bauhaus faces

In this new episode of “bauhaus faces” we talk about Hannes Meyer, the second Bauhaus director. PART 1 concentrates on Hannes Meyer's formative years and his involvement in cooperativism and collectivism, his first steps as architect and artist, and then on to his pivotal role at the Bauhaus in Dessau. What was new when he became second director of the Bauhaus? And why did he have to leave the Bauhaus all at once after two successful years? The US-American art-historian Dara Kiese, who wrote her PhD thesis about Hannes Meyer's holistic education at the Bauhaus, and former Senator for Culture in Berlin and art-historian Thomas Flierl help tell the story of Hannes Meyer in this 1st part. The Meyer era of the Bauhaus ended in summer of 1930 when he is dismissed by the Dessau magistrate in absence from the school. The political tensions between the far left and the far right now became palpable. A communist cell had emerged at the Bauhaus, for which Meyer was blamed responsible. His peak in Germany was now beginning to decline and Meyer decided that it was time to try and establish himself in the Soviet Union – in a country from which he expected freedom of thought and a fulfilment of his architectural visions. Little did he know … PART 2 will launch at the beginning of June featuring Russian art-historian and artist Tatiana Efrussi and Mexican art-historian Raquel Franklin, who both wrote their PhD theses about Hannes Meyer's work in the Soviet Union (1930–36) and Mexico (1938–49) respectively. So, don't forget to listen to that part, too! Let's now dive into a the first part of this new episode of “bauhaus faces” and shine a light on Hannes Meyer.

This is PART 2 of the Podcast episode about Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It puts a magnifying glass over a specific period of time in Mies's life: his commissions for the Nazis after the Bauhaus had closed in July 1933 and his final emigration to the US in 1938. For this episode, the art-historian Aya Soika shares her expertise. She published a book about this time of Mies's life with the title „Mies van der Rohe in the Third Reich. The Brussels Project, 1934" (link in the show notes). Aya Soika doesn't denounce Mies van der Rohe for his commissions for the Nazis but emphasizes the circumstances in which Mies found himself as a modern architect and as a person that didn't necessarily want to leave his home. But she also underlines his naivety in thinking that as an architect he could be apolitical. Although Mies never won the competition and the pavilion was never even built due to a financial lack of Nazi Germany to come up with enough foreign currency, this project – and some others – that Mies van der Rohe accepted to plan for the Nazis, those projects were, of course, hotly disputed by architecture historians. And what did Mies himself say about this after the end of the Second World War? Well, that's what you will find out in the 2nd part of my podcast about Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) was a pioneering modernist architect. Born in Aachen, he started as a bricklayer before moving to Berlin, where he worked for Bruno Paul and Peter Behrens. His first major commission, the Riehl House (1907), showed early signs of modernism. In 1921, he changed his name, marking his shift to modern architecture while maintaining classical influences. As vice president of the German Werkbund, he led the Die Wohnung exhibition (1927), cementing his reputation. In 1930, he became Bauhaus director, striving to protect it from Nazi repression. After the school closed in 1933, Mies attempted to continue working in Germany, even accepting Nazi commissions, a decision he later had to justify. In 1938, he emigrated to the U.S., becoming director of the Armour Institute (later IIT) in Chicago. There, he designed iconic buildings like the Farnsworth House and the Seagram Building, defining modernist architecture. In the 1960s, he returned to Berlin to design the Neue Nationalgalerie, his final masterpiece, blending classical and modern elements. Asked if he'd return to Germany permanently, he replied, “It was difficult enough to find new roots once.” His legacy, rooted in simplicity and structural clarity, continues to shape architecture today. For the first part of the Mies podcast, I invited Wita Noack, as head of the Mies van der Rohe Haus in Berlin a true expert about House Lemke where the institution is situated, and Fritz Neumeyer, THE Mies expert in Germany, who published several books about Mies van der Rohe and his work during the past 40 years. This episode has been supported by The Mies van der Rohe house.

In der ersten Bonusfolge zum eigentlichen Podcast über Ludwig Mies van der Rohe spricht Wita Noack, seit über 30 Jahren Leiterin des Mies van der Rohe Hauses in Berlin mit Sitz im ehemaligen Haus Lemke. Diese Folge enthält Zusatzmaterial, das im englischen Podcast nicht enthalten.

In der zweiten Bonusfolge zum eigentlichen Podcast über Ludwig Mies van der Rohe spricht Fritz Neumeyer, promovierter Architekt und Mies-Forscher. Diese Folge enthält Zusatzmaterial, das im englischen Podcast nicht enthalten ist.

This episode is dedicated to a Japanese couple who went all the way to Germany to study at the Bauhaus in Dessau: Iwao and Michiko Yamawaki. When they met each other in 1928 Iwao Fujita had already studied architecture in Tokyo and was also actively involved in the theatre. Michiko came from a very wealthy family and was a culturally educated young woman of 18 years. By marrying into the Yamawaki family Iwao profited from their wealth. He happily took on Michiko's family name in exchange for a World trip with that one final destination: the Bauhaus in Dessau. In July of 1930 the Yamawakis left Japan, stayed for some time in New York and then went on to Berlin and Dessau. After the preliminary course Michiko decided – due to her interest in fashion – to go into the weaving workshop. Iwao, though an already formed architect, chose to continue in the photo class. He developed a special interest in photo montages. One of them entitled „The attack on the Bauhaus“ became the visual epitome of the forced closure of the Bauhaus by the Nazis and is today often used as an illustration of that dark last period of the Bauhaus. These two years at the Bauhaus shaped the future of the Yamawakis sustainably. Upon returning to Japan in 1932, they became pivotal figures in introducing Bauhaus principles to their home country. They brought back a vast collection of Bauhaus objects, books, and furniture, creating a Bauhaus-inspired ambiance in their Tokyo home. And they both taught at art schools using the Bauhaus principles of Josef Albers' Vorkurs. On this episode not one but two great researchers help me tell the story of Michiko and Iwao Yamawaki: Helena Čapková and Mariko Takagi. And a special shout-out to Anika Takagi who allowed me to use her wonderful illustrations of the Yamawakis.

This brand-new episode of "bauhaus faces" is about a rather unknown Bauhausler: Fritz Kuhr. Although he was at the Bauhaus for roughly 7 years he is widely unknown. Kuhr was the student spokesperson of the Bauhaus Master Council, part of the infamous Bauhaus band, helped edit and produce the Bauhaus publications with Ernst Kállai and had a connection to the communists at the Bauhaus. After leaving the Bauhaus in 1930 Kuhr moved to Berlin and tried to make a living as a freelance artist. He was internationally represented by the gallery Ferdinand Möller and though he seemingly was a rising star in the vibrant art scene of the 1930s, this all came to an abrupt end when the Nazis defamed him as a degenerated artist in 1937. Kuhr stayed in Berlin during World War 2. His atelier was bombed twice and many of his works were partly or completely destroyed. After the second bombing in 1944 Kuhr was drafted into military service and became a Soviet prisoner of war. On his return to Berlin, he was a „bird-free painter in berlin. no studio. no light. no paper. hardly any canvases and oil colours. nevertheless. a new beginning. made possible by the comradeship of colleagues who are also suffering. “ In 1948 Kuhr was appointed as university teacher at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste in Berlin (today UdK Berlin). From now on, he fully concentrated on his art students. Fritz Kuhr died in 1975. For this episode fellow art-historian Ute Famulla tells Kuhr's story. Her family has clos ties with Kuhr and today owns his estate. _____________________________

This episode of bauhaus faces is about the Bauhaus educated architect Pius Pahl. After being trained as carpenter and interior designer, he decided it was time to go to the Bauhaus and become an architect. He studied with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Ludwig Hilberseimer, who would both became essential for his approach towards designing buildings. Pius Pahl is also one of the students who made the Bauhaus move from Dessau to Berlin. After successfully graduating with his Bauhaus diploma in 1933 he went on a journey to Switzerland, Italy and North Africa before starting to work in different architecture offices. In World War II he was drafted by the military and became a prisoner of war. Although he set up his own building office in 1946 in fear for his four sons to also become soldiers in a war – it was the time of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West – Pius Pahl decided it was time to emigrate. While he wasn't allowed to go to the US to work with Mies van der Rohe in Chicago (this was his dream) the choice fell on South Africa, because his wife Jeanette was born there and could speak English fluently. Pius, however, struggled during the first years as his language skills were underwhelming. Once he and his family had relocated to Stellenbosch and he had started – once again – his own office Pius Pahl planned several public and private houses, adapted to the possibilities and materials there. Two of his four sons, Jan-Peter and Tyll Pahl invited me into their houses to talk to me about their father and his work.    ________________________________________ SHOW NOTES @bauhausfaces | bauhausfaces.com | YouTube https://www.vervemagazine.co.nz/african-bauhaus/ http://oharchitecture.blogspot.com/2011/07/oh6-pius-pahl-monograph.html https://www.stellenboschheritage.co.za/resource/pius-pahl-architectural-biography-part-1-pg-1-12 https://artefacts.co.za/main/Buildings/archframes.php?archid=2113 https://artefacts.co.za/main/Buildings/bldgframes_mob.php?bldgid=15093 COVER PHOTO: Pius Pahl, Detail of a self-portrait, Bauhaus Berlin, 1933, Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin

This episode of bauhaus faces is about a photographer that most Bauhaus fans today know: Lucia Moholy. She was the photographer who delivered the photos of the Bauhaus in Dessau and its masters' houses that made the art school so iconic. But it wasn't until the 1990s that art historians became alert to her when her photos and negatives made their way into the Bauhaus-Archive in Berlin. Until then they had taken a long reroute from Germany via the US, while Lucia Moholy had thought they were lost, when in fact Bauhaus founder and first director Walter Gropius had taken them with him, denied their possession for decades and made use of them to promote the Bauhaus as the ultimate epitome of the avantgarde without ever mentioning their creator: Lucia Moholy. But her life and work were so much more! When she was in danger of being arrested by the Nazis, Lucia left Germany and emigrated to London. Here, she worked as a portrait photographer and – as director – set up the microfilm archive ASLIB. She never succeeded in emigrating to the US like so many other Bauhauslers although she had an offer from her ex-husband László Moholy-Nagy to come and teach photography at the New Bauhaus in Chicago. Most of her adult life, Lucia Moholy struggled to make ends meet and gain recognition for her achievements. When she – once more – emigrated to Switzerland in 1959 (she would live and die in Zollikon near Zurich) Lucia started writing about her collaborative work with László Moholy-Nagy and her own share in it.For this episode the US art historian Robin Schuldenfrei helped to tell the story of Lucia Moholy. She has been researching Moholy for many years now.__________________________________SHOW NOTES⁠www.bauhausfaces.com⁠ | ⁠@bauhausfaces⁠EXHIBITION „Lucia Moholy: Exposures“ at Kunsthalle Praha from 30th May until 28th October 2024 https://www.kunsthallepraha.org/en/events/lucia-moholy-exposures AND at Fotostiftung Winterthur in Spring 2025 https://fotostiftung.ch/en/BOOKS BY LUCIA MOHOLY „A Hundred Years of Photography“ (Lucia Moholy, 1939) https://www.amazon.de/Photography-1839-1939-Fotografie-Bauhäusler-Bauhaus-Archiv/dp/3922613586„Marginalien zu Moholy-Nagy/Moholy-Nagy, Marginal Notes“ (Lucia Moholy, 1972)ABOUT LUCIA MOHOLY Lucia Moholy Bauhaus Fotografin (Rolf Sachsse, 1995) „‚What I Could Lose‘: The Fate of Lucia“ (Meghan Forbes) Moholyhttps://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=mqr;c=mqr;c=mqrarchive;idno=act2080.0055.102;view=text;rgn=main;xc=1;g=mqrgLucia Moholy. Im Schatten des Bauhaus (Jochen Stöckmann, 2022) https://www.weltkunst.de/ausstellungen/2022/09/lucia-moholy-fotografie-bauhaus?pagination=1&fullviewABOUT LUCIA MOHOLY'S BOOKS AND NEGATIVES„Multiple Frames for Lucia Moholy“ (Sabine Hartmann) https://youtu.be/aB5ioylqVuM?si=1ggYQUgMXe6FWHic„Images in Exile: Lucia Moholy's Bauhaus Negatives and the Construction of the Bauhaus Legacy“ (Robin Schuldenfrei) https://courtauld.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Schuldenfrei_2013_Images_in_Exile_Lucia_Moholys_Bauhaus.pdf„A Hundred Years of Photography 1839–1939“ (Burcu Dogramaci) https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/1470/object/5140-11251867PHOTOS BY LUCIA MOHOLY IN ARCHIVESBauhaus photos Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin https://open-archive.bauhaus.de/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/result.inline.moduleBottomContextFunctionBar1.bottomNavigator.back&sp=13&sp=Sartist&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=1&sp=1&sp=SdetailView&sp=93&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=T&sp=0&sp=SdetailList&sp=6&sp=0Harvard Art Museums https://harvardartmuseums.org/collectionsNational Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp07323/lucia-moholyFotostiftung Winterthur, Switzerland https://fotostiftung.ch.zetcom.net/de/artists/artist/1395/MoMA, New York https://www.moma.org/artists/6922COVER PHOTO: László Moholy-Nagy, Portrait of Lucia Moholy, 1927, Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin

This episode is not about just one Bauhaus person, but about two. It's the premiere of our first episode about a Bauhaus couple: Etel and Ernst Mittag, who were both students at the Bauhaus in Dessau, met there, fell in love, got married, had children and emigrated to South Africa when Etel – as a Jew – was in great danger in Europe.   About her time at the Bauhaus from 1928 to 1930 Etel later wrote in her autobiography: “This was a new world for me. Everything was completely different from what I knew. Nothing was taken for granted. Everything had to be discussed, examined anew from different angles. […] There was almost absolute freedom from prejudice. Of course, I was completely bewildered and intimidated.” Etel studied at the advertising department and then, when founded in 1929, at the photo class. She became prolific in it and could earn a living with it for some time. At a demonstration on the International Women's Day Etel met two rough looking fellows who had arrived at the Bauhaus via the river Elbe by boat. One of them was Ernst Mittag. He was from Riesa and had studied in Dresden before coming to the Bauhaus to study architecture and carpentry. The two of them became involved in the communist movement, holding clandestine political meetings in their kitchen in a workers' housing estate in Ziebigk, a suburb of Dessau, and publishing a communist paper in Berlin after leaving the Bauhaus. Even in South Africa they felt most comfortable with the members of a Left book club. While Etel Fodor-Mittag wrote her autobiography “Not an unusual Life, for the Time and the Place” (published by the Bauhaus-Archive Berlin in 2014), not much is known about Ernst Mittag. Until now. In this podcast their younger son Michael Mittag tries to remember as much as possible about both of his parents by remembering conversations with them, by looking at old papers of them and by talking about their work and projects. _________________ SHOW NOTES Biography about Etel Fodor-Mittag bauhauskooperation.com/wissen/das-bauhaus/koepfe Etel's autobiography Etel Fodor-Mittag: Not an unusual Life, for the Time and the Place / Ein Leben, nicht einmal ungewöhnlich für diese Zeit und diesen Ort, Bauhäusler. Dokumente aus dem Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin. Bd. 3, Berlin 2014. Photos by Etel Fodor-Mittag Photo study with toy pistol and sugar cubes, ca. 1928 & Advertising image for Idanthren-Farben, ca. 1929 ⁠bauhauskooperation.com/wissen/das-bauhaus/koepfe Portrait of Ricarda Schwerin, ca. 1931  kuenste-im-exil.de/KIE/Content/EN/Persons/schwerin-ricarda-en.html Portrait of Isaak Butkow, 1929 bauhauskooperation.com/wissen/das-bauhaus/koepfe RBB facts about Berlin after WWII rbb24.de/politik/thema/2015/70-jahre-kriegsende/beitraege/kriegsschaeden-berlin-2--weltkrieg.html/listall=on/print=true.html History of the Appletiser Farm in Elgin, ZA elginvalleyhistory.blogspot.com Cover photo Etel and Ernst Mittag, Bauhaus Dessau, 1929, unknown photographer. Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin

This episode is dedicated to the Bauhaus master Gunta Stölzl, one of the few better-known Bauhaus women.  We have already mentioned her name in the previous podcast about Stölzl's first husband, the Israeli architect Arieh Sharon. They had a daughter, Yael, what was born in 1929, do you remember? And Ariel Aloni, my interview partner for that episode is also Gunta Stölzl's grandson.  My interview partners for today's episode are Gunta Stölzl's younger daughter, Monika Stadler (who shares with us her personal view on her mother's work) and the Dutch art historian Mirjam Deckers who is currently working for the Gunta Stölzl Estate and is writing her thesis about Stölzl's work. As we already have two people talking in this podcast you will not hear much of me. My own research into Gunta Stölzl's life and work is rather restricted, and I will therefore leave the talking to the expert and the daughter as they talk about Gunta Stölzl's life and work in Munich (before the Bauhaus), as a student at the Bauhaus in Weimar, as a master of the weaving workshop at the Bauhaus in Dessau and with her own businesses in Switzerland (after the Bauhaus). SHOW NOTES bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfaces | youtube.com/bauhausfaces Cover photo with permission by GUNTA STÖLZL DIGITAL ARCHIVE https://www.guntastolzl.org/ MIRJAM DECKERS: ⁠https://www.rug.nl/staff/m.e.deckers/projects⁠ ARIEH SHARON DIGITAL ARCHIVE https://www.ariehsharon.org EXHIBITIONS Gunta Stölzl and Johannes Itten. Textile Universes 17 August – 1 December 2024 https://kunstmuseumthun.ch/en/exhibition/gunta-stoelzl-und-johannes-itten/ Bauhaus and National Socialism 9 May – 15 September 2024 https://www.klassik-stiftung.de/en/your-visit/event/bauhaus-and-national-socialism/ MUSEUMS & COLLECTIONS WITH GUNTA STÖLZL'S WORK Victoria & Albert Museum⁠, London, Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, MoMA, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, Mass., Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Cooper Hewitt / Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MK&G, Hamburg, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz BIOGRAPHY ABOUT GUNTA STÖLZL Ingrid Radewaldt: Gunta Stölzl. Pionierin der Bauhausweberei (2018)

In today's episode, we spotlight a remarkable woman who played a crucial role behind the scenes and in the spotlight of the Bauhaus: Ise Gropius. Born Ilse Frank, Ise Gropius was much more than the wife of the architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. She was a journalist, a writer, and an editor whose influence extended deep into the heart of the Bauhaus. Her intellectual rigor and editorial skills were instrumental in documenting and promoting the innovative ideas that emerged from this groundbreaking movement. You will hear the distinguished architect, urban planner, and author Jana Revedin who became renowned for her biographical novel "Alle hier nennen mich Frau Bauhaus" (Everyone Here Calls Me Mrs. Bauhaus) that was published in 2018 and – based on Ice Gropius's Bauhaus diary – explores her life and influence.  Join us as we delve into the life of Ise Gropius, exploring her contributions to the Bauhaus. Whether you're a longtime admirer of the Bauhaus or newly curious about its key figures, this episode offers an engaging and enlightening journey into the world of Ise Gropius, a true Bauhaus face. www.bauhausfaces.com | @bauhausfaces Jana Revedin www.revedin.com | Ise Gropius bauhauskooperation.de, gropius.house | "Jeder hier nennt mich Frau Bauhaus" www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de

This time I talked to Ariel Aloni. He is a grandson of even two Bauhaus students: the architect, Arieh Sharon, probably the most famous Israeli architect, and the Bauhaus weaver Gunta Stölzl, the only woman who was successful in becoming a Bauhaus master.  As Ariel says: “There was no conversation with Sharon without the Bauhaus popping up!” And that is also true to his architecture. In his buildings in Israel and Nigeria Sharon still refers to what he had learned from Hannes Meyer and Hans Wittwer at the Bauhaus, and then elevated the concept by adapting to the climatic conditions that were very different from Northern Europe. In Nigeria he went even further and added also architectural aspects of the local Yoruba tribe.  After a career of nearly 60 years as an architect Arieh Sharon left roughly 800 buildings and is today known as the father of Israeli architecture and as one of the consequent pursuers of Tropical Modernism. He is less known for his work as a construction site manager for the ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau near Berlin, but we will get to that project, too.  There is no Israeli architecture prize that Sharon did not win. And even today everyone in Israel knows who Arieh Sharon is. It is time we get to him, as well.  Website on Arieh Sharon ariehsharon.org  Exhibition "Arieh Sharon – From the Bauhaus into the World" bauhaus-denkmal-bernau.de bauhaus imaginista Online Journal bauhaus-imaginista.org Cover for this episode: © ariehsharon.org

This time we will hear textile researcher and artist Judith Raum talk about the Hungarian Bauhaus weaver Otti Berger. Otti's story is one full of life, happiness, ambition, talent, and a prosperous future. There were so many things for her in the cards. But her life ended tragically and abruptly when she was deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz on 29 May 1944 and was murdered there shortly after. What's left are letters and postcards, and patents for some of her innovative fabrics. Judith Raum: judithraum.net/ Book: hatjecantz.de/products/64980-otti-berger Exhibition:bauhaus.de/de/programm/sonderausstellungen/9350_otti_berger_stoffe_fuer_die_architektur_der_moderne/?returnUrl=/de/programm// Otti Berger: ⁠de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otti_Berger⁠ | ⁠sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/15853/hommage-otti-berger⁠ | ⁠ stolpersteine-berlin.de/de/fasanenstr/13/otti-ottilia-berger | fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/otti-berger/ Cover image for this episode: © Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin Podcast website bauhausfaces.com⁠ Instagram ⁠@bauhausfaces⁠

This time I am going to talk about one of the most brilliant photographers of the Bauhaus, T. Lux Feininger. As the youngest son of the renowned German US-American painter Lyonel Feininger he is the only Bauhausler who both grew up at the Bauhaus and later became a Bauhaus student – as the only offspring of a Bauhaus master and with his 16,5 years the youngest ever student at the Bauhaus. Podcast website bauhausfaces.com | Instagram @bauhausfaces Vita https://www.kunst-archive.net/en/wvz/t_lux_feininger/vita) List of works https://www.kunst-archive.net/en/wvz/t_lux_feininger/works Texts by T. Lux Feininger https://www.kunst-archive.net/en/wvz/t_lux_feininger/texts Photos at the Bauhaus Archive, Berlin https://open-archive.bauhaus.de/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultListView/result.t2.artist_list.$TspTitleLink$0.link&sp=10&sp=Sartist&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=1&sp=1&sp=SsimpleList&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F&sp=T&sp=4 Paintings https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79725; https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/311565?position=311565 Cover image for this episode: © T. Lux Feininger Estate

The new "bauhaus faces" podcast is dedicated to the fascinating life stories of students and teachers of the legendary and infamous Bauhaus art school. Each episode will highlight a unique Bauhaus personality. With the help of their descendants, of researchers, and authors I will navigate you through each personal Bauhaus story. Subscribe to bauhaus faces now – Follow on instagram – Visit bauhausfaces.com