Monument to the March Dead (
German : Denkmal für die Märzgefallenen ) is an
expressionist monument in the
Weimar Central Cemetery in
Weimar , Germany that memorializes workers killed in the 1920
Kapp Putsch . A 1920 design produced by
Walter Gropius , in collaboration with
Fred Forbát , was selected from those submitted in a competition organized by the
Gewerkschaftskartell (Union Cartel) and Städtisches Museum Weimar.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Although Gropius had said that the
Bauhaus should remain politically neutral, he agreed to participate in the competition of Weimar artists at the end of 1920.
[4]
The structure was built between 1920 and 1922.
[5] An unveiling ceremony for the memorial was held on May 1, 1922.
[2]
Objecting to it politically and as an example of what it characterized as
degenerate art , the
Nazis destroyed the monument in February 1936.
[5]
The structure was reconstructed in 1946.
[2]
Architecture
The form of the monument alludes to a thunderbolt. The structure is constructed of concrete.
[6]
The monument was arranged around an inner space, in which visitors could stand. The repeatedly fractured and highly angular memorial rose up on three sides, as if thrust up from or rammed into the earth.
[4]
Reception
Theo van Doesburg , leader of the
De Stijl movement, criticized Gropius' expressionist design, decrying it as "the result of a cheap literary idea."
[7]
Gallery
References
^ Weibel, Peter (2005-05-17).
Beyond Art: A Third Culture: A Comparative Study in Cultures, Art and Science in 20th Century Austria and Hungary . Springer Science & Business Media.
ISBN
9783211245620 .
^
a
b
c Gilbert Lupfer & Paul Sigel,
Walter Gropius, 1883–1969: the promoter of a new form , p. 31 .
^
"Mock-up 'Monument to the Victims of the March Putsch' " . www.bauhaus100.com . Retrieved 2019-10-01 .
^
a
b Gilbert Lupfer & Paul Sigel,
Walter Gropius, 1883–1969: the promoter of a new form , p. 31 .
^
a
b Wolfe, Ross (2015-05-08).
"Walter Gropius, Monument to the March Dead (1922)" . The Charnel-House . Retrieved 2019-03-14 .
^ Saval, Nikil (2019-02-04).
"How Bauhaus Redefined What Design Could Do for Society" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-03-14 .
^ MacCarthy, Fiona (2019-05-10).
Gropius: The Man Who Built the Bauhaus . Harvard University Press.
ISBN
9780674239906 .
External links
Interactive panorama of the monument
Buildings and structures
Fagus Factory (1911-1913) (with
Adolf Meyer )
Bauhaus Dessau (1925-1926)
Kurt Weill Centre (1925-1926)
Monument to the March Dead (1922, destroyed, 1936; reconstructed, 1947) (with
Fred Forbát )
66 Old Church Street, Chelsea (1935-1936) (with
Maxwell Fry )
Gropius House (1938)
Josephine M. Hagerty House (1938)
Impington Village College (1938-1939) (with
Maxwell Fry )
Waldenmark (with
Marcel Breuer )
The Alan I W Frank House (1939-1940) (with
Marcel Breuer )
Aluminum City Terrace (completion, 1942) (with
Marcel Breuer )
Walter-Gropius-Haus (Berlin) (1957) (with
The Architects Collaborative and Wils Ebert)
Michael Reese Hospital (original plan for 8 buildings, 1946-1959; demolished 2009-2013)
University of Baghdad (1957-1960)
Gropiusstadt (buildings complex, completion, 1960)
Embassy of the United States, Athens (1960-1961)
MetLife Building (1959-1963) (with Richard Roth and
Pietro Belluschi )
John F. Kennedy Federal Building (1963-1966) (with
The Architects Collaborative and Samuel Glaser)
Tower East (completion, 1969)
Huntington Museum of Art (enlargement project, 1968-1970, with
The Architects Collaborative )
Porto Carras (original project, 1973-1980)
Other buildings (supporting work) Related Family and relationships