Bauhaus

Mixing Up a Plane with a Train – Franz Kruckenberg’s Schienenzeppelin

21. June 2021 Tabea Tietz

On 21 June 1931, Franz Kruckenberg’s Schienenzeppelin (rail zeppelin) set a new world railway speed record of 230.2 km/h (143.0 mph) on the Berlin–Hamburg line between Karstädt and Dergenthin, which was not surpassed by any other rail vehicle until 1954. How to build faster Trains? The famous Schienenzeppelin was anticipated by the design of the Aerowagon, an experimental Russian high-speed railcar fitted with an aircraft engine and propeller traction invented by Valerian Abakovsky, a…

art

The World of Lyonel Feininger

17. July 2020 Tabea Tietz

On July 17, 1871, German-American painter Lyonel Charles Feininger was born. He became a leading exponent of Expressionism and especially Cubism. Lyonel Feininger Background Lyonel Feininger was born into a family of musicians. His father was the famous German violinist and composer Karl Feininger and his mother, Elizabeth Feininger was an American pianist and singer. Feininger himself visited Germany for the first time at the age of 16, when his parents gave several…

architecture

Marcel Breuer – Master of Modernism

21. May 2019 Tabea Tietz

On May 21, 1905, Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent Marcel Breuer was born. Being one of the masters of Modernism, Breuer extended the sculptural vocabulary he had developed in the carpentry shop at the Bauhaus into a personal architecture that made him one of the world’s most popular architects at the peak of 20th-Century design. “I am as much interested in the smallest detail as in the whole…

architecture

Walter Gropius – Founder of the Bauhaus School

18. May 2019 Harald Sack

On May 18, 1883, German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School Walter Gropius was born, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture. “Art itself cannot be taught, but craftsmanship can. Architects, painters, sculptors are all craftsmen in the original sense of the word. Thus it is a fundamental requirement of all artistic creativity that every student undergo a thorough training in the workshops of all branches of…

architecture

Peter Behrens – Pioneer of Modern Industrial Design

14. April 2019 Harald Sack

On April 14, 1868, German architect and designer Peter Behrens was born. Behrens was important to the modernist movement, and several of the movement’s leading names (including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius) worked for him in earlier stages of their careers. “Design is not about decorating functional forms – it is about creating forms that accord with the character of the object and that show new technologies…

art

Paul Klee – One of the most Important Artists of Classical Modern Art

18. December 2018 Harald Sack

On December 18, 1879, Swiss German artist Paul Klee was born. His versatile work is classified as Expressionism, Constructivism, Cubism, Primitivism and Surrealism. Klee was in close contact with the editorial team of Der Blaue Reiter. Paul Klee is one of the most important artists of classical modern art of the 20th century. “My mirror probes down to the heart. I write words on the forehead and around the corners of the…

physics

Mies van der Rohe – the expression of constructive logic and spatial freedom in a classical form

17. August 2018 Harald Sack

On August 17, 1969, German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe passed away. Along with Le Corbusier,[6] Walter Gropius [4] and Frank Lloyd Wright,[7] he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture. “God is in the details.” — Mies can der Rohe, “On restraint in Design” in The New York Herald Tribune (28 June 1959) Bricklayer and Draughtsman Maria Ludwig Michael was born on March 27, 1886, the youngest son of…