Seminar Chair
Chair
1947 (designed), 1947 (manufactured)
1947 (designed), 1947 (manufactured)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This chair is an extremely rare example of modernist design produced in the German Democratic Republic before the debates of the early 1950s about 'formalism - the intention was a representational 'socialist style' rather than a focus on formal aspects of design. The chair represents the revival and continuation of the practices of the Bauhaus -the leading school of Modernist design - in East Germany after the Second World War, and indeed was designed by a former Bauhaus student, Selman Selmanagic. The chair was made at the Deutsche Werkstätten in Hellerau (near Dresden), one of the most important furniture-making workshops in 20th-century Germany. It is part of Selmanagic's interior design for the SED Parteihochschule 'Karl Marx' (training academy of the East German communist party) in Kleinmachnow near Berlin, built in 1947-9. As the debates concerning an appropriate 'socialist style' escalated in the late 1940s, the Deutsche Werkstätten came under attack for their adherence to a so-called 'formalist' Bauhaus design approach. Walter Ulbricht, the General Secretary of the SED condemned formalist design, later stating that he thought Selmanagic's furniture inappropriate for this particular building.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Seminar Chair (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Beech |
| Brief description | Chair, designed by Selman Selmanagic, made by Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau, beech, East Germany, 1947 |
| Physical description | Beech chair with upholstered seat and shield-shaped plywood back panel. The arms are on brackets attached to the rear legs |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | This chair was designed by Selman Selmanagic, a former Bauhaus student, as part of the interior design for the SED Parteihochschule 'Karl Marx' (training academy of the East German communist party) in Kleinmachnow near Berlin, built in 1947-9. It is an extremely rare example of modernist design produced in the German Democratic Republic before the formalist debates of the early 1950s. The chair represents the revival and continuation of Bauhaus practices in East Germany after the war, based at the Deutsche Werkstätten in Hellerau (near Dresden). Historical significance: The chair is important for several reasons. First, it demonstrates the place of modernist design in the socialist planned economy (during the Stalinist and Khruschev eras respectively). Secondly, it points to the post-war history of the Bauhaus in Germany, and to the history of one of Germany's most important furniture-making workshops, the Deutsche Werkstätten. The Seminar chair was part of an interior singled out for political discussion, and as such is one of the earliest and rarest examples of GDR modernist furniture. |
| Historical context | As the debates concerning an appropriate 'socialist style' escalated in the late 1940s, the Deutsche Werkstätten came under attack for its adherence to a so-called 'formalist' Bauhaus design approach. Walter Ulbricht, the General Secretary of the SED condemned formalist design, later stating that he thought Selmanagic's furniture inappropriate for this particular building. The first 300 back rests of this chair design were made from plywood which was previously used for building V2 rockets. Parts of V2's were stored in the basement of the Deutsche Werkstätten. In East Germany this is the only known design object using former war materials. In the 1950s the curved backrest was criticised during the formalism debate and called 'cow udder'. |
| Production | Designed 'in co-operation with Liv Falkenberg, Herbert Hirche and Edmund Collein'; notes on RF |
| Summary | This chair is an extremely rare example of modernist design produced in the German Democratic Republic before the debates of the early 1950s about 'formalism - the intention was a representational 'socialist style' rather than a focus on formal aspects of design. The chair represents the revival and continuation of the practices of the Bauhaus -the leading school of Modernist design - in East Germany after the Second World War, and indeed was designed by a former Bauhaus student, Selman Selmanagic. The chair was made at the Deutsche Werkstätten in Hellerau (near Dresden), one of the most important furniture-making workshops in 20th-century Germany. It is part of Selmanagic's interior design for the SED Parteihochschule 'Karl Marx' (training academy of the East German communist party) in Kleinmachnow near Berlin, built in 1947-9. As the debates concerning an appropriate 'socialist style' escalated in the late 1940s, the Deutsche Werkstätten came under attack for their adherence to a so-called 'formalist' Bauhaus design approach. Walter Ulbricht, the General Secretary of the SED condemned formalist design, later stating that he thought Selmanagic's furniture inappropriate for this particular building. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.7-2007 |
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| Record created | April 11, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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