Often one can take a peek inside the homes of famous artists and designers through photographs, and in some cases their homes are preserved by trusts and opened up to tour parties. It’s a rare treat though to be able to stay in the same rooms as true pioneers, to experience where they worked and the views they enjoyed while they created. Now bear in mind the designers who stayed at the Prellerhaus in Dessau-Rosslau, Germany, were students (not known for their largesse) and belonged to the Bauhaus movement (ditto), so there’s not much in the way of luxury happening, but there’s plenty of authenticity and atmosphere to be had.
Also known as Bauhaus Dessau, the Prellerhaus name came from Bauhaus students in Weimar who were afforded dorm rights at the studio flats built by landscape painter Louis Preller, but this 28-room Dessau block is part of a larger complex built in 1926 according to designs by Walter Gropius. Bauhauslers such as Franz Ehrlich, Josef and Anni Albers and Alfred Arndt were residents, and their rooms have been reconstructed using period designs – in some cases furnished with items they designed themselves while staying here. The bed, table and cupboard in Albers’ room are examples of this, while Ehrlich’s room contains later GDR designs from the 1950s.