Margaretha Reichardt facts for kids

Margaretha Reichardt (born March 6, 1907 – died May 25, 1984), also known as Grete Reichardt, was a talented textile artist and weaver from Erfurt, Germany. She became one of the most important designers from the famous Bauhaus design school's weaving workshop in Dessau, Germany. Margaretha spent most of her life running her own weaving workshop in Erfurt. This was during a time when Germany was under Nazi rule, and later when it became part of communist East Germany.

Early Life and Education

Severikirche with the Severihof building, Grete Reichardt's childhood home, in the foreground

Margaretha Reichardt was born in Erfurt, Germany, on March 6, 1907. Her father was a master tailor and also the sexton (a church official) for the Catholic Severikirche (St Severus' Church). Her family lived in apartments in Severihof, a large building owned by the church. It overlooked Erfurt's main cathedral square. Margaretha was an only child.

From 1913 to 1921, she went to a Catholic school and a girls' school run by Ursuline nuns in Erfurt.

In 1921, when she was only 14, Margaretha Reichardt received special permission to start training at the Erfurt Kunstgewerbeschule. This was a school for applied arts, where students learned practical skills like crafts and design. She finished her training in 1925 as a qualified craftswoman.

In 1923, while at the Kunstgewerbeschule, she visited the very first Bauhaus exhibition in nearby Weimar. She was very excited about what she saw there. This visit later inspired her to apply to study at the Bauhaus school in 1925. She became student number 83 at the famous school.

Studying at the Bauhaus

From 1926 to 1931, Reichardt was a student at the Bauhaus design school in Dessau, Germany. The Bauhaus was a very famous school known for its modern and functional approach to art, design, and architecture.

Her first semester included a special introductory course taught by Josef Albers and László Moholy-Nagy. After that, she focused on the Bauhaus weaving workshop. She also took classes with famous artists like Paul Klee, Joost Schmidt, and Wassily Kandinsky.

Margaretha passed her Bauhaus journeyman's exam in 1929. In 1931, she earned her Bauhaus Diploma, becoming the 54th student to receive this honor.

During her time at the Bauhaus, she spent a winter semester (1929-1930) working as a traveling teacher in Königsberg, East Prussia.

From 1930 to mid-1931, Reichardt worked as a freelance workshop master at the Bauhaus weaving workshop. In 1931, there were some disagreements among students and staff, which led to changes in leadership at the weaving workshop. Reichardt was temporarily asked to leave the school.

In 1932, she went on a one-year trip to the Netherlands to work and study. There, she learned about typography (the art of arranging type) from designer Piet Zwart. She also helped set up and became the director of a weaving workshop in The Hague.

Designing Wooden Toys

In 1926, during her first year at the Bauhaus, Margaretha took a preliminary course. In this class, she designed two well-known wooden toys. These toys were later produced and sold by the Naef toy company in Switzerland.

• Steckpuppen (or "Peg dolls" in English) are a set of three brightly painted wooden figures. They stand on metal pins that can be moved on a wooden base.
• Hampelmann (known as a "Jumping Jack" in English) is a painted wooden figure of a man in a wooden frame. His arms and legs move when you pull a string.

Developing Eisengarn Fabric

A Marcel Breuer chair, with Grete Reichardt's 'eisengarn' fabric, 1927.

Reichardt learned from and worked with many famous Bauhaus artists, including Gunta Stölzl. She created special fabrics for the tubular steel chairs designed by Marcel Breuer.

One of her most important contributions was improving Eisengarn. This German word means "iron yarn," but the fabric doesn't actually contain iron. It's a very strong, long-lasting, waxed cotton material. Fabric made from this yarn is shiny and very resistant to tearing.

Eisengarn was first developed in Germany in the mid-1800s. However, Margaretha Reichardt made it even better while she was at the Bauhaus. Her improved version was used by Marcel Breuer for his famous tubular steel chairs. In the 1930s, Reichardt's eisengarn was also used to cover airplane seats because of its strength. She also helped create fabrics that could block sound and reflect light during her time at the Bauhaus.

Other Bauhaus Projects

The Bauhaus school believed it was important to work with industries outside the school. Students and teachers often worked on practical projects.

Margaretha Reichardt's textiles were used to furnish the Bundesschule des Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes (ADGB) (a trade union school). This building was constructed between 1928 and 1930 in Bernau bei Berlin. The school is now part of the Bauhaus World Heritage Site.

Her work was also used in the cafe of the Altes Theater in Dessau. This theater was rebuilt in 1927 after a fire.

Life in Erfurt

In 1933, Margaretha returned to Erfurt. She was able to get several looms and other equipment from the Bauhaus weaving workshop, which had recently closed. She set up her own workshop in Severihof, the building where her family lived.

In 1936, she married Hans Wagner (1906-1981). Sometimes she used the last name Wagner-Reichardt. Hans ran a photography studio with his brother. Margaretha taught him how to weave, and they worked together in the weaving workshop. Hans left for military service in 1939. The couple divorced in 1952 and had no children. After their divorce, Hans started his own weaving workshop.

In 1939, Margaretha and Hans built a house and workshop in Bischleben, a suburb of Erfurt. Margaretha lived and worked there for the rest of her life. She created beautiful wall hangings, carpets, and fabrics for clothing, curtains, and furniture.

She earned her Master Weaver's qualification. In 1942, she was given permission to teach apprentices (students learning a trade).

During the time of the Nazis, Margaretha Reichardt was a member of the Reichskulturkammer. This was a government group for all German artists. Joining it was required for all professional artists.

In 1946, she taught for a year in the textile department of the Meisterschule für Handwerk und Handwertskunst in Erfurt. This was a school for applied arts, located in the same building as the Kunstgewerbeschule she had attended earlier.

In 1952, Reichardt joined the Verband Bildender Künstler der DDR (VBK) [de]. This was the official artists' association in the German Democratic Republic.

In communist East Germany, small independent businesses like Margaretha Reichardt's weaving workshop were allowed. However, there were often shortages of raw materials. The government controlled these materials and preferred state-run businesses. To get materials, Margaretha had to be good at negotiating with officials. She also used her contacts in other countries, especially in Scandinavia, who sent her raw materials.

In 1953, there was political unrest in East Germany. During this time, Reichardt was offered several jobs that would have allowed her to move to West Germany. Universities in Hamburg, Kassel, and Munich offered her teaching positions, but she chose to stay in Erfurt.

On December 2, 1976, Margaretha was one of 18 former Bauhaus students and staff who attended the official reopening of the Bauhaus building in Dessau. The East German government had restored it.

Handweberei Grete Reichardt

Handweberei Grete Reichardt was the name of Margaretha Reichardt's weaving business. When she was married and working with her husband, Hans Wagner, from 1936 to 1952, it was called Handweberei Wagner-Reichardt.

Her workshop often had up to five apprentices at a time. In total, Reichardt trained over 50 apprentices during her life.

She and her apprentices made carpets, wall hangings, furniture coverings, textiles for clothing, and other decorative items. The workshop also created textiles for museums, theaters, and other public buildings. Even though the cloth was handwoven, clothing made from it was sold in regular shops. The prices were affordable for ordinary people.

In 1963, Reichardt hand-wove one of three tapestries for the restored St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin. This tapestry shows a city with the names of the apostles on its foundation stones. God is shown as the Tree of Life, and a lamb represents Christ.

Death and Legacy

Margaretha Reichardt died suddenly at her home in Erfurt-Bischleben on May 25, 1984, at the age of 77. She continued to manage her workshop right up until her death.

A street in the Erfurt suburb "Ringelberg" is named after her: Grete Reichardt Straße. Several other streets in the area are named after famous Bauhaus figures. This is because Erfurt is only about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Weimar, where the Bauhaus school was founded.

Margaretha Reichardt Museum

After Margaretha Reichardt passed away, people worked to turn her home and workshop into a museum and memorial. In 1987, her home, workshop, and everything inside (including her looms and garden) were protected as a historical monument. In 1989, it officially became a museum for the city of Erfurt. The building was restored in 1990. The museum is called the Margaretha Reichardt Haus.

The house was built in 1939. The plans for the house were drawn by Konrad Püschel, who was also a student at the Bauhaus with Reichardt. It doesn't look like a typical flat-roofed Bauhaus building. Instead, it looks more like a traditional house of its time with a tiled roof.

At the Margaretha Reichardt Haus, you can see her workshop on the lower ground floor. It has six original wooden hand looms, two of which came from the Bauhaus weaving workshop in Dessau. You can also visit parts of Reichardt's living areas. The rooms are kept as they were when she was alive. They display examples of her carpets and wall hangings, along with some original Bauhaus furniture. This includes a Marcel Breuer tubular steel chair covered with Reichardt's eisengarn fabric. You can also see a Steckpuppe (peg doll) model. The museum also has a collection of textiles and clothing made at her workshop.

Since 1992, the Margaretha Reichardt Haus has been managed by the Angermuseum Erfurt, which is the city's main art gallery. You can visit by making an appointment, and tours are offered that include a demonstration of how the looms work.

Exhibitions and Collections

During her lifetime, Margaretha Reichardt's work was shown in over 20 solo exhibitions. There have also been many exhibitions of her work since her death. From 1936 to 1975 (except during World War II), her work was displayed at the handcrafts exhibitions held at the Grassi Museum during the annual Leipzig Trade Fair. The Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig (Leipzig Museum of Applied Arts) has her work in its permanent collection.

The Angermuseum Erfurt also has her work in its collection. In 2019, it held an exhibition called Vier "Bauhausmädels": Gertrud Arndt, Marianne Brandt, Margarete Heymann, Margaretha Reichardt.

The archive of the current Bauhaus-Universität Weimar holds 31 drawings and 11 textile items that she made while at the Bauhaus in Dessau.

At the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life) in Paris in 1937, she received an honorary diploma.

She was also awarded an honorary golden diploma at the 1951 Milan Triennial IX for a handwoven tapestry she exhibited.

Examples of Reichardt's Bauhaus work are kept at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). They were part of the exhibition Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity, which ran from November 8, 2009, to January 25, 2010.

Clothing made from Margaretha Reichardt's textiles and a carpet design were shown in the Bauhaus: Art as Life exhibition (May 3 - August 12, 2012) at the Barbican Art Gallery in London.

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York has a B5 chair covered with her Eisengarn fabric.

Her work is also held in many other private and public collections, including the collection of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

Images for kids

• 

  A Marcel Breuer chair, with Grete Reichardt's 'eisengarn' fabric, 1927.

See also

• Anni Albers
• Gunta Stölzl
• Otti Berger
• Friedl Dicker-Brandeis