Discover highlights of the Bauhaus School and modernist design
Take in the major centres of Weimar and Dessau alongside the lesser-visited but culturally rewarding town of Jena
Study the art, architecture and design of the Bauhaus School and related artists, including creations by Walter Gropius and Henry van de Velde
“It was an incredibly rich experience… Alan provided fascinating historical, political and biographical context to the locations, the art and the personalities”
ACE customer on a previous Bauhaus tour led by Alan Powers
Of all the avant-garde enterprises in art and design between the wars, the Staatliches Bauhaus provides a paradigm of modernism. The school taught the unity of art, craft and design with the aim of breaking down traditional disciplinary boundaries to achieve material and spiritual welfare. 100 years since the school’s move to its renowned home in Dessau, this tour offers the opportunity to explore not only the Bauhaus but also the movement's wider artistic context.
The Bauhaus opened in 1919 under the directorship of Walter Gropius, taking over the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) building, designed by Henry van de Velde, its pre-1914 director. In Weimar, a city already famous for its associations with J W von Goethe and Friedrich Nietzsche, the Bauhaus can be seen in the context of German thinking about art, nature and politics. Here, we will take in the Bauhaus Building, including the restored office of Walter Gropius, and the Haus am Horn, a prototype built to showcase Bauhaus design principles. In Jena, meanwhile, we will enjoy a privileged visit to Gropius’s pioneering Haus Auerbach, built in 1924 and one of the few private homes that he constructed.
In 1925, the school was transferred to Dessau, its most famous location. Gropius designed a new building to house the school which, in its restored state, powerfully evokes what it might have been like to study there. 2025 will mark 100 years since the foundation of the Bauhaus School here and the beginning of the city's celebrations; we look forward to exploring special exhibitions to mark the occasion alongside a visit to the Bauhaus Museum in Dessau, which opened in 2019.
Our tour begins with three nights in Weimar at the four-star Dorint Hotel Am Goethepark, located close to the Bauhaus Museum. This will be followed by two nights in Dessau at the modern and comfortable four-star Radisson Hotel Fürst Leopold.
Alan Powers
Alan Powers' wide-ranging research, curation and publication on varied topics pertaining to British art – including the Arts & Crafts movement, the experiences of 1930s German émigrés and the teaching of art and design – form the basis of his interest in the Bauhaus and contemporary movements in Germany.
Tour Director Alan Powers, PhD, studied History of Art at Cambridge University and is a specialist in the art, architecture and design of the 20th century. A former Chairman of the 20th Century Society, Alan’s wide-ranging research, curation and publication on varied topics pertaining to British art – including the Arts & Crafts movement, the experiences of 1930s German émigrés and the teaching of art and design – form the basis of his interest in the Bauhaus and contemporary movements in Germany. Alan is the author of many books, including Bauhaus Goes West, which was published in 2019 to coincide with the centenary of the founding of the Bauhaus School.
6
£3295
GBAU-26
On request.
Please contact the office on
01223 841055 for more details.
Included: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a comfort double bedded room, five breakfasts, three lunches (one light), five dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.
Not Included: travel insurance, comfort double room for single use supplement £275.
