Bauhaus institutions warn against AfD and defend artistic freedom before state elections in Saxony-Anhalt

A few days before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, several Bauhaus institutions in Germany are positioning themselves together against threats and emphasizing artistic freedom, openness and international responsibility. “The Bauhaus cannot be reduced to either a uniform style or a one-dimensional narrative,” it said in a joint statement. “That’s precisely why it is a national cultural asset.”

The AfD wants to come to government in the state elections on Sunday. She had described the Bauhaus as the “misguided path of modernity” and would like to rename the Saxony-Anhalt state campaign with the motto “#modernthinking” to “#Germanthinking”.

Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer (independent) defended the Bauhaus several times and warned the AfD of financial cuts to the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation if it participated in the government. He also launched a nationwide manifesto.

The resulting international attention and broad solidarity showed that the diversity of the Bauhaus and the richness of its methods and design approaches have had an impact on society for over 100 years, said the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, the Bauhaus Archive/Museum for Design Berlin and the Klassik Stiftung Weimar.

The Bauhaus stands for international collaboration, artistic freedom and the courage to question what already exists. The “freedom of art, which is fundamental to the Bauhaus, and our democratic culture are coming under increasing pressure,” said the joint statement.

The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius and others as an art school in Weimar and later moved to Dessau and then Berlin, where it was eventually forced to close under pressure from the National Socialists. His artistic approaches and design forms continue to influence art and architecture today.