Arts and Crafts School, Weimar

The Van de Velde Building is a university structure in Weimar serving as the teaching hub for the Faculty of Art and Design, featuring a distinctive spiral staircase in its central area. The building houses classrooms, workshops, studios, and administrative offices used daily by students and faculty members.

Architect Henry van de Velde designed and built this L-shaped teaching structure between 1905 and 1906 for the Grand Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts. The building emerged during a period of significant art education reforms aimed at enabling modern working methods for art instruction.

The interior walls display reconstructed murals by Oskar Schlemmer from 1923, which explore the relationship between human figures and architectural space. Visitors can encounter these artistic works throughout the corridors and teaching rooms of the building.

The building is publicly accessible during academic hours and hosts regular exhibitions of student work, thesis presentations, and artistic projects. Visitors should expect changing displays depending on the academic calendar and ongoing events.

Following the 1930 appointment of Paul Schultze-Naumburg as director, the original Schlemmer murals were replaced with traditional German folk ornaments. Only in later decades were these original works partially reconstructed to restore the Bauhaus artistic heritage to view.

Location: Weimar

Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible

Operator: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

Website: https://uni-weimar.de/gestaltung

GPS coordinates: 50.97471,11.32810

Latest update: December 10, 2025 16:25