Throughout her life, Ise Gropius was seen mainly as the wife of Walter Gropius, yet she played a crucial role in advancing his life’s work, even after his death.

• 1897                  Wiesbaden, DE

• 1983                  Massachusetts, USA

Ise Gropius was born in March 1897 in Wiesbaden. She lived in Hanover until 1921 and then in Munich, where she worked in the book trade. In 1923, she returned to Hanover and met Walter Gropius, director of the State Bauhaus, during one of his lectures. In October of that year, they married in Weimar.

Giving up an independent career, Ise took on organizational roles at the Bauhaus, working as a secretary, editor, and organizer, and serving as Gropius’s “partner of equal standing.” Her main work involved literary tasks: writing letters and drafting articles and lectures for her husband based on texts they developed together. Even after the Bauhaus closed, she continued these responsibilities for Walter in Berlin, England, and the United States.

While in Berlin, Ise also pursued her own career as an author. Inspired by travel and personal interests, she wrote numerous pieces for publishers, including „Weltreise am Grammofon“ (DAZ, Ende 1934), „Engländer zu hause“ (Beyers für alle, 1933–1934), „Die Gebrauchswohnung“ (K. Thiemanns Verlag, Okt. 1929), „Hausfrau, Dackel und andere Weltbürger“ (DAZ, 17.4.34) oder „Wie sieht die New Yorkerin aus?“ (Die Dame, Nov. 1928).

In 1934, she emigrated to London. Her brief success as an author ended after The Atlantic Monthly rejected her article Grandma was a Career Girl, stating that it could not support “the frightening notion” of working women. After this, she focused exclusively on editing for Walter, whose works sold easily, and he often dedicated his books to her.

In 1937, the couple emigrated to the United States. Public recognition for Ise’s contributions came in 1938 with the catalog Bauhaus 1919–1928, published for the Museum of Modern Art exhibition, which listed her as author and editor alongside Walter Gropius and Herbert Bayer.

Ise Gropius passed away in June 1983 in Lexington, Massachusetts.