»Republic of Spirits, Republik der Geister!« – the Weimar Universities’ great Bauhaus Festival on 12 April 2019

With a combination of architecture, art, media, music, stage and performance, the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar and the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar are joining forces to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of foundation of the Staatliches Bauhaus, which opened in Weimar in April 1919.

For the festival, students, teachers and members of both universities will transform the Main Building and the Park an der Ilm by the Tempelherrenhaus into experimental, multimedia and exceptional settings – with more than 20 spaces redesigned for the evening. All guests are invited to stroll, discover, listen and linger from 6 pm onwards. The festival will be opened at 6:30 pm by Prof. Dr. Christoph Stölzl, President of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, and Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp, President of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, in the University Library foyer.

The universities held a concept competition for this joint Bauhaus festival, with strong uptake from both institutions. Interdisciplinary, inter-university teams developed concepts and are already working on implementing them. The exciting settings to be explored have titles such as »Magical Moment 1930«, »Gadfly«, »The Bauhaus Dive Bar«, »Chromatron«, »Cirque du Bauhaus«, »Women’s Room«, »Organised Programme Tour« and »Home and Away«. Various materials, light installations, dance, song, performances and music will transform the evening into a unique audiovisual, interactive experience.

In the 1919 Bauhaus manifesto, Walter Gropius stated: »Bauhaus seeks to gather all artistic creation together into one«. And looking back at the Weimar period, Oskar Schlemmer said: »This thirst for design was (...) particularly strong and was expressed in exuberant festivals, vivacious improvisations, and the creation of fantastic masks and costumes«. In this spirit, students and teachers are examining the history of Bauhaus from a modern perspective and finding contemporary aesthetic realisations that also represent their own creative, complex examination of Bauhaus’s heritage.

The Bauhaus Festival is funded by the Thuringian State Chancellery and the Bauhaus Association, and is organised in conjunction with the Klassik Stiftung Weimar.

Republic of Spirits, Republik der Geister! – 

The Weimar Universities’ Bauhaus Festival

Friday 12 April 2019, from 6 pm

Fürstenhaus, Platz der Demokratie 2/3

Van de Velde complex, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 6-8
Tempelherrenhaus in Ilmpark

Opening and welcome address
6:30 pm
Prof. Dr. Christoph Stölzl, President of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar
Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp, President of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Foyer of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar University Library , Steubenstraße 6

Entry is free of charge.

For more information and description of the settings, visit bauhaus100.uni-weimar.de/de/bauhausfest or contact the Bauhaus100 coordination team at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar by email to bauhaus100(at)uni-weimar.de or at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar by email to presse(at)hfm-weimar.de.