The Founders of the Werkbund

This book is the first, in any language, to provide a comprehensive study of the founders of the German Werkbund: the twelve artists and twelve firms represented at the establishment of the organization in 1907. Although these twenty-four were not always in agreement, they were committed to a common cause: strongly influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement, their aim was to inspire good design and craftmanship in mass-produced goods and architecture. Together they put forward a dialogue about the nature of German culture, both visual and intellectual, and about the character of German design. They were representatives of the regional centres of Germanic culture – in Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, Weimar, and Vienna – and of craft-based industries throughout Central Europe. The twenty-four reflected the distribution of their common, German-speaking, socio-economic identities: they were a microcosm of the society they hoped to reform. In shedding light on these highly influential individuals, who were the fore-runners of the Bauhaus, modern architecture and the international style, this book provides a new understanding of how the Werkbund functioned, how it pursued its aims, and how it achieved such a profound and enduring legacy.