Special Exhibition

April 26 - August 10, 2025

»ISLAND OF LONERS - THE BAUHAUS IN DORNBURG 1920 - 1925«

A SPECIAL EXHIBITION IN THE BAUHAUS WORKSHOP MUSEUM DORNBURG, IN THE ROCOCO PALACE AND IN THE GARDENS

From the Ducal Stables to the Bauhaus Workshop

From 1920 to 1925, the Bauhaus pottery was housed in the Dornburg Marstall, far away from the Bauhaus headquarters in Weimar. The workshop's ceremonial inauguration in October 1920 was celebrated with hearty potato soup and joyful dancing. Previously, the former Grand Ducal stables had been converted within a few months. Even today, the horses' nibble marks on the posts and the structure of the stable stalls are reminders of the time before 1918. Valuable relics from the Bauhaus era have also been preserved, such as the plaster potter's wheel and the clay processing plant. All these details contribute to the incomparable and magical atmosphere of the only surviving Bauhaus workshop.

The Island of Loners

Hard work, poverty, austerity, and food shortages shaped the life of the Dornburg Bauhaus commune, on the one hand. But there were also many beautiful moments: nude bathing in the Saale River, rum coffee with Master Krehan in the small village pub, excursions to the Bauhaus festivals in Weimar, plundering the overgrown plum trees in the surrounding area, and the togetherness through conversations, music, and readings. There was an incomparable spirit of experimentation and this very special unity of work and life. People rightly considered themselves "a handful of the select" (Eva Oberdieck) on this Dornburg island.

Innovation and Awakening of Bauhaus Pottery

By the time the Weimar Bauhaus closed in 1925, a new and modern vessel aesthetic of exceptional quality had emerged in Dornburg. Experimentation and tradition were not mutually exclusive. Many of the most important ceramicists of the 20th century received their technical and artistic training in the Dornburg Bauhaus workshop from master form maker Gerhard Marcks and master craftsman Max Krehan, most notably Marguerite Friedlaender, Otto Lindig, Theodor Bogler, Werner Burri, Franz Rudolf Wildenhain, Wilhelm Löber, and Lydia Driesch-Foucar.

Remembering the End of the Dornburg Bauhaus

After one hundred years, the exhibition commemorates the departure of the Bauhaus from Dornburg and the end of its ceramics class. It showcases selected works by Bauhaus members and provides diverse insights into the life of this unusual and unique community.

The exhibition will be shown from April 26 to August 10, 2025, in the attic of the Rococo palace and in the Bauhaus Workshop Museum, and then from October 17, 2025, to June 7, 2026, in the Westerwald Ceramics Museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen.

We thank you for supporting the exhibition
Ernst von Siemens Kulturstiftung |
Ministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur des Freistaates Thüringen

Cooperation
Förderkreis Keramik-Museum Bürgel und Bauhaus-Werkstatt-Museum e.V. |
Stiftung Thüringer Schlösser und Gärten |
Keramikmuseum Westerwald

Opening of the special exhibition

Sat. 26.4.25 at 11am | Old Dornburg Castle

The atmosphere of the historic site, a culinary treat from the Dornburg Bauhaus era, and music from the 1920s invite guests to immerse themselves in the world of Bauhaus pottery.

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