Erich Dieckmann (* 5 November 1896 in Kauernik, Löbau district, West Prussia; â 8 November 1944 in Berlin) was a German carpenter, furniture designer, architect and university lecturer. Alongside Marcel Breuer, he is considered the most important furniture designer of the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau.
He primarily developed furniture (cabinets, tables, and seating furniture), initially made of wood in geometric shapes with rectangular frames and standardized designs, which enabled cost-effective production. Later, he also designed some organic seating furniture as well as carpet designs, clocks, furnishing and color concepts for functional interiors. His life and work fell into oblivion.
After attending school in Bad Bentheim, Erich Dieckmann went to the Realgymnasium in Goslar, graduating in 1913 with the "Einjährige" (intermediate secondary school leaving certificate). At the age of 16, he went to sea as a cabin boy on the sailing ship Jonny for about a year to learn the seafaring trade, traveling to countries such as Russia, Great Britain, Spain, and Africa. After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, like many enthusiastic and patriotic Germans, he voluntarily enlisted in the war navy at the age of 17 and volunteered for service, but due to a lack of demand, he was drafted into the Imperial Army and, after the Battle of the Marne, was assigned to the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 23 in Goslar (I. Res. Jäg. 23, in the Green Corps), which was subordinate to the 51st Reserve Division and its subdivision, the 101st Reserve Infantry Brigade. The Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 23 was sent to the Western Front. In the fall of 1914, Dieckmann took part in the First Battle of Flanders, and in 1915 he was involved in the capture of Langemarck north of Ypres. His left forearm was shattered there by a Canadian explosive shell. His forearm and left hand were painstakingly reconstructed with implants using the methods available at the time, which meant that Dieckmann spent almost two years in military hospitals, most recently in Göttingen. Due to his permanent physical disability, he was certified as having a 50% "restriction on earning capacity", and had to give up his dream of becoming a sailor. His older brother Ernst (1895âÂÂ1916) was killed, at the age of 18, on the Western Front in the Argonne, and another older brother was seriously wounded, like Erich.
In order to study, he returned to secondary school and graduated with the Reifeprüfung (school leaving certificate). He studied architecture at the Technical University of Danzig from 1918 to 1920, but dropped out after his pre-diplomabecause he disliked both the methodology and the goals of technical university education.
After completing his preliminary architecture degree, he began studying painting and drawing in Dresden, but was dissatisfied with the program.
Gerhard Marcks drew his attention to the Bauhaus in Weimar under Walter Gropius. From the winter semester of 1921/22 to 1925, Dieckmann studied there on a scholarship, initially under Johannes Itten, and at the same time completed a carpentry apprenticeship there from spring 1922. During this time, Dieckmann belonged to Walter Gropius's inner circle of students and was significantly influenced by him. In February 1924, Gropius submitted a request to the Weimar Chamber of Crafts to allow Erich Dieckmann to take his journeyman's examination early because he had been proposed as the successor to Marcel Breuer in the furniture workshop. The Chamber of Crafts then exempted Dieckmann from his third year of apprenticeship, enabling him to complete his apprenticeship on August 25, 1924, with the journeyman's examination before the Weimar Chamber of Crafts. It was only through his studies and, not least, his apprenticeship at the Bauhaus that Dieckmann found satisfaction in terms of methodology and the technical content taught.
As for other Bauhaus students, the cube or rectangular prism became the most important reference unit in applied design. Like his colleague Josef Albers, Dieckmann sought furniture forms that could be manufactured by machine. Unlike Albers and Breuer, however, Dieckmann did not want to forego the possibilities offered by traditional wood joints and an emphasis on the natural properties of wood. His favorite material combinations were oak and bird's-eye maple, oak and padauk (also known as padouk), walnut and maple, and walnut and elm.
The interior design of the master bedroom and dining room in the Weimar model house "Haus Am Horn", which Georg Muche planned as a flagship project for the Bauhaus under the restrictive conditions of hyperinflation, was conceived by Dieckmann in 1923. The interior design represents Dieckmann's first independently executed work. Marcel Breuer particularly praised the simplicity of the functional construction of Dieckmann's design for the bed, which consisted solely of square blocks, and "the monumental beauty of the clarity, which fully satisfies our aesthetic demands even without inorganic decoration and ornamentation." The furniture designed by Breuer and Dieckmann was simple in form, functional, appropriate to the materials used, and suitable for industrial production.
After successfully completing his apprenticeship, Dieckmann worked as a salaried "Etatgeselle" (journeyman) in the furniture workshop at the Bauhaus. Several so-called "productive journeymen" now worked according to Dieckmann's designs, while Dieckmann himself also executed designs by third parties, such as Breuer's chair designs.
After the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, Dieckmann remained in Weimar and ran the furniture workshop from April 1925 to March 1926 together with Reinhold Weidensee. On July 1, 1926, it was integrated into the State College of Crafts and Architecture in Weimar as the Department of Carpentry and Interior Design.<sup>[13]</sup> In March 1926, Dieckmann signed his employment contract as artistic director of this department, which took effect on July 1, 1926, initially for a period of three years. In this role, he succeeded Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. Reinhold Weidensee continued to assist him as master craftsman. Dieckmann subsequently played a key role in establishing an exemplary testing facility for the development of standard furniture, a project that is still considered his most significant achievement today.
This furniture was based on a simple cubic form that was geared to the requirements of modern residential buildings. Bartning recommended it to building cooperatives as interior design for newly built housing estates: "The standard furniture we produced was proposed as a German industrial standard for small apartments. It is intended for modern, small-scale housing estates and does not clutter the space, but rather helps to define it." Dieckmann had been involved in developing this standard, which was based on the dimensions of the human body. The modular dimensions of 36 cm<sup>10</sup> chosen by Dieckmann for his standard furniture for kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms, and children's rooms proved extremely successful, especially as it could be expanded, varied, and combined in many ways with additional elements. The standard furniture was high-quality, but its standardization made it inexpensive and it was also exceptional from a hygienic point of view â it avoided any dust-collecting effect.
Dieckmann worked alongside colleagues such as Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, Otto Lindig, Ernst Neufert, and Wilhelm Wagenfeld and was appointed professor of interior design and furniture construction. After Marcel Breuer left, he headed the furniture workshop and interior design department, developed interior designs and furniture designs for ongoing production, and made a name for himself with his own remarkable designs. Dieckmann's masterful handling of space, form, and structure had by now reached full maturity, thanks in no small part to his studies in architecture, painting, and drawing prior to his time at the Bauhaus. These were excellent qualifications for his teaching position in interior design in the architecture department. During this time, he lived with his wife at GutenbergstraÃÂe 16 in Weimar.
Between 1925 and 1928, Wilhelm Wagenfeld commissioned Dieckmann to furnish his private study and bedroom. The educator Wilhelm Flitner ordered a walnut hallway from Dieckmann, while the internist Franz Volhard had his living room, bedroom, and a men's room furnished.
In 1926, Dieckmann created the interior design and furnishings of the children's home in the Freiland-Siedlung Gildenhall near Neuruppin, followed in 1930 by his furnishings for the Feodora children's home in Weimar. In doing so, he developed an educationally and psychologically motivated concept of order and color for the rooms and furniture. According to Walter Passarge, this left a "colorful and formally coherent impression" that stood "beyond the disputes and trends of the day."
Around 1926, Dieckmann became acquainted with Bauhaus patron (German merchant and entrepreneur, art collector of expressionist works, supporter of contemporary artists) and, from September 1927 to Christmas 1932, redesigned the entire interior of his Villa Sonnenhaus in Lichtenfels, Upper Franconia. This was a major commission for the Bauhaus and probably the only private building in the entire Reich that was completely furnished with Bauhaus furniture, fabrics, and lighting. Otto Bamberg's commission is therefore considered the most important and extensive of the Bauhaus. The correspondence relating to this commission has been preserved almost in its entirety.
In 1927, Dieckmann designed his standard furniture for a model apartment in the block designed by Mies van der Rohe in the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart. In the same year, Dieckmann participated with his designs in the exhibition Der Stuhl (The Chair) in Stuttgart, organized by Adolf Gustav Schneck, and designed school furniture (chairs, tables, and cabinets) for Peter Petersen's progressive university school in Jena. Petersen praised Dieckmann's furniture in his publications. In 1928, Dieckmann furnished several rooms of a model apartment designed by Otto Voelckers with standard furniture, which was shown during the exhibition Heim und Technik (Home and Technology) in Munich.<sup>[26]</sup> Dieckmann was also present at the Bauen und Wohnen (Building and Living) exhibition in Berlin for the new housing estate on Fischtalgrund by Heinrich Tessenow â directly adjacent to the GEHAG housing estate "Onkel Toms Hütte" with buildings by Hugo Häring, Otto Rudolf Salvisberg, and Bruno Taut. One of his goals was to develop interior design for cooperative housing projects. Dieckmann designed the interior of the Musikheim in Frankfurt (Oder), which was initiated and directed by Georg Götsch, in 1929. For the Werkbundexhibition Wohnen und Werkraum (Living and Working Space) in Breslau in 1931, Dieckmann furnished a large hall, which was to be divided according to residential functions, with furniture samples.
In 1929, Dieckmann gave a series of lectures on the development of modern furniture at the chambers of crafts in Gera, Meiningen, and Weimar. Otto Bartning applied for Dieckmann to be awarded the academic title of professor. However, as the National Socialists were already in the process of transforming the university in the Thuringian parliament at that time, this application was not granted.
When the NSDAP entered into a coalition in the Thuringian state government at the end of 1929, the new director of the State Building Academy in Weimar, Paul Schultze-Naumburg, dismissed the entire teaching staff, including Dieckmann, at the end of March 1930 in order to realign the academy ideologically. Democratically minded members of the teaching staff were gradually removed and replaced by National Socialist sympathizers. Otto Bartning, who withdrew from Weimar in March 1930 after his four-year contract expired, attested to Dieckmann:
"Mr Dieckmann has proven himself as a teacher in every respect, both artistically and pedagogically; a large number of talented young people have emerged from his teaching with a sound professional education and well-rounded personal development. At the same time, Mr Dieckmann has helped establish the reputation of the Weimar Bauhochschul-Werkstätten (Weimar School of Architecture workshops) through his designs and adaptations of individual luxury rooms and solid, inexpensive series models, while also making a name for himself." - Otto Bartning, 31 March 1930
For Dieckmann, the rise of National Socialism meant a profoundly negative turning point in his work, as it did for the Bauhaus as a whole. He was criticized by the renowned Vossische Zeitung newspaper and by his wife Katharina, who wrote a courageous newspaper article against the tenor of an infamous introductory speech by Schultze-Naumburg.
Dieckmann subsequently opened his own studio for furniture making and interior design in the summer of 1931 and initially worked as a freelancer, including for the company D. Bamberger in Lichtenfels, Otto Bamberger, the tubular steel factory Cebaso in Ohrdruf, the Dusco-Werke in Coburg, the Korbmacher-Verein e.G.m.b.H. in Tannroda, the Scheidemantel company in Weimar, Thonet, and the Weimar Bau- und Wohnungskunst G.m.b.H.
In 1931, Dieckmann and his wife Katharina published a remarkable illustrated book entitled Möbelbau in Holz, Rohr und Stahl (Furniture Design in Wood, Bamboo, and Steel), which featured many of his designs. The book was republished in 1990 by the Vitra Design Museum. This remarkable didactic work describes and illustrates the entire process of creating a design, from the initial idea to the practical result. It makes the basic principles of construction and the logic of design transparent. The explanations of the constituent elements, materials, and working techniques allow even interested laypeople to understand them mentally.<sup>[5]</sup> Art historian , who reviewed the illustrated book, praised the "aesthetic geometry" of Dieckmann's work, which enabled him to create "calm, functional furniture that demonstrates a healthy connection to the tradition of craftsmanship and clear, fundamental considerations about the function of contemporary furniture and modern manufacturing methods."
From May 4, 1931, Dieckmann spent two and a half years as artistic director of the carpentry workshop at the Workshops of the City of Halle (Saale), the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, under Gerhard Marcks. His application, submitted in 1925 to Paul Thiersch, had been rejected at the time because a master's examination was required as a teaching qualification. Now, however, he was asked to submit his application documents directly. In 1932, he was commissioned to redesign the lecture hall of the medical clinic in Halle (Saale) with rows of chairs and lecterns made of tubular steel and wood.
The seizure of power by the National Socialists at the end of January 1933 brought Dieckmann's creative work to an end. Since 1920, ethnic nationalist forces in Weimar had been opposing the Bauhaus, initially with a smear campaign intensified by a local press that was not well disposed toward the Bauhaus.
When the Bauhaus was forced to close in 1933, Dieckmann was granted "ownership rights to the form" for 26 furniture designs.
His designs were initially often geometric, with almost square square or flat pieces of wood. In some cases, the armrests were connected to the chair legs and designed as a sled base. He predominantly used high-quality woods such as beech, oak, ash, and cherry, as well as rattan, rattan, and wickerweaving to soften the sometimes austere geometry. The natural materials were supplied by the Lichtenfels and Coburg-based company D. Bamberger. Like his colleague Breuer, he also worked with tubular steel. Today, his seating furniture designs in particular fetch top prices. By standardizing and normalizing his furniture, he wanted to ensure that the individual pieces remained as affordable as possible.
Along with Marcel Breuer, Erich Dieckmann is one of the most creative and productive carpenters of the Bauhaus and one of its most important furniture designers. Dieckmann's designs mark an important phase of renewal in furniture construction. He is credited with having made a significant contribution to the modern history of design that was written at the Bauhaus.
In view of the negative influence on his work that Dieckmann had been feeling for years, he joined the NSDAP on May 1, 1933 (membership number 1,880,935). He hoped that this step would secure his professional career and thus also his family. Instead, he was dismissed again on August 31 by the mayor of Halle, Johannes Weidemann (NSDAP), and the carpentry department of the School of Arts and Crafts was dissolved, officially due to cost-cutting measures, but in reality for cultural-political and ideological reasons. According to a written assessment by the then governor of the province of Saxony, this dismissal was unlawful because the notice period had not been observed and it also constituted a violation of the Severely Disabled Persons Act. Dieckmann's Bauhaus past worked against him.
His family's livelihood was now at stake. In June 1933, he appealed in vain to Bernhard Rust, Hermann Göring, and Joseph Goebbels, and his wife later appealed directly to Adolf Hitler. As a result, despite a lavishly illustrated résumé with numerous drawings accompanying his many applications throughout the Reich, Erich Dieckmann was unable to find any work or teaching position for about three years. However, his resume also contained clear moral criticism of the conditions in the Third Reich, which officially honored war invalids like him but at the same time forced them out of their professions in violation of the law and left them and their families in poverty. In 1934, he was awarded the Cross of Honor for Frontline Soldiers. At times, he and his family lived in extreme poverty, surviving on only 12 Reichsmark a week in unemployment benefits. The odd jobs Dieckmann took on did little to improve the situation. When he lost his apartment at Seebener StraÃÂe 190/III in Halle (the building still exists) in April 1934, his young children and their mother had to be separated and housed with relatives and acquaintances. He occasionally received commissions for designs, such as in 1934/35 from the shoe manufacturer Hans Ott in Burgkunstadt, Upper Franconia, for a meeting room in the company and for its private furnishings with carpet designs by Dieckmann. He also received some individual commissions from wicker furniture manufacturers.
From July 1936, Dieckmann was employed as a clerk for industrial design at the Amt Schönheit der Arbeit (Office for the Beauty of Work) in Hanover, possibly through a private contact with Hermann Gretsch. This permanent position enabled his family to be reunited and they lived at LönsstraÃÂe 16 in Hanover.
In 1938, he moved with his family to Berlin, where he lived at Brauner Weg 28 (now SingerstraÃÂe) in the Friedrichshain district. He ran a carpentry workshop at the adjacent AndreasstraÃÂe 11 (the buildings at both addresses no longer exist), an indication that his purely administrative work was by no means satisfying for him.<sup>[44]</sup> From 1939, he worked as a consultant for German arts and crafts at the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, and a return to design was no longer possible for him.
Dieckmann died shortly after his 48th birthday of a heart attack, which was attributed to overexertion during Allied air raids on Berlin.
Dieckmann's family remained in contact with Otto Bamberger's family, who had emigrated during the Nazi era, even after the Second World War. His daughter Anna Bettina worked briefly as an au pair for Otto Bamberger's son Klaus Philipp Bamberger in the US state of New Jersey and married in the United States.
The Christian-inspired painting Der Töpfer und sein Schutzengel (The Potter and His Guardian Angel) by Bauhaus talent Johannes Driesch from 1929 depicts Erich Dieckmann symbolically as a potter (material and form designer). Noteworthy is Dieckmann's severely war-wounded left arm, which is placed in the center of the picture and thus in the focus, and is depicted as an actively shaping and forming arm. The guardian angel depicted is likely to refer to this serious injury, indicating that Dieckmann narrowly survived the war.
During his time at the Bauhaus between 1927 and 1929, Erich Dieckmann designed bedroom furniture for Johannes Driesch's private apartment, consisting of a three-door wardrobe with a mirror on the inside, two single beds with high headboards and footboards, two bedside tables, and a chest of drawers made of cherry wood. Some of this furniture is depicted in Dieckmann's book published in 1931 and has been preserved to this day.
Erich Dieckmann was born as the third child and third son of Royal Prussian Landjägermeister Hermann Dieckmann (1859âÂÂ1924) and grew up in Lower Saxony. He had two older brothers and three younger siblings, including two more brothers and a sister.
His marriage to Katharina, née Ludewig, in 1921 produced four children by 1935, including daughter Anna Bettina (later married to Sons) and son Markus. Katharina Ludewig was a student of dance teacher Mary Wigman and a Bauhaus student.