WEIMAR.- Today, 8 May, the Klassik Stiftung Weimar's exhibition "Bauhaus and National Socialism" opened. For the first time, the three-part exhibition offers a detailed look at the ambivalent relationship of former Bauhaus members and the Nazi regime. Even today, the Bauhaus is considered by many to be the antithesis of National Socialism. However, early 20th-century modernism was by no means immune to the seductive ideology of the Nazis.

“This exhibition completely rewrites the history of the Bauhaus’s relation to politics and its fate after its 1933 closure. By focusing on the biographies and work of a range of Bauhaus members – some well known, others new to Bauhaus history – “Bauhaus and National Socialism” reveals the diverse paths taken and choices made by Bauhaus members under Nazism [...]." ---Elizabeth Otto, curator and professor at Buffalo University (New York, USA)

Some 450 works of fine art, design and handicrafts, including numerous loans from renowned museums in Europe and the United States, illustrate the political clashes within the Bauhaus and the later entanglements of Bauhaus members with National Socialism, as well as the balancing acts performed by members of the Bauhaus as they navigated the political tides after 1933.

Bauhaus and National Socialism.

An exhibition in three parts:

Part 1 - “The Bauhaus as a Site of Political Contest, 1919–1933” at the Museum Neues Weimar addresses the artistic and political conflicts which accompanied the design school in its early days in Weimar and later continued in Dessau and Berlin. From its founding in Weimar in 1919 until its closure in 1933, the Bauhaus was the target of artistic and, above all, political attacks. Based on works from the early Bauhaus and biographical insights, the presentation examines the personal and professional paths of the Bauhaus members, who – at least in the beginning – were united in their mutual enthusiasm for the Bauhaus.

Part 2 - “Removed – Confiscated – Assimilated, 1930/1937” at the Bauhaus Museum Weimar highlights the confiscation of so-called “degenerate art” in 1937 and the campaign that preceded it in Weimar. The city of Weimar played a rather inglorious role with respect to National Socialist cultural policy. As early as 1930, after the Nazi party secured majority rule in the state government, authorities banned the public display of modern artworks by Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy and other artists. In 1937 more than 450 works were confiscated from Weimar’s collections as part of the “Degenerate Art” campaign. A number of these outstanding, formerly confiscated works have returned to Weimar for the exhibition.

Part 3 – “Living in the Dictatorship, 1933–1945” at the Schiller Museum examines the lives and careers of the Bauhaus members. Some students and instructors of the Bauhaus had successful careers under National Socialism, while others were persecuted. Overall, their stories paint a multi-perspective picture of the political and social history of the long 20th century. Selected biographies shed light on how the artists adapted to the new political circumstances after 1933.