Published in April of , a tract for his new school penned by Walter Gropius expresses the basic tenets of this new school and its unique goal of bringing architects, artisans and artists together to create a new working and training community united by the primacy of architecture and a return to notions of craftsmanship as its guiding ethos. The manifesto is about DIN A4 in size, but a little slimmer. From the point of view of the romantic misapprehension of the Gothic period that prevailed at the time, in order to build such a collective, work the craftsmen met in such a hut and there formed an egalitarian labor association.
If you examine this illustration closely, you will see that around the cathedral spire three stars are formed by rays of light. Today we know that they represent the three most important arts: painting, architecture and sculpture.
Carpenters, decorative painters, weavers β¦ in reality there were only female weavers. For these workshops, the craftsmanship as well as the theoretical training is described in more detail: construction drawing, lettering, the science of materials, the theory of colors β¦ even bookkeeping was taught here. And in the end, three grades are named and elaborated in a hierarchical structure consisting of apprentice, journeyman and young masterβthe latter could actually become masters.
After the First World War, the most important goal was, of course, to attract new pupils. That is why the Bauhaus manifesto was enclosed with many magazines or mailed out upon request. The Bauhaus also undertook a tremendous media campaign and modernized the then current means of media communication.
From the very beginning the school constantly produced magazines, leaflets, exhibitions and catalogues, as well as holding lectures in order to promote the new cause. This media offensive of the Bauhaus was incredibly important. Ideas contained in many of these extant manifestos were integrated by Walter Gropius into the Bauhaus literature. For example, the Bauhaus manifesto contains the following notion: There is no boundary between arts and crafts and sculpture or painting.
