Auerbach House in Jena

This Schreiber Sheet is a model of the Auerbach House. It is the first Bauhaus building by Walter Gropius, the founder and director of the Bauhaus, which he built in 1924 with Adolf Meyer. The building owners were Anna and Felix Auerbach, who left a lasting mark on cultural and artistic life in Jena through their extensive commitment.

With the Auerbach House, Gropius realised his principle of a modular system for the first time, combining the opposing aspects of typification and variability. The house, which stands on a slight slope, consists of two intersecting cuboids. The northern cuboid has three storeys. It contains the utility area, such as the kitchen, the bathroom and, on the third floor, the laundry room with drying area. The seven rooms in the living area are housed in the southern cuboid. The division into usage areas is not recognisable from the outside. There is a roof terrace on the flat roof. There is a balcony in front of the bedroom and a conservatory on the ground floor. The façade is finished with a high-grade plaster with mica that shimmers in the sun and with small river sandstones.

Alfred Arndt, one of the first Bauhaus graduates, was commissioned by Gropius to design the colour scheme for the interior of the house. For a long time, it was considered that the plans had not been realised. When the new owners commissioned a survey in 1994, colour residues were discovered on all the walls. Based on these, the original colour scheme was completely restored. The 37 pastel colours are based on the size, lighting conditions and function of the individual rooms.

The Auerbach House is, of course, a listed building and an important testimony to Bauhaus architecture.