Weimer fights for Bauhaus: A cultural heritage against the AfD attacks!

Weimer fights for Bauhaus: A cultural heritage against the AfD attacks!

In Germany, a heated debate about the Bauhaus, the world -famous school for architecture and design, is currently burning, which was founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius in Weimar. In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD The Bauhaus as "Irrweg". Minister of Culture Wolfram Weimer does not simply accept this criticism. Instead, he vigorously defends the Bauhaus aesthetics and emphasizes the Bauhaus as a German "world brand".

Weimer criticizes the attacks of the AfD, especially the statements of politicians Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, who describes the Bauhaus as the "error of modernity". Weimer commemorates the dark history of the Bauhaus when NSDAP supporters persecuted and imprisoned the protagonists of the movement. "We should be proud of the Bauhaus," said Weimer, who also announced that it will maintain the cultural heritage from his household.

history and influence of the Bauhaus

The meaning of the Bauhaus cannot be denied. From 1919 until his forced closure in 1933 under the pressure of the National Socialists, the school set standards in design. Many of the masters such as Kandinsky, Klee and Feininger were persecuted or forced into exile. Weimer emphasizes that the work of Walter Gropius is also sustainable in German and international architecture.

The latest exhibition "Bauhaus and National Socialism", which took place in Weimar from May 9 to September 15, 2024, took an informative view of the tensions between the movement and the Nazi regime. She showed 450 art and design objects and documented the persecution of Bauhaus members. Particularly frightening is the fact that from 21 well-known Bauhaus members some were killed in concentration camps, while others continued their artistic path in the Third Reich, sometimes even in the service of the propaganda.

political dimensions and current statements

In the current debate, it becomes clear that the Bauhaus was not only a design institution for design, but also a scene of political disputes. wikipedia reports that some Bauhäusler such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe are criticized in the attempt to make themselves popular with the National Socialists. "There is no inviolable legacy just because it has been persecuted in the past," emphasizes Tillschneider.

But Weimer remains calm. He conditioned the AfD's attacks as a never -ending defamation of the Bauhaus and is convinced that the Bauhaus will continue to play an important role in German creative culture. The Federal Ministry of Culture and Media is aiming for over 2 billion euros to support, for example, to support the Bauhaus Museum in Dessau.

While the debate continues and the different views collide, one thing remains clear: the Bauhaus is not only part of the history of architecture, but also a symbol of the struggle for creativity and freedom in an often dark time.