Studies from Gropius' Berlin Office: Elevations, 1:200

1919

Becomes master of the school in Weimar — the Bauhaus is born

Henry van de Velde, who had been asked to step down as master of the Weimar School of Arts and Crafts, recommended Gropius as his successor; in 1919 Gropius took over the school and transformed it into the Bauhaus. The idea was to extend beauty and quality to every home through well-designed industrially produced objects.

1925

The Bauhaus moves to Dessau

Facing political and financial difficulties in Weimar, Gropius and the Bauhaus moved to Dessau in 1925 following an offer from the city.

1928

Leaves the Bauhaus and moves to Berlin

Hannes Meyer took over as director of the school; Gropius moved to Berlin and became a lecturer at the Marxist Workers’ School, founded and run by the Communist Party of Germany — other Bauhaus members also lectured there and even supplied it with furniture.

1934

Flight to England on the pretext of a trip to Italy

His association with “degenerate” modern art, despised by the Nazis, left him without commissions, and in 1934 Gropius, with the help of Maxwell Fry, left Germany on the pretext of a temporary visit to Italy for a film propaganda festival, and from there fled to the United Kingdom.

1937

The Harvard Graduate School of Design: teaching with Breuer

Together with his Bauhaus protégé Marcel Breuer, Gropius moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to teach at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1937–1952); they collaborated on projects until their professional split.

1937

Emigrates to the United States with his wife Ise

In February 1937 Gropius and his wife Ise arrived in the United States; their twelve-year-old daughter Ati stayed behind in England to finish the school year.