Otti Berger
“ Otti Berger is a Bauhaus icon. An inspiring woman and gifted designer … “
Our new pattern this season is named Otti, after Bauhaus icon Otti Berger. An inspiring woman and gifted designer with a tragic end to her story.
She was a student at the Bauhaus school, studying the foundation course, then entering the textile class and later became the weaving workshop's deputy head. In 1932 she left to set up her own very successful 'Atelier for Textile' in Berlin until in 1936 she was banned from working in Germany due to her Jewish origins.
She was invited to join the New Bauhaus in Chicago by László Moholy-Nagy alongside many Bauhaus professors who had obtained American visas. While waiting for her paperwork, she tried on a few occasions to find work in England but found it difficult due to her hearing impairment and the language barrier.
She returned to her home in Zmajevac to tend to her sick mother and lived there until 1944 when she and her family were sadly deported to Auschwitz where she died.
A master of form and colour, Otti Berger’s weavings inspired our latest collection celebrating the Women of the Bauhaus. You’ll find our ‘Otti’ print adorning patterned papers, layflat notebooks and postcards.
Otti Berger Book - MoMA