This year, the historic Bauhaus school is celebrating its 100^th anniversary with special events and retrospectives around the globe. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier recognized the milestone with his speech at the 100 Jahre Bauhaus (100 Years of Bauhaus) opening festival in Berlin, Germany.

100 Jahre Bauhaus was an initiative of the Bauhaus Kooperation Berlin Dessau Weimar, which connects the three German institutions in each city that maintain Bauhaus collections. The Bauhaus Kooperation is organizing a year of events and projects in honor of the Bauhaus anniversary.

In his speech, President Steinmeier touches on both the importance of Bauhaus for Germany’s history as well as the legacy of the Bauhaus and its impact through modernity. “We should consider, first and foremost, the Bauhaus movement’s legacy in terms of tasks, intentions, utopian thought and experimentation,” Steinmeier said, “things that [we] should not simply copy but which we must translate into our present.”

Wunderbar Together is working to do just this with a number of projects in the Chicago area that seek to celebrate the history of Bauhaus while emphasizing its continued relevance today.

Elmhurst Art Museum will host a number of events in honor of the Bauhaus anniversary, and artist Claudia Weber has taken up residence in the McCormick house, a historic Bauhaus landmark. Events include a panel discussion, lectures, exhibitions, and home tours of the McCormick House.

Additionally, the Virtual Bauhaus project is an interactive exhibition by the Goethe-Institut that uses technology to allow users to explore the world and ideas of the famous school through an immersive VR experience.

bauhaus.photo is a traveling photo exhibition that features 100 of the over 70,000 Bauhaus photographs, maintained as the largest collection of its kind at the Bauhau-Archiv at the Museum für Gestaltung in Berlin. Visitors to the exhibit will gain comprehensive insight into the history and influence of the iconic school.

Discover Design – Discover Bauhaus is a special workshop offered by the German Design Museum Foundation that gives youth ages 10-17 the opportunity to learn about the Bauhaus movement in a hands-on way.

These are just a few of the many Bauhaus-related events happening this year as a part of Wunderbar Together. Check out our events page to find an event near you!