The following are some of the ways to get in touch with each other:The heat is overwhelming as soon as I walk in, and the narrow window that spans the entire wall brings the afternoon sun into my bedroom. The minimalist interior and red linoleum flooring do not help to ease the blow. I can’t imagine how I could sleep. Another member of my group has a studio on the opposite side, with a balcony I recognise instantly from black andwhite photos.
We begin to use this room as a communal area, unconsciously echoing what life must have been like in the past. We perch on the tubular chairs, browse the books on the table and discuss how it would have felt to live there. My room is warm at night and the noise from the walls and stairs can be heard easily. It’s not the most restful night I’ve had, but the experience was worth it.
I am in Dessau in Germany. The accommodation block was formerly occupied by students and juniormasters from the famous Bauhaus school. Also known as the Prellerhaus, the studios are part of a larger asymmetrical complex of connected workshops, classrooms and social spaces – the iconic Bauhaus Building.
Bauhaus was founded by German architect and Bauhaus pioneer, Walter Bauhaus Walter Gropius The revolutionary structure was built in 1926 after the school relocated here in 1925. It is made of glass, concrete, and steel. The structure was an expression of the ideas of the school and is still a symbol of modernism in Europe. Oliver Klimpel says, “It was like an alien spaceship that landed on the foundation’s grounds.”
The influential Weimar school was founded in 1919. They rejected the local, traditional, and illogical principles of architecture and design, and instead pursued simple, rational, and functional ones, using innovative teaching and working methods. Forced to leave Weimar just six years later, owing to financial and political pressure, the school relocated to Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt – then a rising industrial hub with an entrepreneurial spirit and social democratic government – a century ago this year.
The school enjoyed a period of great success, and the focus shifted to developing prototypes for furniture, household items and other mass-produced items. The arts and industries became increasingly intertwined. Anke John, our guide, tells us, as she stands in Gropius’s old office where the smell of the triolin floor is still present. Marcel Breuer, for instance, designed the iconic Wassily Chair in Dessau.
Bauhaus-style buildings began to appear in the city, but the rise of National Socialism forced the school to relocate again to Berlin. This time for one last year, before the Nazis seized power.
“The rooms that are empty in the workshop section appear to be spacious, but in reality, they were crammed with machines, tools, and printing workshops. It was noisy, messy, and a maker’s environment,” says Klimpel.
While regular heatwaves were less of a problem in the 1920s – temperatures were in the high 30s when I visited – the three-storey glass curtain wall, in pursuit of transparency, still created difficult, greenhouse-like conditions in summer. Klimpel says that it was part and parcel of the practical research in order to determine what worked, and what did not.
It has seen many changes, including wartime damage repairs, a reconstruction of the façade in 1976, and a comprehensive restoration project, based upon the original plans. This was completed in 2006 It’s now home to a café, a shop, exhibition spaces, and the offices of a non-profit organization. Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. Each studio is furnished in a Bauhaus style, with some pieces in the styles of former residents, such as Josef Albers Studio 204 and Marianne Brandt (studio 302).
The number 10 bus, the Bauhauslinie or a guided tour are all options for visitors to get to other Bauhaus locations. The restored Masters’ Houses are just a few minutes away from the Bauhaus Building. The white, cubical structures with black windows, and two abstract rebuilds are located among the oaks. Kandinsky, Klee, Moholy-Nagy Gropius and his family once lived together. The atmosphere is subdued and sleepy, with just enough noise to hear the acorns crunching beneath my feet.
You should also visit the KornhausThe restaurant was built in 1929 and has a semicircular glazed Conservatory on the Elbe. Arbeitsamt, the yellow-brick employment office designed by Gropius in 1929; and the Dessau Törten housing estate (1926-28), with its rows of modest two-storey, flat-roofed homes, developed to address the housing shortage. The striking Bauhaus MuseumThe second largest Bauhaus collection in the world is housed here, along with teaching notes and drafts of the workshops. It was designed by Barcelona architects and opened since 2019.
To mark the centenary of the school’s move to Dessau, a programme of events and exhibitions – titled An die Substanz/To the Core – will take place throughout 2025 and 2026, focusing on materials of the modern era. The celebrations will begin in this month, with modern interpretations on the so-called Material Dances. These are part of Oskar Schlemmer’s course Der Mensch (The Human Being), which was introduced by him in 1928. The highlights include Invisible Bauhaus DessauA new digital tour tracing the early years of Bauhaus members at Dessau and five central exhibits that will open March 2026.
In between the festivities and the Bauhaus sites, it’s impossible not to notice the decline of this city, which has been merged with Roßlau since 2007. It’s easy to see the GDR-era flats, with their faded facades, and sometimes, it feels like the streets are empty. Reunification in east Germany has led to a population decline and gradual ageing. In recent years, the rightwing party Alternative für Deutschland has gained increasing support in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, its influence extending to culture and the Bauhaus.
It takes a certain amount of imagination and reflectiveness to visit this place. In the 1920s, these buildings and concepts were revolutionary, sometimes provocative. The Bauhaus teachers actually lived in these white houses. The workshops were noisy and dusty. Students threw wild parties on the balconies. Dessau was once an incredibly prosperous city. The school in a corner of Germany is now used for everyday design throughout the world.
The trip was sponsored by the German tourist board. Visit the website for more information. bauhaus-dessau.de. A night at the Bauhaus starts from €55. Shared toilets, kitchenettes and showers are available on all floors
