Deutscher Werkbund (German Association of Craftsmen) | The breeding ground for Bauhaus

When asked, "What is design?" many people likely think of colors and shapes. However, tracing the history of German design reveals a clear answer to that question: Design is born from the trinity of purpose, material, and manufacturing process.
The organization that laid the foundation for this philosophy was the Deutscher Werkbund, established in Munich in 1907. This was 12 years before the Bauhaus and more than half a century before ZACK was born.

The Deutscher Werkbund, founded in Munich in 1907, was a design reform organization comprising artists, architects, and industrialists. It aimed to restore beauty and quality to industrial products, profoundly influencing the later Bauhaus and modern design philosophy.

The "Shame" Industrialization Brought to Germany

In the latter half of the 19th century, Germany was swept up in rapid industrialization, exporting inexpensive mass-produced goods to the world market. However, at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the quality of German products was criticized, and subsequently, in the context of the 1887 British Merchandise Marks Act requiring country of origin labeling, "Made in Germany" was initially treated as a mark of inferior quality, used for caution or distinction.
This humiliation profoundly changed German manufacturing. The government, industry, and artists collaborated, and momentum grew for "beauty and quality in industrial products." The establishment of the Deutscher Werkbund was the culmination of these efforts.

What Muthesius Brought Back

Hermann Muthesius played the most significant role in the establishment of the Deutscher Werkbund. An architect and government official, he was posted to the German Embassy in London from 1896 to 1903, where he thoroughly studied the British Arts and Crafts movement.
The Arts and Crafts movement advocated for "the honesty of craftsmanship." William Morris and others rebelled against shoddy mass-produced goods and sought to revive meticulous artisan handicrafts. However, Muthesius did not simply import this philosophy; he reinterpreted it in a German context.
It was not about handcraft versus machine. Adherence to purpose creates quality—he concluded.

1907: Founding of the Werkbund

On October 5, 1907, under Muthesius's leadership, the Deutscher Werkbund was formally established in Munich, with Theodor Fischer as its first president. Early members included a mix of 12 architects, designers, industrialists, and politicians. It was neither solely an artists' association nor an economic organization—it was a new form of organization that connected manufacturing with aesthetics.
The Werkbund's purpose was clear: to improve the quality of German industrial products and make them internationally competitive. To achieve this, it aimed to create a system where artists and industry collaborated in manufacturing.
Among the prominent figures who joined the Werkbund was the architect Peter Behrens. He became the "art director" for AEG (General Electric Company, Germany) and designed a unified visual language for everything from products and posters to factory buildings. This was a highly pioneering example of "corporate identity" in the world.

The Great Debate over "Standardization"

The 1914 Cologne Exhibition marked a turning point for the Deutscher Werkbund. Just before this exhibition, a fierce debate erupted within the Werkbund: the debate over standardization, known as "Typenstreit."
On one side was the "standardization faction," led by Muthesius. They argued that industrial products needed standard forms (types), which would ensure both quality and efficiency. On the other side was the "individualism faction," led by Belgian architect Henry van de Velde and others. They countered that the personal creativity of artists should not be constrained by standardization.
This debate contained a fundamental question that underlies the entire history of 20th-century design: standardization versus individuality, industrial production versus artistic expression—which should take precedence? The answer was not simple, but the tide of history leaned in Muthesius's direction.

To Bauhaus, and then to ZACK

While the Werkbund's activities were temporarily suspended by World War I, its philosophy endured. When Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in 1919, he started as a spiritual successor to the Deutscher Werkbund. Gropius himself was a member of the Werkbund.
The Werkbund was the first link in a chain that continued with the Bauhaus, was inherited by the Ulm School of Design, and was practiced by Dieter Rams of Braun: the "unity of function and beauty."
ZACK is not a direct successor organization to the Werkbund itself. However, we believe that in its approach of prioritizing utility over ornamentation and deriving beauty from the rationality of materials and manufacturing, it is a brand that lies in the extension of that philosophy. Rather than adding ornamentation, it is about precisely making what is necessary. That is the core of German design, and it is the approach that ZACK continues to uphold.
The industrialization of 19th-century Germany and the stigma of "inferior goods"—we explain the reversal of Made in Germany.