Gropius House

Walter Gropius: His Life in Photos

The photographs below came to Historic New England at the completion of a small photographic exhibit of Gropius’s life hosted by the Goethe Institut in Boston in 1983 on the occasion of what would have been Gropius’s hundredth birthday. We have recreated the exhibition using the original photographs and captions. The galleries are organized chronologically, by significant periods in Gropius’s life.

1883 – 1918

Walter Gropius at two years old with his father, 1885 Tap IMAGE for info

Walter on Summer Vacation, 1898

Walter Gropius with his sister Manon, 1887

Walter Gropius while a student at Technical University in Munich, 1903

Walter Gropius while a student at Technical University in Berlin, 1905

Walter Gropius as corporal of the Hussar Regiment in Wandsbeck near Hamburg, 1906 Tap IMAGE for info

Lieutenant Gropius, Aid to the Commander of the 9th Hussar Regiment, Moussen, Voges Region, 1915

Lieutenant Gropius at Western Front, World War I, 1916

1919 – 1928

Bauhaus building designed by Gropius, 1925/26 Tap IMAGE for info

Aerial view of the Bauhaus Building

Gropius among a group of government dignitaries, including the Lord Mayor of the city of Dessau, 1926

Gropius 1927

Gropius with composer Bela Bartok and painter Paul Klee on the terrace of his house in Dessau, 1927

Gropius standing near an enlargement of his design for the office building of the Chicago Tribune, 1928 Tap IMAGE for info

1926 – 1929

Gropius vacationing in Italy, 1926 Tap IMAGE for info

Gropius on his first trip to the United States in the Grand Canyon, May 1928

Ise Gropius with friends Mrs. Sommerfeld and two guides riding in the Grand Canyon, May 1928

Walter and Ise Gropius in Berlin, 1929

Brooklyn Bridge, photograph taken by Walter Gropius in 1928

1930 – 1950

Walter, Ise, and Ati Gropius attending the wedding of Xanti Schawinsky. At Gropius’s right, the Constructivist sculptor Naum Gabo, August 1936 Tap IMAGE for info

Gropius with Friends, Cape Cod

Ise Gropius, 1939

Walter and Ise Gropius, c. 1940

Gropius on his morning ride, c. 1940

Gropius with friends, including Luis Sert, Xanti Schawinsky, Connie Breuer, and Marion Willard, 1940 Tap IMAGE for info

Frank Lloyd Wright visiting Gropius at this house in Lincoln; also present are Marcel Breuer, and Mr. and Mrs. Plant, January 24, 1940

Gropius’ party a la “Bauhausfest,” Harvard University, c. 1941

Gropius House in Lincoln, built 1938. Street side, 68 Baker Bridge Road. Photograph by Robert Damora

Gropius in Berlin for the first time after World War II, visiting old Bauhaus friend Hinnerk Schepers, 1947

1951 – 1960

Gropius seated between Le Corbusier and Luis Sert at CIAM Congress, Rome, 1951 Tap IMAGE for info

Gropius receiving an honorary degree, Doctor of Science, at Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 1957

Pan American Building Meeting, 1958

Gropius and his wife visiting in the office of architect Jack Cotton in London, 1960

Gropius standing outside the screened porch of his house in Lincoln, Mass., 1960

Gropius looking down the spiral staircase inside his house in Lincoln, Mass., 1960 Tap IMAGE for info

1961 - 1969

Gropius, c. 1961 Tap IMAGE for info

Nostra Bauhaus, Rome, 1961

Finnish architect Alvar Aalto visiting Gropius for his 80th birthday party, Boston, 1963

Gropius with friends in Boston including Alvar Aalto and Gyory Kepes, c. 1963

Gropius at Rosenthal factory, Selb, Bavaria, 1967

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