Walter Gropius »Walter Gropius«Walter Gropius(1883 – 1969) was not only one of the founders of modern architecture but also gave as the head of the State Bauhaus School which he founded in Weimar in 1919 decisive impact for establishing new aesthetic positions in the applied arts. In 1920 he had the pottery workshop established, the only external workshop (outside Weimar) of his art school. In doing so he worked towards a new orientation of the job outline for the students studying here. That involved design activity considering the demands of industrial production., founder and head of the Weimar Bauhaus, established the pottery workshop of his art school in Dornburg in 1920. The existence of a traditional ceramic workshop with the potter Max Krehan »Max Krehan«Max Krehan (1875 – 1925) came from an old traditional Dornburg potter family. Together with his brother Karl Friedrich (born in 1872) he led the workshop inherited from his ancestors roughly up to the end of the First World War. He manufactured stoneware vessels with blue glaze to be thrown as well as tableware for everyday use with multicoloured Engobe painting. Being on the verge of ruin due to the economic difficulties of the post-war period, he agreed to work as master potter in the newly founded Bauhaus Pottery. In that position he was responsible for equipping the workshop technically and for the training of the students in the ceramic craft. who was willing to be head of the training spoke for this site outside Weimar. In addition there was an empty building available, the Marstall – property of the country. Gerhard Marcks »Gerhard Marcks«Gerhard Marcks (1889 – 1981) the sculptor and graphic artist was appointed by Walter Gropius as design master, although he had not worked in the ceramic field before. He did not always agree to the artistic development at the Bauhaus. Nevertheless he gave the renewal of the vessel ceramics important impetus. Starting with the décor and new forms of painting on traditional shapes of vessels he mainly supported the development of a totally new vessel aesthetics. Later on during his exhibitions in Halle and Hamburg he repeatedly designed vessels influenced by the achievements in the Dornburg time. was appointed to become the design master.

The history of the Bauhaus Pottery only lasted almost five years. However, during this period a new aesthetics for ceramic vessels of European dimension was developed under simplest conditions. A lot of the most important German potters of the 20^th century underwent their training here: Theodor Bogler »Theodor Bogler«Theodor Bogler (1897 – 1968) belonged to the first students of the Bauhaus Pottery in Dornburg. In 1922 he passed his examination at the end of his apprenticeship (German – Gesellenprüfung). Later on he took over the commercial management. The Bogler combination (tea) pot (assembled according to the modular design principle), nowadays wanted and sought for worldwide, belongs to the most well-known creations of the Dornburg workshop. Three main features characterize milestones in the modern design of ceramic vessels. First the development out of geometric forms, second the principle of variable manufacture out of single parts in series (made by moulding or with plaster moulds, i.e. in the modular system) and finally the plain suitability of the design.
Even during his future design work for the Steingutfabrik in Velten-Vordamm and the HB-Werkstätten in Marwitz (1925 to 1927) he remained true to the achievements of the fruitful Dornburg years., Otto Lindig »Otto Lindig«Otto Lindig (1895 – 1966) was not only student at the Bauhaus Pottery from the very beginning but also ran the workshop to 1947 after the Weimar Bauhaus was closed. Together with Marguerite Friedlaender and Theodor Bogler he belonged to the three important designers of the first years. In contrast to Bogler’s geometric approach he developed his functional vessel aesthetics out of the flowing line. Pots on the basis of his designs L 15 and L 16 belong to the best in the field of western modern age in ceramic vessel design.
From 1926 onwards Lindig trained numerous apprentices who helped further spread the design language developed in Dornburg. As independent master potter he was forced more and more to craft manufacturing. The products characterized by apparently simple glazing are unique items nowadays and worldwide searched for.
, Marguerite Friedlaender »Marguerite Friedlaender«Marguerite Friedlaender (1896 – 1985) started her training to become a ceramicist with the foundation of the Bauhaus Pottery in Dornburg. Particularly in cooperation with Gerhard Marcks she was actively involved in the implementation of new aesthetic approaches. In 1925 she changed to Halle and taught at the Arts and Crafts School Burg Giebichenstein. There she developed a lively design activity that included porcelain as well. After the National Socialists rose to power she was forced to emigrate, so that she finally took the theories of the Dornburg Bauhaus Pottery to the USA., Werner Burri »Werner Burri«Werner Burri (1898 – 1972) Swiss by birth, became a student of the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1921 and soon changed to Dornburg. Although there are nearly no ceramic examples from his training period, his design work for the Steingutfabrik Velten-Vordamm (1928-1931) and the HB-Werkstätten in Marwitz (1934-1939) proves the sustainable impact of his apprenticeship in Dornburg. As an independent ceramicist he had a teaching assignment at the Bonn Ceramics College after the war., Johannes Driesch »Johannes Driesch«Johannes Driesch (1901 – 1930) changed together with Lydia Foucar (1895 – 1980) to the Bauhaus and to Dornburg. In 1921 they celebrated their wedding here. Lydia Foucar who had already made her first porcelain designs for Rosenthal, then took care of her children while Driesch devoted himself more and more to painting. Finally he freed himself totally from the views of the Bauhaus. His early death made greater fate impossible., Franz Rudolf Wildenhain »Franz Rudolf Wildenhain«Franz Rudolf Wildenhain (1905 – 1980) entered the Weimar Bauhaus in 1924, studied first under Moholy-Nagy, Klee and Kandinsky, before he changed to the ceramics workshop in Dornburg. Together with Gerhard Marcks and Marguerite Friedlaender, his future wife, he went to Halle, Burg Giebichenstein in 1925. The emigration led the couple to the Netherlands where they founded their own pottery. Just in 1947 Wildenhain was able to follow his wife to the USA where he - divorced since 1950 – set up his own ceramics workshop..