Haus Auerbach

Haus Auerbach is a modernist residence in Jena featuring two intersecting cuboids with white walls and rows of large windows across three floors of living space. The building includes a rooftop terrace, a glass-enclosed winter garden, and a utility room system that used rainwater collected in an integrated cistern.

Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer designed this private residence in 1924 for physicist Felix Auerbach and his wife Anna during the Bauhaus period. The house marked Gropius' first private commission and represented the final partnership between these two architects.

The interior color scheme created by Alfred Arndt remains visible and shows how art and living space were meant to work together. The rooms feel deliberately arranged, reflecting how the residents experienced their daily environment.

The residence is located in Jena and is best explored by walking around its exterior to understand the facade and spatial composition. Access to the interior requires advance registration, so check requirements before your visit.

The building was an early application of modern design concepts to residential architecture and demonstrated practical solutions such as a water-saving system using collected rainwater. These details were ahead of their time and showed how Bauhaus thinking could solve everyday problems.