Haus Am Horn

A white, almost square cube with a taller middle section, in a residential street on the edge of the Ilm park: at first glance the Haus Am Horn looks unremarkable. Yet it is the only Bauhaus building actually built in Weimar and one of the first modernist houses anywhere. In 1923 masters and students built it together as a prototype for the home of tomorrow: cheap, quick to build, practical and full of technology. Today it is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and open as a museum.

History: a house for the Bauhaus exhibition

After the First World War Germany was short of more than a million homes. Walter Gropius wanted his Bauhaus to respond and planned a whole estate on the Am Horn site, but neighbours' protests, political opposition and inflation stopped it. For the first Bauhaus exhibition in 1923 a single model house was built instead, designed by the painter Georg Muche, the youngest Bauhaus master, with Gropius as client.

The foundation stone was laid on 11 April 1923 and the house was finished on 15 August 1923, after just four months, thanks to new materials such as prefabricated lightweight concrete blocks. Inflation still pushed costs from a planned 100 to 650 million marks. For the first time all the Bauhaus workshops worked on one project, supplying furniture, lamps, rugs and wall colours. The house was lived in until 1998, later extensions were removed during restoration, and in 1996 it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Bauhaus.

What to see

• The living room: A large square room rising above the others, softly lit by frosted-glass clerestory windows.
• The layout: Smaller rooms tailored to their purpose surround it; from the lady's room a sightline runs through the children's room to the dining room and kitchen.
• The kitchen: Designed by Benita Otte and Ernst Gebhardt, with white, black and red opaque glass.
• The children's room: Coloured wooden panels for drawing and a reconstruction of Alma Buscher's cupboard that doubles as a puppet theatre.
• Furniture and technology: Reconstructions after Marcel Breuer and others, central heating, opaque glass and tilting windows.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

In the summer season the house is open Wednesday to Monday 10:00–18:00, closed Tuesdays and closed in winter. Admission €7, reduced €5, students aged 16–20 €2. Visitor numbers are limited and visits run at fixed times, so book online in advance. The house is wheelchair accessible and has a media guide.

Getting there

Am Horn 61, 99425 Weimar, on the slope above the Park an der Ilm, not far from Goethe's Garden House; the nicest approach from the centre is on foot through the park.

Tripto tip

Allow about 45 minutes and combine it with the Bauhaus Museum Weimar and a walk through the Ilm park. The ModerneCard covers several modernist houses in Weimar.