Deutscher Werkbund (German Workshops)

The Deutscher Werkbund or as pronounced better in English the 'German Workshops' is an avant-garde association and was founded in 1907 withthe same goal of the Vienna's Workshops 'to meliorate arts and crafts and to attain an aesthetic modernization of everyday life by joining force.

Twelve was the total number of members who together founded the Deutscher Werkbund. Among them was Peter Behrens who was an artistic director for AEG (Allgemeine Elektrizitatz Gesellschaft) that was a turbine factory in Berlin. AEG was also the first firm to have a complete corporate identity.

While working for AEG, Behrens went on to design a unified range of electrical goods and this type of product standardization reflected the ideals of the Deutscher Werkbund. The Deutscher Werkbund was also inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement in Britain and so the members wanted to revive the status of craftsmanship and apply it to the industrial production.

                             Peter Behrens electrical kettle for AEG, 1909

Peter Behrens electrical fan for AEG, 1908

Through the years, Luigi De Ponti invented the moka pot in 1933 where compared to nowadays, this pot is till being produced having the almost the shape but with a more modern style.

During this era, the first world war occurred in 1914 which ended four years later leaving disastrous places and damages all over. Because of this, there was a widespread need for consumer products after the devastation of the war. This is where Walter Gropius stepped in to accept the necessity of standardisation and industrial production. 

In 1927, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe organised an exhibition entitled 'The Dwelling' in Stuttgart. Its focus was a housing estate project where the most progressive architects around Europe were invited to design buildings. The interiors of these houses were designed by Mies Van Der Rohe himself using tubular metal furniture among other designers. These works later inspired the modern movement including Bauhaus.

Reference:

Jobaneu, 2009. Berlin moabit: AEG Turbinenfabrik. [image online] Available at: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=584411&page=372 [Accessed 8th November 2013]

The Art History Archive, 2013. Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation) [image online] Available at: http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/european/German-Art-Movements-of-the-Early-20th-Century.html [Accessed 8th November 2013]

live auctioner, 2013. Postcard for the Die Wohnung exhibition. [image online] Available at: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5339943

Fiell C. and Fiell P. 1999. Design of the 20th Century. Germany: Taschen