ABSTRACT
By 1916, Walter Gropius was already clear about the effect the war would have on his life, career, and architecture. The war brought Gropius four years of unimaginable trauma. He served in horrendous conditions on the Western Front in France and became a decorated war hero, receiving his first Iron Cross in September 1914 for bravery, and a second later in the war for wounds received in combat. After completing a year of military service in 1904–1905, Gropius volunteered for the 15th Husssars and underwent an intensive year of training. Gropius next served at the Battle of Grand Couronné, near Nancy in the north of France, which was fought between August 24 and September 13, 1914. While on active duty in Belgium during 1916, Gropius managed to author "Recommendations for the Founding of an Educational Institution as an Artistic Counseling Service for Industry, the Trades, and the Crafts", which he sent to the ministry in Weimar.
