The combination of the allure of exploratory leisure activities, and the desire of city-dwellers to visit Berlin’s surrounding countryside has already helped abandoned mental sanatoriums and dilapidated barracks to make a fashionable comeback. However, a space that remains largely undocumented by this overly-instagrammed topic is the Bauhaus monument of the Bundesschule Bernau. Designed by architectural icon Hannes Meyer and his partner Hans Wittwer at the Bauhaus school in Dessau and built in 1930, the woodland building was originally intended as a school, where the Bauhaus’ propagated ideas of design would flourish. For the first time, the Bauhaus International Summer School will take place on site there this year. Among the lecturers is young Dutch designer Marjan van Aubel, the winner of the Wallpaper Design Award 2016. A tip for students? Scholarships are still available, and cover a large part of the cost of attendance. Furthermore, in the upcoming weeks, the building is open for visitors on a handful of dates. Have a look around and don’t forget your swimwear, as the swimming pool is located right behind the property. (Text: Johannes Christian Schön / Fotos: Baudenkmal Bundesschule Bernau e.V.)
Baudenkmal Bundesschule Bernau, Hannes-Meyer-Campus 9, 16321 Bernau bei Berlin; map
For tours and appointments check online; visits can also be arranged by telephone or email.
Johannes Christian Schön has lived in Berlin since 2006, first in Neukölln, now in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. He is the director of communication at the Canadian design firm Bocci.
