A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: School of Arts and Crafts or School of Applied Arts) was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for these schools. From the 1920s and after World War II, most of them either merged into universities or closed, although some continued until the 1970s.
Students generally started at these schools from the ages of 16 to 20 years old, although sometimes as young as 14, and undertook a four-year course, in which they were given a general education and also learnt specific arts and craft skills such as weaving, metalwork, painting, sculpting, etc.
Some of the most well known artists of the period had been Kunstgewerbeschule students, including Anni Albers, Peter Behrens, René Burri, Otto Dix, Karl Duldig, Horst P. Horst, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele and Oskar Schlemmer. Many students accepted into the renowned Bauhaus art school had previously studied at Kunstgewerbeschulen.Bauhaus Archiv.Bauhaus100.Students . Retrieved 24 November 2018
List of Kunstgewerbeschulen (selected) In order of date opened:
Wien (Vienna) (1867). The Kunstgewerbeschule Wien became a higher education institute in 1941, and became the University of Applied Arts Vienna in 1999. Its main building was designed in 1877. The school was closely affiliated with the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry, now the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, known as MAK, which was founded in 1863. Notable alumni of the Kunstgewerbeschule include Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka and Lucie Rie.University of Applied Arts Vienna. History. Retrieved 19 January 2018 Berlin (1868). Berlin had two Kunstgewerbeschulen. The teaching institute of the Berlin Museum of Applied Arts (German: :de:Unterrichtsanstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums Berlin), opened on 12 January 1868. The museum itself was founded in 1866 as an initiative of a private museum association. The school was set up to provide an alternative to academic arts training. From 1881 the school was based in the museum's Martin-Gropius-Bau building in Niederkirchnerstraße in Kreuzberg.Das Kunstgewerbe-Museum zu Berlin: Festschrift zur Eröffnung des Museumsgebäudes. Berlin: Reichsdruckerei, 1881 In 1885 the Prussian state took over the Kunstgewerbemuseum and its affiliated school.UDK-Berlin. Unterrichtsanstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums 1868–1924. Retrieved 28 January 2018 In 1924, the school was separated from the museum and merged with the Hochschule für die Bildenden Künste, to become the Vereinigten Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst (United state schools for free and applied arts). It is one of the predecessors of the Hochschule der Künste Berlin which was founded in 1975, and which since 2001 has been the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK) (Berlin University of the Arts). The other Berlin Kunstgewerbeschule, founded in 1899, was also integrated into what is now UdK, see below.UDK-Berlin. Die Geschichte der Universität der Künste Berlin Die Vorgängerinstitutionen von 1696 bis 1975 . Retrieved 28 January 2018 The Reimann School in Berlin, founded in 1902, was also a vocational arts school, but it was privately funded, rather than being a state-funded Kunstgewerbeschule.Suga, Yasuko (2014) The Reimann School: A Design Diaspora Yasuku Suga. London: Artmonsky Arts München (Munich) (1868) The Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule München (Royal school of arts and crafts) was renamed the Staatsschule für angewandte Kunst (State school for applied art) in 1928, and in 1937 renamed again as the Akademie für angewandte Kunst.Volkert, Wilhelm (1983) Handbuch der bayerischen Ämter, Gemeinden und Gerichte 1799–1980. München, C. H. Beck, p. 216. In 1946 it was incorporated into the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (Academy of Fine Arts, Munich).Schmalhofer, Claudia (2005) Die Kgl. Kunstgewerbeschule München (1868–1918). München: Herbert Utz Verlag GmbH Kassel (1869). The school grew from an art academy founded in 1777 and was established as the Werkkunstschule on 24 May 1869. It closed at the beginning of World War II and its premises were used as a military hospital, which stopped operating in May 1943 due to flood damage caused by the bombing of the Edersee Dam, of the Dam Busters fame. The school reopened under the name Schule für Handwerk und Kunst (School for Crafts and Art) in 1946. After various name changes and changes of premises this merged into the Kunsthochschule Kassel in 1970, which, in 1971, became a faculty of the University of Kassel.Kunsthochschule Kassel. History. Retrieved 20 January 2018 Stuttgart (1869). The school was called the Württembergische staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule (Württemberg state school of applied arts). In 1946 it became the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart (State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart).Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart. Geschichte der Akademie. Retrieved 21 January 2018 Kaiserslautern (1874). The school was founded as the Pfälzische kunstgewerbliche Fachschule (Palatinate school of arts and crafts) in 1874, along with the Königliche Kreisbaugewerkschule (Royal district building trades school). About 1938 both schools merged to become the present day Meisterschule für Handwerker Kaiserslautern (Master school for trades people).Meisterschule für Handwerker Kaiserslautern. Über uns. Retrieved 21 January 2018Rasp, Ute-Konstanze (1995) Das Gewerbemuseum und die Königlichen Kreisbaugewerkschulen und Kunstgewerblichen Fachschulen Kaiserslautern, 1874–1918. Bonn: Diss Dresden (1875). It was founded as the Königlich-Sächsische Kunstgewerbeschule (Royal Saxon School of Applied Arts). It became the Akademie für Kunstgewerbe (State Academy of Applied Arts) in 1921, and merged with the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1950 to become the present day Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden.Stiftung Industrie und Alltagskultur. Design in der DDR. Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden. Retrieved 20 January 2018Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden. History . Retrieved 20 January 2018 Leipzig (1876). The Königliche Kunstakademie und Kunstgewerbeschule was established in 1876, from the earlier Zeichnungs-, Malerey- und Architectur-Academie which was founded in 1764. The writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe, then a law student, started attending drawing classes there from Autumn 1765.Dressler, Willy Oskar (ed.) (1913) Dresslers Kunstjahrbuch. Handbuch der deutschen Kunstpflege. 7. Jahrgang. Rostock: Dressler From 1900 the school was called the Königliche Akademie für graphische Künste und Buchgewerbe (Royal school for art and the book trade). After World War II, in 1947, it became the Akademie für Graphik und Buchkunst – staatliche Kunsthochschule, and in 1950 the Hochschule für Graphik und Buchkunst (Academy for graphic design and book art). Today it is known as the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst / Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB) (de).Stiftung Industrie und Alltagskultur. Design in der DDR. Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig. Retrieved 28 January 2018 Breslau (Polish: Wrocław) (1876). The Königlichen Kunst und Kunstgewerbeschule Breslau (Royal art and crafts school), founded in 1876 in what was then Prussia. It had its origins in the provincial art school, Provinzialkunstschule, founded in 1791. This became the Königlichen Kunst- Bau- und Handwerkerschule (Royal art, building and crafts school) in 1816. From 1911 it was the :de:Staatliche Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe Breslau. It was closed on 1 April 1932 in the wake of an emergency decree issued under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. A new art school, now called the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in English, was established in Wrocław in March 1946.Hölscher, Petra (2003) Die Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe zu Breslau. Wege einer Kunstschule 1791–1932 (pdf) . Kiel: Verlag Ludwig. Retrieved 21 January 2018. Pforzheim (1877). The school was founded as the Herzoglichen Kunstgewerbeschule und Fachschule für die Metallindustrie (Ducal School of Arts and Crafts and School for the Metal Industry). It merged into the Staatlichen Höheren Wirtschaftsfachschule, a tertiary institute for economics founded in 1963, a predecessor of the Hochschule Pforzheim, a business, design and engineering institution.Hochschule Pforzheim. Retrieved 2018 Karlsruhe (1878). The Kunstgewerbeschule Karlsruhe, established 1878, merged with the Großherzoglichen Badischen Kunstschule Karlsruhe (Grand Ducal School of Painting Karlsruhe) in 1920, to create the Badische Landeskunstschule (Baden state art school). This closed in 1944, and reopen in 1947 as the Badischen Akademie der bildenden Künste (Baden Academy of Fine Arts). Since 1961 it has been the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe.Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe. Geschichte. Retrieved 26 January 2017Heil, Axel Heil, Klingelhöller, Harald (eds.) (2004) 150 Jahre. Die Geschichte der Kunstakademie Karlsruhe in Bildern und Texten. Künzelsau: Swiridoff Verlag Frankfurt am Main (1878). Founded in 1878, in about 1930 the Kunstgewerbeschule Frankfurt was integrated into the Städelschule, an art school which had its origins in the Städel Art Institute which had been established in Frankfurt in 1817. The school is now known as the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule.Städelschule.History. Retrieved 26 January 2018Meyer, Corina (2017) The origins of the Städelschule (PDF). Retrieved 26 January 2018Salden, Hubert (ed.) (1999) Die Städelschule Frankfurt am Main von 1817 bis 1995. Mainz: Schmidt Hermann Verlag Zürich (1878). Along with a number of other institutions, the Kunstgewerbeschule Zurich is a predecessor of the Zurich University of the Arts (German:Zürcher Hochschule der Künste – ZHdK).Zurich University of the Arts. History. Retrieved 19 January 2018 Nürnberg (Nuremberg) (1883). The present day Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg (AdBK) (Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg), originated from a painting academy founded in 1662, making it the oldest art school in the German speaking world.Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg. History. Retrieved 21 January 2018 In 1820 it was renamed the Königliche Kunstschule (Royal Art School). Due to government pressure to develop trade and commerce in Nuremberg, in 1883 it became the Kunst- und Kunstgewerbeschule, focusing solely on applied arts rather than fine art. It became the Staatsschule für angewandte Kunst (State school for applied art) in 1928, and in 1940 it got its current name. Düsseldorf (1883). The Kunstgewerbeschule Düsseldorf was opened on 3 April 1883. It closed at the end of the school year in 1918. In 1919 its architectural courses were transferred to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.Füllner, Bernd, et al (1987) Düsseldorf als Stadt der Kunst 1815–1850. In: Dokumentation zur Geschichte der Stadt Düsseldorf vol. 5. Düsseldorf: Pädagogisches Institut der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf Magdeburg (1887). The Magdeburg school developed from a drawing school founded on 6 October 1793. It became the :de:Kunstgewerbe- und Handwerkerschule Magdeburg on 9 October 1887. It closed in 1963.Puhle, Matthias (ed.) (1993) Die Kunstgewerbe- und Handwerkerschule Magdeburg 1793–1963. Die Geschichte der Kunstgewerbe- und Handwerkerschule Magdeburg sowie deren Vorgänger- und Nachfolgeinstitute im Spiegel ihrer künstlerischen und gestalterischen Leistungen. Magdeburg: Magdeburger Museen Hamburg (1896). The Kunstgewerbeschule Hamburg was renamed the Landeskunstschule (State Art School) in 1928, and became the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (University of Fine Arts Hamburg) in 1955.Hamburg University for Fine Arts. HFBK history. Retrieved 19 January 2018