workshop, and his responsibility was assumed by Helen Brner (Woven 66). "I lived and worked solely for the Bauhaus. I gave up everything else, even painting. As form master, I directed the weaving studio for years. I allowed myself to become entangled in the problems of buying and selling, workshop, industry, and production. My form vocabulary of abstract painting turned into fantasy and, in the hands of the women weavers, into Gobelins, rugs, and stuffs. I promised myself that I would never in my life with my own hand weave a single thread, tie a single knot, make a single textile design. I have kept my word. I wanted to be ready for painting because I knew that I would one day return to it." - Georg Muche (Dearstyne 124) Weaving Theory In Weimar the weaving workshop atmosphere was relaxed. Students could wander into the department weave a piece and then leave. The early work was dominated by free expression and artistic improvisation. These artistic pieces reflect the struggle against the diminutive connotations of weaving being merely 'craft' or 'women's work'. The women of the weaving workshop were determined to demonstrate that there was no difference between fine arts and crafts (Whitford 178). Textiles were also viewed as a way to bring abstract art to the public (Anscombe 136). For the Bauhusler, abstract qualities reflected a harmonious perception of modern life. Geometric forms were reassuring elements that provided balance and calm in the uncertain natural world (Woven 18). The workshop style included strong blocks of color, geometric shapes, and expressive forms. Weavers paid close attention to detail, color, and texture (Anscombe 134,135). "Nearly all of us came from academies or schools of applied art, and we wanted to be rid of the dry exercises in drawing and painting. We wanted to make living things, with contemporary relevance." - Gunta Stlzl (Naylor 109) Women in Other Disciplines Although textiles has been viewed as the women's workshop, there were women working successfully in other workshops. The most famous of these women were Marianne Brandt in the metal workshop and Alma Buscher in cabinet making. Marianne Brandt was the only woman in the metal workshop. Lazlo Moholy-Nagy took over as form master in 1923, and recommended that Brandt transfer to metalwork. She was

not accepted well despite the school's co-educational ideology (Naylor 112). "At first I was not accepted with pleasure, there was no place for a woman in a metal workshop. They felt and expressed their displeasure by giving me all sorts of dull, dreary work. How many little hemispheres did I most patiently hammer out of brittle new silver, thinking that was the way it had to be and all beginnings are hard. Later things settled down, and we got along well together." - Marianne Brandt (Naylor 112) Brandt started designing sliver tea services and other traditional metalwork objects then became concerned with simpler functional objects such as cooking utensils, ashtrays, lamps etc In 1926, she developed glass globe lamps which were produced by a firm in Berlin. Then in 1927, she designed the Kandem bedside lamp with an adjustable reflector to give indirect lighting and a push-button switch to make it easier to use when a person is half asleep (Anscombe 142). She came to dominate the metal workshop and her designs have become icons of the Bauhaus (Naylor 112). In 1928 she succeeded Moholy-Nagy as assistant head of the metal workshop. Unfortunately during that year Gropius resigned, and Hannes Meyer became the new Bauhaus director. He combined the metal workshop and cabinet making into the interior design workshop under Joseph Albers (Anscombe 142). Alma Buscher was the only woman working in the carpentry workshop in Weimar. She used cabinet making techniques to create the most experimental and innovative work during her period at the Bauhaus. She researched children's play in order to create designs for toys and children's furniture. Alma Buscher's children's furniture was among the first of the Bauhaus products to be well received by the public (Naylor 107,108). The Move to Dessau The Weimar Bauhaus was perceived as too socialist by the town and was forced to close in April 1925. Gropius moved the Bauhaus to Dessau where it was poorly financed. The production of the workshops became an important source of income, and the Bauhaus GmbH company was set up to market their designs and products (Anscombe 137).

Gunta Stlzl Returns to the Weaving Workshop Helene Brner did not go with the Bauhaus to Dessau. Gunta had left the Weimar Bauhaus to work in Zurich, but she returned in 1925 to become weaving's junior master craftsperson (Naylor 125). Stlzl was one of the six (out of twelve staff members) former students working at the Bauhaus that were known as young masters and were not formally regarded as equals to the masters of form from Weimar (Whitford 166). For the first two years at Dessau, Gunta held this position, but there were underlying conflicts between Muche, Stlzl, and the students (Whitford 175). Changes in Dessau In Dessau there was a greater variety of looms, and better dying facilities (Naylor 152). However the workshops were more structured than in Weimar, and students could no longer work whenever they wanted (Whitforth 178). The development of the weaving workshop was based on the work of Gunta and her co-worker students: Ottie Berger, Anni Albers, Lis Beyer, and Helene Nonn-Schmidt (Wingler 461).

Weaving Workshop Student Revolt Relations between Muche and the weavers had been strained in Weimar. The students refused to accept him as an instructor because he refused to become involved with the practicalities of weaving (Naylor 153) Muche tried, unsuccessfully, to help equip the Dessau workshop. In 1925, he went to Berlin and bought seven looms at an unreasonably expensive price. Then a year later Muche purchased a jacquard loom. These purchases were frowned upon by the students because they implied a greater concentration on mechanization (Naylor 153). In the summer of 1926, the weaving workshop wanted to have classes. Gropius asked Muche to head the classes, but the weavers claimed that they didn't need him as part of the workshop. Gunta Stlzl did not get involved, but the rest of the student body supported the weaving workshop's position as a test to see if they still held any power in the school (Dearstyne 126). Gropius tried to persuade Muche to stay, but on March 31, 1927 he left the Bauhaus to join Itten who had begun a private school in Berlin (Naylor 153).

Weaving Theory Changes Under Stlzl Gunta took charge of the workshop and managed both the positions of form master and master craftsperson (Dearstyne 128). She was often assisted by Ottie Berger, Benita Otte, Anni Albers, and Margarete Leischner (Anscombe 138). Gunta developed a orderly ciriculum to improve the weaving workshop. A more systematic training in the mechanics of weaving and dying yarns was introduced. Use of the handloom was emphasized because it allowed for the most experimentation (Naylor 154). Classes were taught in mathematics and geometry, technical and organizational topics such as technology, workshop instruction, binding techniques, organization of the working process and calculation, and the principals of artistic design. Paul Klee delivered profound lectures on the principles of design (Wingler 461). The earlier days of free expression through weaving changed to a logical design approach emphasizing simplicity and utility. The weaving workshop became more systematic with respect to instruction which led to experimentation with materials, and then to practical work and production. The workshop was considered a laboratory where free experimentation should occur and new students were encouraged to improvise. Materials were not limited to wool, cotton, and silk; other materials such as cellophane, paper, and rayon were tested for qualities such as color, texture, structure, resistance to wear and tear, flexibility, elasticity, light refraction, and sound absorption. The challenge of weaving was to create an aesthetic that was appropriate to the properties of the material and stressed the qualities of the material (Naylor 153). Tapestries were still produced by the most accomplished designers as a celebration of weaving. They were intended to be masterpieces and demonstrate confidence in their aesthetic and practical skills (Naylor 155). Textiles was one of the most successful workshops at the Bauhaus (Whitford 178). Their designs were successful with the businesses Deutschen Werkstatten in Dresden, Poly-TexilGesellschaft in Berlin and Pausa in Stuttgart (Wingler 465). "We had a very different idea about the home in 1922-23 than we have today, Our textiles were still permitted then to be poems heavy with ideas, flowery embellishment,

and individual experience! They quickly drew approval from a broad public even outside the Bauhaus walls- they were the most easily understandable and, by virtue of their subject matter, the most ingratiating articles of those wildly revolutionary Bauhaus products. Gradually there was a shift. We noticed how pretentious these independent, single pieces were: cloth, curtain, wallhanging. The richness or color and form began to look much too autocratic to us, it did not integrate, it did not subordinate itself to the home. We made an effort to become simpler, to discipline our means and to achieve unity between material and function." - Gunta Stlzl (Wingler 465) Change of Directors Walter Gropius resigned as Bauhaus director and Hannes Meyer succeeded him on April 1, 1928. He created a sweeping transformation in the structure and mental attitude of the Bauhaus. Meyer introduced new elements such as a concentration on architecture, and classes in the science of industrial organization, psychology, city planning, and photography. During this time the Bauhaus was directed as a school for architects and industrial designers . There was a greater emphasis on social needs, and the workshops were at their peak productivity (Wingler 486). Change of Directors Hannes Meyer tolerated and supported radical leftist political tendencies at the Bauhaus which resulted his dismissal. Meyer was attacked by the city council for his condoning of communism and lack of discipline. Paul Klee and Gunta Stlzl were the only faculty opposed to the forced resignation of Meyer (Whitford 191). The city council appointed Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as the new director in August of 1930 (Wingler 486). Change in Courses Mies van der Rohe was an exponent of the "new architecture" and dictated the school with a formal structure focusing on architecture and interior design (Naylor 176). He emphasized strict discipline and developed a more traditional form of education at the Bauhaus. Workshop production was reduced and teaching programs were increased (Wingler 532). Gunta Stlzl Forced Resignation Gunta was required to resign during Mies van der Rohe's directorship of the school. It had nothing to do with her competency, but rather Mies van der Rohe had been pressured by the Dessau parochial community. His measure of firing Stlzl ended up having no real effect on these pressures (Dearstyne 128). His sacrifice of Gunta Stlzl was another break in the Bauhaus' once strong ideology. In 1931 when Stlzl was forced to leave an entire issue of the school magazine was devoted to her (Dearstyne 130). Gunta headed the workshop until the fall of 1931, and after she left Anni Albers and Ottie Berger headed the workshop until Lilly Reich took over in January of 1932 (Wingler 544). Lilly Reich In 1932, Mies van der Rohe brought Lilly Reich to be head of both the weaving workshop and the interior design seminars (Anscombe 143). Reich was an interior architect and close

associate of Mies van der Rohe since 1927. She was not a weaver, but she knew textiles and had been a dress designer (Dearstyne 132). Under Reich, the work continued in the tradition Stlzl had begun, but most designs did not reach the manufacturing stage (Wingler 544). The End of the Bauhaus By 1932 the National Socialists were in control of the Dessau city council, and they attacked the Bauhaus as a manifestation of Jewish-Marxist propaganda. On October 1, 1932 the Bauhaus in Dessau was closed, the staff were dismissed, and the building was ordered destroyed. Mies van der Rohe moved the Bauhaus to Berlin as a private institute, but it only lasted for about a year. In April 1933, the Bauhaus was raided for Communist documents, and several students were arrested for not having correct identification papers. The school was closed, and the conditions for re-opening could not be met. The Bauhaus was officially dissolved on July 20, 1933. The school was shocked by the rapidity of the Nazi takeover, and all those that were able left Germany (Naylor 176,178). The Artistic Revolution and Feminist Advancement In the beginning of this paper I referred to the Bauhaus as an artistic revolution and feminist advancement. It is common to credit the Bauhaus for revolutionizing art education; however, the achievements of the Bauhaus women are not as celebrated. The cultural and artistic advancements of the Bauhaus women were extraordinary. They expanded their traditional cultural roles to devote themselves to their art work. In Weimar, the textile workshop raised the craft standard of weaving to that of a fine art, and proved the validity and quality of "women's work". Then in Dessau they proved that their work was systematic and extremely productive. Yet during both of these stages, the Bauhaus weavers promoted alternative (often holistic) organizational structures based on self-expression, experimentation, and collaboration which are often found in the works of female artists. In addition to the weavers, female designers were incredibly influential in metalwork, cabinet making, and interior design. In conclusion, the Bauhaus socialist theories of universality and utility are no more remarkable than the struggle and triumph of these women. Biographical Information I was unable to find a large amount of biographical information on any one female designer from the Bauhaus; therefore, I am including a section of the bits and pieces of information I was able to find. It is unfortunate that so many of theses women still remain only names to me. I was unable to find any further information on Kthe Brachmann, Tonja Rapoprt, Lis Beyer, Alma Buscher, Helene Nonn-Schmidt, Bennita Otte, Lies Deinhardt, Martha Erps, Gertrud Hantschk, Ruth Holls, Margarete Khler, Hedwig Jungnik, or Ida Kerkovius. Helen Brner She was student at the Weimar kunstgewerbeschule, and saved the schools looms during the World War I. She worked as a needlework teacher, and became master craftsperson of the Bauhaus weaving workshop from the early 1920 to the move to Dessau in 1925. Gunta Stlzl Gunta was born in Munich on March 5, 1897. She studied at the Munich

kunstgewerbeschule and served in the Red Cross from 1914 to 1919 (Wingler 428). She came to the Bauhaus in early 1919 after reading Gropius's program (Anscombe 135). She left the school in January 1924 to join Johannes Itten at Zurich- Herrliberg because he had asked her to run a small weaving workshop (Whitford 175). She became master craftsperson of the Bauhaus weaving workshop in 1925. She held the positions of both form master and master craftsperson from 1927 to 1931 when she was forced to resign. After Gunta left the Bauhaus she set up her own weaving studio in Zurich with Heinz Otto Hurlimann who was another Bauhaus weaver. Her later designs returned to the more decorative style of her first years as a student (Anscombe 140). She married a man named Sharon in 1929, and she married again in 1942 to a man named Stadler (Wingler 428).

Ottie Berger She was born in Vrsmart, Hungary in 1898. She joined the Bauhaus in 1927, and afterwards she lived in Berlin. She worked as a textile designer for large firms in Germany, Holland, England, and Czechoslovakia. Ottie died in the Nazi holocaust around 1942 (Wingler 503). Anni Albers She was born Annelise Fleischmann on June 12, 1899. The first time Anni applied to the Bauhaus she was denied admittance (Woven 17). She was accepted on her second try and joined the Bauhaus in 1922 (Anscombe 132). She joined the weaving workshop because it was the only workshop open to her. She was afraid that the work would require needlepoint and other things considered 'sissy' and began to weave abstract images like paintings (Woven 18). She married Joseph Albers in 1925. She got her degree for a sound absorbing material made for a auditorium in 1930. She acted as the head of the weaving workshop after Stlzl resigned in 1931 until Reich took over in 1932. Anni had been confirmed as a Protestant in Berlin, but still feared persecution for her Jewish heritage (Woven 20). The Albers left Germany for America in 1933, and they taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina until 1949. In 1949 Anni was the first weaver to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Then she worked as a freelance designer working on individual tapestries and commissions including pictorial weaving and experiments for industrial weaving. In 1961 she received the Medal of American Institute of Architects in the Field of Craftsmanship. In 1964 her work moved from weaving to graphic techniques which gave her the chance to exhibit her work more widely (Anscombe 140). Anni's book "On Weaving" was published in 1965 (Naylor 178). In 1980 she received an award for outstanding achievement as weaver/designer/printmaker from the Women's Caucus for Art, and a gold medal from the American Crafts Council for "uncompromising excellence" (Woven 132). Margarete Leischner After attending the Bauhaus, she designed furnishing fabrics, curtains, and table linens for the Deutsche Werkstatte in Dresden. In 1937, she moved to England where she designed hand-woven textiles with synthetic fibers for car upholstery and radio speakers. Then she became the head of the weaving department at the Royal College of Art (Anscombe 140). Marianne Brandt

She was born in 1893 in Sachsen, East Germany. She studied at the Weimar art academy, and then worked as a painter. She came to the Bauhaus in 1923. Marianne wanted to join the wood workshop, but she thought the work would be too heavy for her and joined the metal workshop instead (Anscombe 140,142). She left the Bauhaus in 1928 to work in Gropius's Berlin construction office. Then she designed for a metal goods factory, and taught in Dresden and Berlin after the war (Anscombe 143). Lilly Reich Lilly was born in Berlin in 1885. She became an interior architect and then a close associate of Mies van der Rohe who eventually brought her to the Bauhaus in 1923. After the dissolution of the Bauhaus she remained in Berlin. In December of 1947, she died in Berlin after a long and severe illness (Wingler 532). Gertrud Grunow She was born in Berlin on July 8, 1870. She was appointed to the Bauhaus as a part time teacher in Weimar. She primarily worked as a school psychologist, and helped students recognize talents and ambitions. She did not go to Dessau with the Bauhaus. She died on June 11, 1944 (Wingler 269). Karla Grosch She was born in Weimar in 1904. She taught physical education and sports, and danced for the Bauhaus theater from 1928 to 1930. She drowned near Tel Aviv in 1933 (Wingler 503).

Bibliogaphy Anscombe, Isabelle. A Woman's Touch: Women in Design from 1860 to the Present Day. New York: Viking Penguin Inc. 1984. Dearstyne, Howard. Inside the Bauhaus. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 1986. Gropius, Walter. The New Architecture and the Bauhaus. Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press. 1965. Naylor, Gillian. The Bauhaus Reassessed: Sources and Design Theory. New York: E.P. Dutton. 1985. The Woven and Graphic Art of Anni Albers. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 1985. Whitford, Frank. Bauhaus. London: Thames and Hudson. 1984. Wingler, Hans M. The Bauhaus. Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press. 1969. Wolf, Tom. From Bauhaus to Our House. Toronto, Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. 1981.

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