debauhaus1-3, Exercise 1: Founding the Bauhaus

Model answer:

The Staatliches Bauhaus ("State Building House") was founded in Weimar in April 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius (check the date). He created it by joining two existing institutions: the academy of fine art and the school of arts and crafts that Henry van de Velde had set up (check the exact names). Gropius had been suggested as a possible successor to van de Velde as early as 1915 and became head of the combined school in 1919 (check). It was funded by the state of Thuringia, which is why "Staatliches" is in its name.

The merger matters because it expressed the founding idea: that fine art and craft, usually taught separately, should be taught together, with architecture as the goal (see Exercise 2).