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Alfred Arndt

Darmstadt, Germany
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Alfred Arndt (November 26th 1896 - 1976 in Darmstadt was a German architect and Bauhaus scholar born in Elbing, East Prussia. After studying drafting at a large machine factory in Elbing, Alfred Arndt was conscripted into military duty during World War One and worked as a foreman in Danzig in 1916. Between 1919 and 1920, he attended the trade school in Elbing and studied at the Konigsberg Art Academy (figure drawing class) until 1921. At the same time, he had lessons with the Konigsberg painter Robert Budzinski. In the summer of 1921, Arndt joined the Wandervogelbewegung (German Youth Movement).

He studied at the State Bauhaus in Weimar and at the Bauhaus in Dessau from 1921 to 1927. In 1921, he enrolled in the preliminary course taught by Johannes Itten in Weimar and classes with Paul Klee, Dora Wibiral and Dorothea Seeligmuller. From 1922 to 1924/25, he was in the wall-painting department under Wassily Kandinsky. On 17/04/1924, he passed the journeyman's examination at the Weimar Crafts Chamber. From 1925 to 1926, he was in the wall-painting department under Hinnerk Scheper at the Bauhaus Dessau; from 1926/27 to 1927/28, he attended the carpentry workshop taught by Marcel Breuer. In 1927, Arndt married the Bauhaus student Gertrud Hantschk. and passed the master's examination in 1928 and left the Bauhaus on 31/05/1928. He subsequently worked as a freelance architect in Probstzella, Thuringia.

Under the directorship of Hannes Meyer, he returned to the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1929. In 1930, he was appointed by Hannes Meyer as the director of the interior design department, which supervised these three workshops: the carpentry workshop, metal workshop and wall-painting department. From 1930 to 1931, he was the director of the building and extension departments. The latter combined the architecture and extension departments. From 1931 to 1932, he was the teacher for Extension Construction, Descriptive Geometry and Perspective. In 1931, his daughter Alexandra was born.

Arndt left the Bauhaus in 1932 and once again went to Probstzella with his family. He worked here as an advertising graphic artist and architect. In 1937, his son Hugo was born. A short time later, Arndt began to also work in industrial construction in South Thuringia and Upper Franconia. In order to help Franz Itting - the pioneer of Thuringian social democracy, under whose commission Arndt had built and furnished the Haus des Volkes (House of the People) in Probstzella - during the NS period, Arndt joined the NSDAP in 1937. He was appointed as the head of propaganda for Probstzella. Until 1945, he worked as an architect for Thuringian industrial companies. From 1936 to 1940, the former Bauhausler Conrad Paschal was his colleague. In the following two years, Arndt was employed as a government building officer in Jena. During this time, he worked together with Wassili Luckhardt, Georg Neidenberger and Joost Schmidt on the reestablishment of the Bauhaus in Weimar. In 1948, Arndt and his family moved to Darmstadt. He continued his activities as an industrial architect here and participated in the development of the Bauhaus Archive.

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Darmstadt, Germany
  1. Bauhaus Online
grolberg, May 3rd, 2011
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