Annotated Index Bauhaus Written Heritage 1919-1933

An annotated index of all texts written by Bauhaus members during their time at the Bauhaus and about the Bauhaus does not yet exist. In 1962, Hans Maria Wingler published the book Das Bauhaus. Weimar, Dessau, Berlin 1919-1933, the first anthology that had a significant influence on the reception of the Bauhaus. However, it contains only a small selection and in part only excerpts of the texts. Later publications also only deal with individual authors or topics. “Bauhaus Written Heritage” thus closes a major gap in Bauhaus research by comprehensively recording the publications and previously unprinted sources for the first time according to bibliographical and archival standards. The text index will be published digitally and will be a valuable research tool.

In addition, two historical-critical editions are being produced in parallel, which will exemplify the innovative, text-based approach to the Bauhaus and demonstrate its possibilities as well as contexts in previous research.

Edition bauhaus. organ der kostufra. sprachrohr der studierenden (1930-1932)

Through a journal of communist students, bauhaus. organ der kostufra. sprachrohr der studierenden, it will be possible to examine the political life and work at the historic Bauhaus, which is still much and controversially discussed today. The journal was published from 1930 to 1932 in 15 hectographed issues, varying from 5 to 18 pages. In combination with the student networks involved and their exchanges of letters, the journal is an important research desideratum. The historical-critical edition will be available digitally with a commentary apparatus. A version for the general public will be published in printed form.

A conference on the journal bauhaus. organ der kostufra. sprachrohr der studierenden will take place in Dessau in February 2022. Its results will subsequently be published in the conference proceedings.

Edition The New City. Principles of Planning (1944) by Ludwig Hilberseimer

Ludwig Hilberseimer (1885-1967) is considered one of the leading theorists of Neues Bauen (New Building) and especially of modern, functional urbanism. His book Großstadtarchitektur from 1927 was significant for this view of the architect, urban planner and teacher. Beginning with his professorial chair at the Bauhaus in Dessau, however, Hilberseimer’s understanding of the city developed significantly: while in Großstadtarchitektur he was still focusing on solving infrastructural problems through vertical organisation, in his following fundamental theoretical book, The New City. Principles of Planning from 1944, he combined the city and the landscape in a new unity. In between were the crucial years at the Bauhaus Dessau, the emigration into American exile and a new language, the significance of that for the distinguished author of hundreds of articles and five books cannot be underestimated. The digital historical-critical edition will therefore be genetically designed and will make the complex process of creating and writing The New City visible by using documents from Hilberseimer’s estate. In a read-only version, the text will be accessible in a German translation for the first time. The new edition will be published in cooperation with the Art Institute of Chicago, where Ludwig Hilberseimer’s literary estate is kept at the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries.

A conference from 27 to 29 October 2021 at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation will bring together international researchers under the title Ludwig Hilberseimer: Infrastructures of Modernity. Their contributions will subsequently be published in the conference proceedings. In addition, the intermezzo Hilberseimer: Infrastructure of the New City will open at the Bauhaus Museum Dessau on 28 October 2021.