Bauhaus becomes flashpoint in German state election as far-right AfD targets modernist legacy

DESSAU, Germany, June 22 (Reuters) – One hundred years after it emerged as a radical hub of modernist design, Germany's historic Bauhaus school is now at the center of a brewing culture war ahead of a state election that could hand the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) its first taste of power.

The AfD, which leads polls in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt ahead of a September vote, has pledged a "new patriotic cultural policy" aimed at restoring German self-confidence. It has singled out Bauhaus as a prime target, accusing the movement of promoting "deracination" and a globalized architecture devoid of national identity.

"Bauhaus stands for deracination. Bauhaus stands for dislocation of architecture," Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, the AfD's cultural spokesperson, told Reuters. "Bauhaus is the architecture of globalisation – of 'Anywhere's', so to speak."

Founded in eastern Germany after World War One as a social utopian project that sought to unite form and function, the Bauhaus school popularized the use of concrete, glass and steel in spare, straight-edged designs — transforming architecture worldwide. Its influence also pervaded domestic design: tubular steel chairs, lamps and coffee makers by Bauhaus figures such as Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe are found in households across the globe.

Banned under the Nazis, Bauhaus sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. The school’s legacy is now deeply woven into Germany’s cultural identity — making the AfD’s attack all the more striking.

Barbara Steiner, director of the Bauhaus in Dessau, said the party is not just targeting the institution but "also a diverse cultural landscape." She added, "Bauhaus and everything it stands for does not match the AfD's ideas of German history."

The AfD’s own vision of history draws on medieval rulers Heinrich I and Otto I, church reformer Martin Luther, and 19th century "Iron Chancellor" Otto von Bismarck — bypassing the Weimar Republic ferment that gave birth to Bauhaus. The party’s platform criticizes soulless modern architecture, theaters that it says neglect German plays, and state subsidies for what it calls "anti-German art and culture." It specifically faults Bauhaus for "avoiding any sign of national rootedness."

In place of glass and concrete, the AfD says it would take inspiration from former U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 executive order promoting classical and traditional architecture for government buildings. Yet Tillschneider insisted that the Bauhaus institute — funded through federal, state and municipal subsidies — would remain safe under an AfD state government. "We have very clear ideas about what we want to support and what we don't want to support, but we don't want to forbid anything," he said.

Polls show the AfD at around 40% in Saxony-Anhalt, well ahead of other parties but likely short of a majority. Nationally, it stands at about 28%, compared to around 22% for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives. In a region grappling with a stalled economy and deep uncertainty about the future, cultural politics alone may not decide the election — but the party’s focus on identity issues signals the potential for far-reaching change.

Michael Kolkmann, a political scientist at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, said the AfD would likely use Saxony-Anhalt as a blueprint. "The AfD would certainly try to use Saxony-Anhalt as a sort of blueprint, to test out something that might also be applicable to other federal states," he said.

Under Germany's federal system, state governments wield wide powers over cultural affairs and education — areas the AfD has already signaled it wants to reshape. The party says it will protect universities, but wants to scrap courses on gender studies and post-colonialism, and remove what it sees as leftist radical teaching from the 1960s. Claudia Becker, rector of Martin Luther University, warned that such moves "threaten the freedom and autonomy we enjoy, in the sense of academic freedom." She insisted scientific research must be "driven and guided by science itself, rather than by ideologies."

Germany's constitution and the distribution of powers between federal and state governments limit how far regulations can be changed. Kolkmann predicted "protracted legal proceedings" would challenge any radical overhaul.

For the Bauhaus itself, popular support offers another layer of protection. The Bauhaus Museum in Dessau and its meticulously restored buildings draw tens of thousands of visitors each year. Steiner, the Bauhaus director, said it was hard to predict what might happen under an AfD administration, but added: "Bauhaus is world-renowned, and so any attack on it, or any attempt to disparage it or call its very existence into question, is guaranteed to attract worldwide attention."

(Additional reporting by Tanja Daube; Editing by Gareth Jones)