Bauhaus architecture in the Harz mountains?

In Saxony Anhalt, the Bauhaus is well known for its buildings and houses in Dessau, the second place where the school was established after Weimar and before Berlin.

In the southern part of this region, in the Harz Mountains, there are also several buildings that are characteristic of the Bauhaus architects.

The region is famous for its half-timbered houses, about which I have written a post, and its mining activities, so these are other reasons to go there for architecture fans.

The deaconess house in Elbingerode was built between 1932 and 1934 according to the plans of Godehard Schwethelm in the Bauhaus / Neuen Bauen style and is located in this small town in the heart of the Harz.

It is the Diakonissen Mutterhaus, Neuvandburg, the mother house of the deaconesses. In 1921 the congregation moved to Elbingerode and soon needed new buildings. The original plans were quite different, but a young architect, Godehard Schwetehelm, was very convincing and the result was a very modern building:

Simple and uncluttered facade for the time:

The details, especially the ironwork, are worth a look:

The place can be visited, but the opening days and slots are rare, I didn’t have the chance to go in.

If you like this building, I advise you to look at this post about a school built in Bernau in Brandenburg, I find similarities there, especially in the sand and red colours.

https://wherever-it-is.com/2022/06/25/bauhaus-ecole-adgb-de-bernau-classee-unesc o /

Godehard Schwethelm also designed a nursing home in Harzgerode, some 20 km to the east of the deaconess house. It was built between 1928 and 1931, i.e. a few years earlier, and until the end of the 1990s it was used for tuberculosis patients. It is in the middle of nature and unfortunately in a poor state of repair. There seems to be a renovation project underway.

The ironwork details are similar to the ones on the deaconess house:

And to complete the tour, the Unesco World Heritage city of Quedlinburg also has some Neues Bauen or Bauhaus buildings. The house and building are by Herbert Puls (1920s) and the theatre dates from 1929, architect Carl Fugmann.