Otti Berger

A sumptuous introduction to the innovative fabrics of a long-overlooked Bauhaus textile artist

A radical pioneer of Bauhaus textile design, Otti Berger created fabrics that fundamentally changed the understanding of what textiles could be and do. A core member of the textile faculty at the Bauhaus alongside Anni Albers and Gunta Stölzl, Berger also was an entrepreneur in the frenzied culture of early 1930s Berlin. Working closely with architects of the New Objectivity movement such as Lilly Reich, Ludwig Hilberseimer and Hans Scharoun, she designed upholstery, wall fabrics, curtains and floor coverings that explored novel production methods, and thereby redefined the relationship between aesthetics and function.

This book is the first comprehensive study of Berger’s textile work. It makes available for the first time her previously unpublished treatise on fabrics and examines her methodologies of textile production. By arranging her fabrics according to their application, author Judith Raum’s research offers an entirely new perspective on Berger’s oeuvre, emphasizing its craftsmanship and the entrepreneurial side of her work.

Otti Berger (1898–1944) was one of the most important textile designers of the 20th century. Born in Zmajevac in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Croatia), she studied in Zagreb and then taught at the Bauhaus in Dessau. She set up her own business in Berlin to design fabrics for modern interiors throughout Europe. In 1936, she was banned from working due to her Jewish heritage. She was later deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered in 1944.