Kraftwerk in front of the Bauhaus: electronic music at the place that changed modern design
Kraftwerk and Bauhaus Dessau come together in a combination that feels almost natural. For decades, the former have transformed technology, machines, transportation, computers, and the relationship between humans and technology into electronic music and a visual language. The latter became one of the fundamental symbols of modernist architecture and of the idea of connecting art, design, technology, and everyday life. When Kraftwerk takes the stage in front of the historic Bauhaus Building in Dessau, the location itself therefore becomes an important part of the concert experience.
Kraftwerk.Multimedia Tour arrives at the Bauhaus Building as an open-air concert. The performance is scheduled to begin at 20:00, and it is the first of two consecutive concerts at the same location - the second follows the next evening. Bauhaus Dessau describes Kraftwerk's concert concept as a combination of electronic music, computer animations, video, and performance art. It is precisely this multimedia approach that has for decades been one of the main differences between Kraftwerk and the traditional concert format.
The year in which the event takes place also provides a special context. Dessau-Roßlau and Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau are celebrating 100 years of the Bauhaus in Dessau during 2025 and 2026. Walter Gropius's historic building was erected in 1926, so Kraftwerk is performing in front of it precisely in its centenary year.
Ticket sales for this event are underway.
Why Kraftwerk and the Bauhaus have so much in common
Kraftwerk was founded in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. As early as the 1970s, the group developed a style that differed significantly from the dominant rock language of the period: repetitive electronic rhythms, synthesized voices, rigorously shaped melodic lines, and a fascination with transportation, communication, robotics, and computers became their trademarks.
The influence of that approach spread far beyond a single genre. Kraftwerk's imprint can be found in electro, techno, synth-pop, and hip-hop, but also in the way electronic performers today think about concerts as a combination of sound, image, graphic design, and technology.
The Bauhaus, on the other hand, sought to remove the boundaries between different artistic and practical disciplines. Architecture, furniture, typography, photography, theatre, and industrial production were supposed to function as parts of a unified system. That is precisely why a Kraftwerk concert in front of the Bauhaus Building is interesting not only as a performance by a famous band at an attractive location. Their artistic languages share a fascination with function, geometry, technology, and precision.
In Kraftwerk's music, a train is not merely a train, a car is not merely a means of transportation, and a computer is not merely a device. All of these become rhythm, graphics, symbols, and themes. Similarly, the Bauhaus Building was not shaped by decoration subsequently added to the structure - the structure itself, the materials, and the function create its visual identity.
Multimedia Tour is not a concert that is only listened to
The current phase of Kraftwerk's career is not presented as a traditional tour promoting a new studio album. The emphasis of the Multimedia Tour is on the group's catalogue and its contemporary audio-visual presentation.
The tour received a new major series of European performances during November and December 2025, including numerous cities in Germany. Kraftwerk then continued performing throughout 2026, and Dessau is one of the particularly striking choices of location because the concert takes place beside one of the best-known buildings of modernism.
Previous Multimedia Tour performances show just how important the visual component is. The performers are positioned behind electronic consoles, while projections, graphics, video, and precisely synchronized imagery assume a major role. This is not a production in which attention is constantly directed towards the conventional stage choreography of a frontman. Kraftwerk has long built precisely the opposite relationship: the human body can remain almost motionless while movement shifts into rhythm, animation, light, and projection.
Such an approach is particularly well suited to the open space of the Bauhaus. Instead of the neutral black background of a concert hall, the music is backed by architecture whose straight lines, glazed surfaces, and functionalist structure are already powerful visual signs in themselves.
Which songs can give a sense of the direction of the evening
The exact set-list for Dessau has not been announced in advance, and it should not be assumed that it will be identical to previous concerts. Nevertheless, documented Multimedia Tour performances during 2025 provide a useful framework for understanding which part of Kraftwerk's catalogue the group is currently bringing to the stage.
Titles from different periods of their career appeared at several concerts, including:
- "Autobahn" - the composition that brought Kraftwerk international recognition in the mid-1970s
- "Computer Liebe" and material from the period of the album "Computerwelt"
- "Das Model" - one of their most recognizable pop compositions
- "Radioaktivität" - an example of their characteristic combination of minimalism, technology, and a social theme
- "Tour de France" - Kraftwerk's long-standing musical fascination with cycling, rhythm, and movement
- "Trans-Europa Express" - a combination of mechanical pulse and the idea of European railway travel
- "Die Roboter" - one of the key expressions of their idea of the relationship between humans and machines
- "The Man-Machine" and other material associated with their recognizable aesthetic of the human being as part of a technological system
German concerts in late 2025 also featured newer live interventions such as the unreleased composition "Tango", but its possible performance in Dessau has not been confirmed. The same applies to every individual title from previous set-lists: they indicate the direction of the current live repertoire, not a programme guaranteed in advance for this concert.
For audiences who know Kraftwerk primarily through a few of their biggest songs, this means that the concert is not simply a sequence of isolated hits. Their compositions often function live as longer connected blocks in which transitions, rhythm, and projections continue almost as a single whole.
What the Kraftwerk concert experience is like
With Kraftwerk, precision is part of the performance. The audience does not come to watch a band trying to create the impression of a spontaneous rock group. Controlled performance, repetition, synthesized voice, electronic pulse, and the deliberately restrained presence of the musicians are precisely what create the character of the concert.
At the same time, that restraint does not mean that the experience is cold. "Autobahn", "Das Model", "Tour de France", "Trans-Europa Express", and "Die Roboter" have distinctly recognizable rhythms and melodic motifs. In concert, they are further defined by images of cars, trains, human figures, computer forms, typography, and geometric animations that have belonged to Kraftwerk's visual world for decades.
Reviews of performances from 2025 also describe songs in refreshed concert arrangements, with a more powerful contemporary electronic sound than someone might expect solely on the basis of the original recordings from the 1970s and 1980s. This is precisely why Kraftwerk's audience is unusually broad: from people who have known their albums for decades to visitors coming from techno, electro, synth-pop, design, or digital-art culture.
For a long-time fan, the particular value lies in hearing the familiar catalogue in a current production. For someone who has never seen them live, the experience of the whole may be more important - the way music, animation, design, and performance are treated as a single system.
It is worth securing tickets in good time.
The Bauhaus Building is not merely a backdrop
The Bauhaus Building is located at Gropiusallee 38 in Dessau-Roßlau. It was designed by Walter Gropius, and the building was completed in 1926. The complex was conceived as several functionally distinct sections connected into a single architectural whole. The large glazed façade of the former workshop wing is particularly recognizable.
Since 1996, the building has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage property associated with the Bauhaus. Today it is the headquarters of Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and at the same time a venue for exhibitions, research, education, and cultural programmes.
For the concert, it is important that the performance has not been announced as an event in a traditional enclosed hall, but as an open-air concert beside the Bauhaus Building. It therefore makes little sense to imagine the acoustics of a standard concert venue with fixed walls and seats. Here, the main distinctive feature of the location is visual: the historic architecture becomes the immediate backdrop for a multimedia performance.
This is especially interesting with Kraftwerk because their projections often rely on clean surfaces, geometry, typography, perspective, and repetition. The Bauhaus façade already speaks a similar formal language, only on an architectural scale.
The capacity of the open-air concert setup is not stated in the available information about the event, so it should not be equated with the regular capacity of individual rooms inside the building.
The centenary year of the Bauhaus gives the concert additional significance
The Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, and it was precisely the period in Dessau that became one of its most important chapters. The city and Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau are therefore celebrating in 2025 and 2026 the 100th anniversary of the school's arrival in the city and the development of the complex that is today one of the key monuments of modernism.
During 2026, anniversary exhibitions, interventions, lectures, performances, and other programmes are being held throughout the city. In the Bauhaus Building itself, the exhibition "Glass | Concrete | Metal" is open, focusing on the materials and construction of the historic building.
This gives concert visitors an interesting opportunity to combine programmes. Since the regular daytime visiting hours of the Bauhaus Building in August are from 10:00 to 17:00, it is possible to explore the architecture and exhibition content earlier in the day and then return in the evening for the concert. Admission to the daytime exhibitions should be planned separately from the concert event.
Getting to the Bauhaus Building
The Bauhaus is very close to Dessau Hauptbahnhof, the main railway station. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau states that the distance is approximately 700 metres. For pedestrians, the simplest option is to leave the station on the western side and continue via Bauhausstraße towards the complex.
This is a practical option for visitors arriving in Dessau by train because after the concert it is not necessarily necessary to rely on additional transportation between the venue and the station.
For arriving and getting around the city, it is useful to know:
- The Bauhaus Building is located at Gropiusallee 38, 06846 Dessau-Roßlau.
- It is approximately 700 metres on foot from Dessau Hauptbahnhof to the building.
- The western exit of the station leads towards Bauhausstraße and the simplest pedestrian route to the Bauhaus.
- City bus line 10, known as the Bauhauslinie, connects the bus station with Bauhaus locations in the city.
- Under normal visiting conditions, free parking spaces are available at the Bauhaus Building, but for the evening of a major open-air event it should not be assumed that the regular capacity or access arrangements will remain unchanged.
If you are arriving by car, arriving earlier reduces dependence on parking immediately beside the complex. For visitors arriving by train, the walking distance from the main station makes public transport a particularly straightforward choice.
The opening time of the concert entrances is not stated on the available event page. Since this is an open-air performance at a historic location, it is sensible to allow enough time for entry and orientation rather than planning to arrive immediately before the start.
What else to see in Dessau before the concert
For visitors who remain in the city for several hours or an entire day because of the concert, Dessau-Roßlau has an unusually high concentration of architecture and cultural heritage associated with modernism.
The Bauhaus Building is not an isolated monument. The Masters' Houses are located nearby, while the Bauhaus legacy continues through the Dessau-Törten Housing Estate, the historic Employment Office, Kornhaus, and other buildings. The city's tourism organization lists more than 300 buildings associated with the Bauhaus in Dessau.
The city is also connected with the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, a large cultural landscape of parks, palaces, and gardens that is also included on UNESCO's World Heritage List. For that reason, it can make sense to turn a trip to the concert into a full-day or multi-day visit, especially for an audience interested in architecture, industrial design, and modern art as much as music.
For Kraftwerk's audience, particularly interesting are spaces where the same themes that the group addresses musically can be seen - industrialization, modern transportation, standardization, technology, and the relationship between humans and machines. Dessau is a rare place where such ideas can be traced through architecture a few hours before they become rhythm and image at the concert in the evening.
Who will find this concert particularly interesting
This is an obvious choice for long-time Kraftwerk fans, but the audience is not limited to collectors of their early releases. The Multimedia Tour can also be interesting to listeners coming from completely different branches of electronic music.
Fans of techno and electro can hear one of the fundamental sources of ideas that later became a standard part of club music. Fans of synth-pop can follow Kraftwerk's minimalist melodic side. Audiences interested in video, graphic design, and digital art get a concert in which the image is not decoration accompanying the music but an equal part of the concept.
And for visitors primarily attracted by the Bauhaus, the concert offers a completely different way to experience the building. Instead of touring the historic space during the day, the architecture becomes a stage for a contemporary electronic performance that directly touches thematically on ideas of technology, serial production, modern life, and precise design.
Practical information before you go
The concert begins at 20:00 and takes place outdoors beside the Bauhaus Building. For the evening, clothing should be planned according to the weather conditions, and it is worth checking the current forecast before departure. Information about any restrictions on bringing items into the venue and any special entry arrangements should also be checked shortly before the event, because such rules may differ from those applying to a regular daytime visit to the museum site.
Visitors who require accessibility assistance should bear in mind that the Bauhaus is a historically protected site. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau states that because of the historic structure and conservation restrictions, not all parts of the complex are barrier-free, so visitors with individual requirements are advised to check the available access options in advance.
The most important thing is not to expect a traditional concert in which the location serves merely as a neutral backdrop. It is precisely the relationship between Kraftwerk's rigorously controlled multimedia aesthetic and Bauhaus architecture that distinguishes this evening from most other dates on the tour.
Sources:
- Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau - Kraftwerk.Multimedia Tour event page; used for information about the date and time, open-air format, two concerts in Dessau, the group's history, and the multimedia concept.
- Kraftwerk - concert calendar; used to confirm the Dessau performance date in the group's current schedule.
- Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau - Bauhaus Building, FAQ, and visitor information; used for information about the address, architecture, distance from the main railway station, bus line, parking, opening hours, and accessibility.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Bauhaus Dessau documentation; used for information about Walter Gropius, the year of construction, and World Heritage status.
- Visit Dessau - 100 years of Bauhaus in Dessau and Bauhaus Dessau; used for information about the anniversary programme, the city's historical context, and Bauhaus locations.
- Visit Dessau - city tourism portal; used for information about the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz and the cultural context of Dessau-Roßlau.
- Setlist.fm - documented set-lists from Kraftwerk's Multimedia Tour concerts during 2025; used to review songs that regularly appeared at previous performances, without assuming the set-list for Dessau.
- B.Z. Berlin and other reports from the 2025 Multimedia Tour; used for descriptions of the current concert approach, arrangements, projections, and presentation of Kraftwerk's catalogue.