Bauhaus Archive

The Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung (Museum of Design) in Berlin's Tiergarten district houses the world's largest collection on the history of the famous art and design school, which existed from 1919 to 1933. The institution, founded in Darmstadt in 1960, preserves and presents works, documents, and literature that reflect the cultural legacy of the Bauhaus. The current museum building on the Landwehrkanal opened in 1979 and has been a listed landmark since 1997. Its striking silhouette with its sawtooth roofs recalls the original design by Walter Gropius, who was instrumental in promoting the project. The building has already served as a backdrop for international film productions and has its own typeface, named after Bauhaus student Herbert Bayer, which gives the museum a distinctive identity.

The collections span a broad range of classroom work, workshop pieces, architectural plans, and models. Particularly noteworthy is the important collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Bauhaus masters and students, including works by Feininger, Klee, Kandinsky, and Moholy-Nagy. The holdings are complemented by an extensive collection of graphic works, as well as letters, manuscripts, and printed materials documenting the school's ideas and practical work. In addition to the permanent exhibition "Die Sammlung Bauhaus" (The Bauhaus Collection), the museum regularly organizes special exhibitions, lectures, and workshops that also address current questions in design and contemporary architecture.

Since the end of 2018, the museum has been closed at its original site because of extensive renovation and expansion work, and it is operating from a temporary location in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The planned construction includes new climate-controlled exhibition space beneath the existing building as well as a storage facility. A glass information tower is intended to convey the history of the Bauhaus and turn the site into a gathering place for discussion and research. The renovated and expanded museum is scheduled to reopen at the end of 2027, restoring access to its valuable collections for a wide audience.