Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design

About

Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle (BURG) is the university of art and design in Halle an der Saale that was established in 1915. With a student body numbering over 1,000, BURG is one of the largest universities of art and design in Germany. It offers 20 art and design degree programmes in two faculties. BURG is located on the lower fortress of Giebichenstein Castle above the right bank of Saale River on the city's northern border. Part of the Art campus is on the grounds of the former Hermes print finishing company in north-eastern Halle and the rest is combined with the Design campus on Neuwerk to the east of Mühlgraben, the old water channel for the town's mill.

Today's Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle is the successor to the Commercial Draughtsman and Artisan’s School of the city of Halle. That school was established in 1879 when the Provincial Trade School Halle (est. 1852) and the Commercial Draughtsman’s School (est. 1870) merged. Today's university of art and design counts the hour of its birth as 1 July 1915, when the architect, Paul Thiersch, began his term as director. The school's name was Halle School of Artisans and the Applied Arts. Thiersch provided new momentum and reformed the lesson plan in the spirit of the German Association of Craftsmen (Deutscher Werkbund) and the ideal of the master craftsmen who collaborated to build medieval cathedrals. The school was a conglomeration of training and producing workshops and art-related classes who taught students without a fixed curriculum. In addition to a cabinetmaker's workshop, there were classes for painting, graphic design, sculpture, architecture, textile design, and photography. In 1922, the school moved into rooms in the lower fortress of Giebichenstein Castle, where it became Workshops of the city of Halle, Burg Giebichenstein, the state and municipal school of the applied arts. After the Bauhaus in Weimar closed in 1925, many former Bauhaus staff came to BURG as teachers, including the sculptor Gerhard Marcks, who held the office of director from 1928 until 1933. After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, Marguerite Friedlaender, Gerhard Marcks, Charles Crodel, and Erwin Hahs were forced to leave the school. The Nazi regime changed the school's remit and allowed it to continue as a centre for education in the crafts. In the post-second world war period, Burg Giebichenstein was revived as a university of art and design. Under Director Walter Funkat, the foundation for the University for Industrial Design Halle was laid in 1958. Until 1989, it was one of the most influential educational institutions for designers and artists in the GDR. With its educational programme in applied arts, the university was responsible for the particularly artistic quality of the country's applied arts. Between 1965 and 1975, the fine arts were neglected as a discipline in favour of design. BURG did not recover the structure it had in the 1920s until 1975, when several new disciplines were added (glass, media arts, communication design). In 1976, President Paul Jung set up the Theory and Methodology department (under Horst Oehlke and Rolf Frick). In that group, up to 25 academics from a variety of disciplines worked on design methodology and design theory. They also paved the way for using computer technology for design. The university was re-christened Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle in 1989. The university has met the challenges of social change, internationalisation, and the increasing complexity of art and design. BURG's unique selling proposition has traditionally been its strong education in artistic and fundamentals. The Design campus has been the site of extensive renovation and expansion since 2003 and is the site of the new library that opened its doors in 2015. Bachelor's courses in the Design faculty were implemented in 2005 and master's courses in 2008. Diplom courses continue to be offered in the Art faculty. In 2010, the university's name was changed to “art university” in German to underscore the connection between “art school” and “university”. In 2013, the university of art and design was granted the right to confer doctorates. BURG celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2015 with an extensive programme featuring numerous exhibitions, events, and publications. Currently, around 1,040 students are enrolled at the university. Approximately two-thirds are taking a design course and the remaining one-third study art. Since winter semester 2014/2015, Dieter Hofmann, Professor of Industrial Design/Product and System Design, has been president. In June 2018, he was elected president for a further four years. Of the 51 professorships that are currently occupied (including guest, substitute, and honorary professors), 25 are held by women. This makes the university of art and design one of the few in Germany with a faculty that embraces gender equality.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.