he household items that he devised for manufacture by Berlin-based aeg in the period 1907–1914 were the first ever designed

by an artist. behrens was also significant as a precursor of modernist architecture. Three of the principal architects of the modern movement—walter gropius, mies van der rohe and le corbusier—worked under him. Finally, behrens was one of the age’s most important graphic designers.

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Five assistants of peter behrens in the workplace—mies van der rohe,

meyer, hertwig, weyrather, chandler, walter gropius, 1908

p

eter behrens was born in Hamburg. Between 1886 and 1889, he studied painting successively at the hamburg school of applied arts

(kunstgewerbeschule hamburg) and at the academies of art in Karlsruhe and Dusseldorf. In 1890, after his marriage to lilly kramer, the behrenses settled in Munich, where he completed his studies the following year. In 1893 he helped found munich secession, which organized art exhibitions, including 

shows of applied art (such as the furniture of henry van de velde, another outstanding designer of the period).