Summary
- Germany’s upcoming state election in Saxony‑Anhalt has unexpectedly drawn the Bauhaus school into the heart of a cultural battle, as the far‑right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party targets the modernist movement in its push for a “patriotic cultural policy.” AfD cultural spokesperson Hans‑Thomas Tillschneider described Bauhaus as “the architecture of globalisation,” accusing it of deracination and dislocation.
- Founded in Weimar in 1919 by Walter Gropius, Bauhaus revolutionised design with its use of concrete, glass, and steel, influencing everything from architecture to household objects.
- Barbara Steiner, director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, said the AfD’s stance reflects its rejection of the Weimar Republic’s cultural ferment.
Germany’s upcoming state election in Saxony‑Anhalt has unexpectedly drawn the Bauhaus school into the heart of a cultural battle, as the far‑right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party targets the modernist movement in its push for a “patriotic cultural policy.”
AfD cultural spokesperson Hans‑Thomas Tillschneider described Bauhaus as “the architecture of globalisation,” accusing it of deracination and dislocation. Founded in Weimar in 1919 by Walter Gropius, Bauhaus revolutionised design with its use of concrete, glass, and steel, influencing everything from architecture to household objects. Though banned under the Nazis, its sites in Weimar, Dessau, and Bernau were later recognised as UNESCO World Heritage landmarks.
Barbara Steiner, director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, said the AfD’s stance reflects its rejection of the Weimar Republic’s cultural ferment. “Bauhaus and everything it stands for does not match the AfD’s ideas of German history,” she noted. The party instead invokes medieval rulers, Martin Luther, and Otto von Bismarck as cultural touchstones, while criticising state subsidies for what it calls “anti‑German art.”
AfD’s programme echoes former U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 order promoting classical architecture for government buildings. While Tillschneider insisted Bauhaus institutions would not be banned, he said funding priorities would shift.
Polls show AfD at around 40% in Saxony‑Anhalt, well ahead of rivals but possibly short of a governing majority. Nationally, it stands at 28%, compared to 22% for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives. Analysts warn that if AfD wins power in Saxony‑Anhalt, it could use the state as a blueprint for broader cultural and educational reforms, including scrapping gender studies and post‑colonial courses.
Universities and cultural institutions have voiced alarm, stressing that academic freedom must remain guided by science rather than ideology. Legal challenges are likely to slow any radical changes, while Bauhaus’s global reputation and popularity may shield it from direct attacks.
As Steiner put it: “Bauhaus is world‑renowned, and so any attempt to disparage it or call its very existence into question is guaranteed to attract worldwide attention.”
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