24 Facts About Lilly Reich

Lilly Reich was a German designer specializing in textiles, furniture, interiors, and exhibition spaces.

Lilly Reich was a close collaborator with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for more than ten years during the Weimar period from 1925 until his emigration to the US in 1938.

Lilly Reich's fame was posthumous, as the significance of her contribution to the work of Mies van der Rohe and others with whom she collaborated only became clear through the research of later historians of the field.

Lilly Reich worked with Hoffmann on the design of the Kubus armchair and sofa.

Lilly Reich worked as a shop window decorator at this time.

In 1911, after working for many of Berlin's most fashionable department stores, Lilly Reich designed store windows and clothing installations for Wertheim Department Store of Berlin.

In 1914, Reich converted her studio to a dressmaker's shop and maintained it through the duration of World War I She contributed work to the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne.

On 25 October 1920, Lilly Reich was formally recognized by her peers when she was named to the Board of Directors of Deutsche Werkbund.

Lilly Reich was the first woman to be appointed to the Werkbund's governing board.

Lilly Reich designed many interiors for this exhibition including "Wohnraum in Spiegelglas".

In 1932, Lilly Reich was asked by van der Rohe to teach at the Bauhaus and direct the interior design workshop.

Lilly Reich was one of a small number of female teachers on staff, and only the second to hold the title of "Master".

Lilly Reich taught interior design and furniture design, heading the interior finishings department, which included, weaving, wall painting, metalwork, and cabinetry workshops.

In 1937, Lilly Reich displayed an installation at the 1937 Paris World's Fair.

In 1938, just before the Second World War, Mies emigrated to the US Lilly Reich continued to manage her own interior design firm in Germany, until her death.

Lilly Reich visited him in the US in September 1939, but did not stay, returning instead to Berlin.

Lilly Reich's studio was bombed in 1943 and she was sent to a forced labour camp, where she remained until 1945.

Lilly Reich was forced to resign due to ill health in 1945.

Lilly Reich was instrumental in the revival of the Deutsche Werkbund, but died in Berlin before its formal re-establishment in 1950.

Lilly Reich died on 14 December 1947, aged 62 in Berlin.

Lilly Reich was Mies' personal and professional partner for 13 years from 1925 until his emigration to the US in 1938.

Lilly Reich collaborated and co-designed the Brno Chair, the famous Barcelona Chair, and the Barcelona Pavilion along with Mies on behalf of the German government for the 1929 World Exhibition in Barcelona, Spain.

The Barcelona Pavilion is considered to be a masterpiece of modern design Lilly Reich is rarely mentioned in textbooks, nor given proper credit for her contributions.

Lilly Reich traveled to the United States, England, and Austria to study and work with the designers of her time.