1897–1983 · Born in Munich
In one sentence
The weaver who rebuilt the weaving workshop into the Bauhaus's most commercially successful workshop, and the only woman to become a Bauhaus master.
Born in Munich, Stölzl joined the Bauhaus in Weimar in its early years and trained in weaving. In 1925 she was appointed to lead the weaving workshop at Dessau, and in 1927 she became its head, the only woman to reach master-level responsibility at the school. She married Arieh Sharon, an architect, and later moved to Switzerland, where she founded her own handweaving company.
She pushed the workshop from pictorial tapestries toward rigorous geometric design and technical experiment, working with new materials and with industry. Under her direction, textile prototypes were developed for mass production and sold. Notable pieces include Slit Tapestry Red/Green (1927-28) and Five Choirs (1928).
Textiles were ranked below painting and architecture, so even the school's most successful workshop was treated as a side note. In 1931 she left the Bauhaus after harassment from students with Nazi sympathies, partly connected to her husband's Jewish background.
Today she is recognised as one of the key figures of 20th-century textile design.
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