Bernau near Berlin is home to the former ADGB Federal School, one of the main works of the Bauhaus. Steimle Architekten have now built a new visitor center next to the world heritage site. This makes a visit all the more worthwhile.

Bernau near Berlin is home to the former ADGB Federal School, one of the main works of the Bauhaus. Steimle Architekten have now built a new visitor center next to the World Heritage Site. This makes a visit all the more worthwhile.

The work of Hannes Meyer, the second Bauhaus director, was always overshadowed by his overpowering predecessor Walter Gropius and his no less important successor Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. More left-wing in his political positions than Gropius, he saw the task of the Bauhaus much more strongly in designing products and architecture for the lower income classes. “People’s needs instead of luxury needs” is the famous slogan that is always associated with his leadership. After working at the Bauhaus, Meyer moved to the Soviet Union for a few years. All of this may have contributed to the fact that the Meyer era was treated more as a footnote in “West German” art history.

Last but not least, the difference in esteem between Gropius and Mies on the one hand and Meyer on the other can be seen in the fate of Meyer’s main work. Between 1928 and 1930, he and his colleague Hans Wittwer built the ADGB Federal School in Bernau near Berlin for the General German Trade Union Federation. There has never been any doubt about the status of Meyer’s design. His school has long been at the heart of every architectural history of the 20th century. However, it was only in 2017 that the decision was made to make Bernau part of the World Heritage Site “The Bauhaus and its Sites”. By way of comparison, Gropius’ Bauhaus buildings in Dessau had already been awarded World Heritage status in 1996, Mies’ Tugenhat House in 2001 and Gropius’ Fagus Factory in 2011.

The school building is therefore still the “great unknown” among the incunabula of Neues Bauen. In the meantime, however, the town of Bernau is making efforts to bring the former ADGB Federal School a little more into the limelight. The prerequisite for this was the extensive restoration and reconstruction work that was carried out between 2003 and 2007. Conservationists and architects were faced with the task of assessing the extent to which the original state of the building should be restored and the extent to which later additions should be left visible.

In the 1950s, the FDGB made large additions to the core ensemble because the trade union school housed here needed more space. Essential elements of Meyer’s design were destroyed in the process. The additions, although not completely lacking in quality, were nevertheless ponderously neoclassical and unfortunately destroyed the uncompromisingly functionalist entrance side of the ADGB Federal School. In contrast, Meyer’s magnificent dining hall and adjoining conservatory were reconstructed inside. During the post-war renovations, the light-filled room with its exposed concrete supporting structure had been turned into a canteen in the style of musty GDR bourgeoisie.

Steimle Architekten from Stuttgart have now built a new visitor center opposite the entrance building to the former ADGB Federal School from the 1950s. It opened in February 2022. The visitor center now creates an attractive point of contact for all those who want to visit the World Heritage Site, and the architects have erected an archetypal pavilion building, thus tying in with the legacy of the Bauhaus and pre-war modernism. Almost all the exterior walls are made of glass. In contrast, the pavilion is recognizably contemporary with its wide cantilevered roof overhang in front of the entrance. The seemingly solid roof construction made of insulating concrete is balanced on the load-bearing interior and exterior walls by filigree metal round supports, which are placed in front of the glass façades.

Steimle Architekten divide the elongated rectangular floor plan into two areas along the longitudinal axis. On the east side with a view of the ADGB Federal School, the open space is not further subdivided as an exhibition area. On the west side, on the other hand, an elongated sequence of rooms, which the architects refer to as a brace, is inserted into the pavilion. The brace accommodates the necessary ancillary rooms such as sanitary facilities and offices, as well as exhibition cabinets and a film room for screenings, while a permanent exhibition in the pavilion explains to visitors the position of the ADGB Federal School within the history of the development of the Bauhaus and in the life’s work of Hannes Meyer. The exhibition also sheds light on Meyer’s biography and his subsequent work. Visitors also learn about the background against which the Bundesschule came into being and what tasks it took on in the educational program of the General German Trade Union Confederation.

Another important function of the new building is that interested parties can register here for guided tours of the historical complex. A small bookshop completes the offer. In the future, workshops and lectures will supplement the offer. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the new visitor center opened in February without any major celebrations. Once again, fate does not seem to have been particularly kind to Hannes Meyer’s post-fame. Nevertheless, both the ADGB Federal School as a milestone of modern architecture and the beautiful new pavilion by Steimle Architekten are definitely worth the trip to the gates of Berlin.

UNESCO World Heritage Bauhaus
Bernau Visitor Center
Hans-Wittwer-Str. 1
16321 Bernau near Berlin

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday:
10:00 – 17:00

www.welterbe-bernau.de

Also interesting: The Ilulissat Icefjord is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Dorte Mandrup has built a new information center there.

Barbara Giuntoni, Managing Director of Marba Marmi from Carrara, wants to combine sustainability and animal welfare with her “Save an Elephant” initiative. Barbara Giuntoni had the idea for her art project when she saw the leftover pieces from a customer’s sawing project: half-round marble scraps that reminded her of elephant tusks. Couldn’t they, instead of being thrown away as waste […]?

Barbara Giuntoni, Managing Director of Marba Marmi from Carrara, wants to combine sustainability and animal welfare with her “Save an Elephant” initiative.

Barbara Giuntoni gotthe idea for her art project when she saw the leftover pieces from a customer’s sawing project: half-round marble scraps that reminded her of elephant tusks. Instead of being thrown away as waste, couldn’t they be sustainably reused to save elephants’ lives? – Thought, done. Giuntoni has tusk replicas made from the marble remnants. Some artistically decorated, some seemingly broken off, just like in real animal life, each one individual.

And she founded the Save an Elephant project, launching a social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram. She exhibits the teeth, for which no elephant has to die, for the first time at Marmomac. The presentation in a sea container, staged like a real display of hunting trophies, draws urgent attention to the problem: in Tanzania alone, poachers killed more than 60 percent of the elephant population between 2009 and 2014 – that is more than 60,000 animals – for trophy tourism and the illegal ivory trade, according to research by the animal welfare initiative Pro Wildlife.

Giuntoni says that marble is the perfect substitute for ivory, as both materials share certain attributes: unique, precious, white, natural. From an animal welfare point of view, the ivory trade and the associated, painful elephant poaching are unacceptable anyway. However, Save an Elephant wants to replace the original with handmade marble tusks without diminishing the effect of the resulting works of art. The aim is to create a genuine alternative for ivory lovers. Marba Marmi is therefore now looking for cooperation partners to help initiate the global trade in these “harmless trophies” and a rethink. Then, according to a conversation in the sea container at the trade fair, it is also conceivable that the tusks will no longer be produced only from waste pieces, but on a larger scale – a hopeful sign for the gray giants of the animal world.