In the wake of the revolutionary theories of the architect Gottfried Semper (1803-1879), with the publication of his essay Style in the Industrial and Structural Arts or Practical Aesthetics in 1863, 19th-century Germany adopted important economic policy strategies , functional to the process of industrialization. Considered among the great European powers, Prussia under Chancellor Bismark (1871-1890) promoted the unity and rise of the German nation with a program of strengthening national industries and the development of some academies to initiate an updating of the country's manufacturing. The person who gave concrete form to the promotion of the German nation was above all Herman Muthesius (1861-1927), architect, critic and official of the Ministry of Commerce. Convinced of the positive economic benefits of a more structured relationship between industry and consumption, Muthesius was sent to London in 1896 as a diplomatic attaché, where he had the opportunity to study the evolution of English design in architecture and the applied arts. Returning to Germany in 1904, he worked to reform the national curriculum of the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Arts and Crafts), establishing teaching in the field of applied arts and, in parallel, a network of relations between entrepreneurs and designers with conference cycles. He supported: • the need to design serial production systems • the adoption of a simple and sober style • the use of new techniques and new materials to be able to compete in the markets with quality products. To direct the new training schools he called internationally renowned artists, such as the Viennese Joseph Maria Olbrich (1864-1908), one of the most brilliant students of the school of Otto Wagner (1841-1918), who arrived in Darmstadt in 1899; Henry Van de Velde (1863-1957), a leading exponent of the Art Nouveau school, who arrived in Wiemar in 1901; Hans Poelzig (1869-1936) in Breslau; Bruno Paul (1874-1968) in Berlin. Peter Behrens (1868-1940) is appointed director of the Kunstgeweberschule in Düsseldorf. In the favorable climate of change, Muthesius also founded the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907, with the aim of reconciling artistic creativity and industrial production by activating closer collaboration between established designers and a dozen industrial companies. The founding body consisted of high-calibre figures such as Hoffmann, Olbrich, Behrens, Paul, Riemerschmid, Niemeyer, established industrialists, design workshops such as the Wiener Wekstätte Theodor Fischer, who was its first president, and Lilly Reich, Mies van Der Rohe’s life partner, who became its director in 1920. The Deutscher Werkbund, literally ‘German Labour League’, was firmly focused on industry and approved of serial production methods , trying to bring Germany into line with the advanced industrial development of England and the United States. The league aimed to raise the quality of products through mechanized production, propose a new culture of industrial work based on the control of production methods, times and costs, combined with corporate profit policies, and also push for an all-encompassing vision between architecture and industry, products and distribution network. Its motto "Vom Sofakissen zum Städtebau" (from sofa cushions to the construction of the city) revealed its programmatic planning, through a series of cultural initiatives, such as conferences and assemblies, competitions and prizes, books and promotional publications, as well as concrete opportunities for design: factories were built and furnishings, display cases, railway carriages, steamships, cars, products and tools were produced. Beginning in 1912, the Werkbund began publishing its own yearbooks, featuring articles and illustrations of the works of its associated designers. The yearbooks also listed the addresses of select shops and specialty areas, to promote and support collaboration between art and industry. The yearbooks played an important role in the education of taste, as well as in the development of the international debate of the modern movement. The association grew rapidly, reaching 500 members in a single year and reaching over 2,000 members by 1914. While the initial membership was a select group, the Deutscher Werkbund soon opened up branches in various cities and organized itself into annual assemblies, involving members of high society and businessmen, increasing its budget and promoting a series of important exhibitions, two of which are worth mentioning. In 1914 the Werkbund organized the prestigious Exhibition in Cologne which revealed within it two strongly contrasting currents of thought: on the one hand the collective acceptance of Typisierung, or the standardization of industrial production, supported by Muthesius, Behrens and Gropius; on the other hand the individualism of Kunstwollen (will to form), an expression of absolute creative freedom, claimed by Van de Velde and Taut. For the occasion, significant examples of architecture in steel, concrete and glass were created, such as: the representative pavilion by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer; the model factory of the Fagus Workshops in glass and steel also by Walter Gropius, the glass pavilion by Bruno Taut, the Werkbund Theatre by Henry Van De Velde. The Exhibition revealed, once again, the historic controversy, which began in the 19th century, between artistic craftsmanship and industrial design, between trust placed in art or in technology. In 1927, the Deutscher Werkbund organized, under the direction of Mier Van Der Rohe, the Exhibition in Stuttgart entitled Die Wonhung, The Dwelling, in which it entrusted the design of the Weissenhof residential district to both its own members and to progressive architects from all over Europe such as Le Corbusier, Hillberseimer, Oud, Poelzig, Scharoun. The individual dwellings were the result of active experimentation with: serial housing, the standardization of construction elements and the systematic design of interiors, furnished with modern furniture including tubular metal seats designed by, among others, Mies van Der Rohe, Mart Stam and Marcel Breuer. The highly publicized exhibition led to a wider acceptance of the ideas of Modernism both at home and abroad. It also proved to be an important showcase for industrial design with stands displaying the latest products from cutting-edge companies such as AEG. The AEG/Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft / German Electricity Company founded in 1833 by Emil Ratthenau, thanks to some concessions from Edison, initially produced turbines, electric generators and distribution lines; He soon extended his production to devices such as lamps, fans, kettles, electric clocks, control panels, combining the shape and the protective casing for the aesthetic apparatus, and the user interface connected to the functionality. The products were all characterised by an attractive simplicity of form defined by the standardisation of individual parts such as central bodies, lids, handles, knobs, spouts, coverings: the modular finishes made them diversified, where the individual parts offered the first possibilities for controlled typological assembly. Peter Behrens (1868-1940) was called to AEG as creative director : in just a few years he contributed to the company's affirmation with a vast range of highly identifiable products, soon marketed throughout the world, and designed the entire corporate image according to the principle of 'visual identity & corporate image': from the turbine factory to the workers' houses, to the exhibition pavilions and shops with standardised shop windows. The model of the German Werkbund soon acquired an international extension, with the foundation of corresponding associations in Austria, Switzerland and England, in the years 1910-13 and 15 respectively. Having completed its original task, it was suppressed by the Nazi regime in 1934, to be reborn after the Second World War and remain active until the 1960s, progressively losing relevance. The German design lesson remains particularly incisive for its formal simplification and functional added value, unmistakable traits of the production ‘made in Germany’, still an indicator of quality today.