Deutscher Werkbund was founded on October 5, 1907 in Munich by twelve artists, including Peter Behrens, Theodor Fischer and Josef Hoffmann, as well as twelve companies, including the type foundry, Poeschel & Trepte and the Wiener Werkstätten. The aim of merging these companies was to increase the quality of German goods in order to improve competitiveness on the international market.

Through events, publications, exhibitions and other projects, the Federation supported many developments in the reform movement such as the AEG through Peter Behrens and the FAGUS-Werke through Walter Gropius. An attempt was made to establish a new product aesthetic for industrial arts and crafts products. Thereby the Werkbund increasingly fell under the influence of the Bauhaus during the 1920s. In this phase the Werkbund not only set milestones through the promoting the foundation of Bauhaus in Weimar under the direction of Walter Gropius, but also with exhibitions such as "Neues Bauen" and "Siedlung Am Weißenhof" in Stuttgart and "Wohnungen und Werkraum" in Breslau. After its dissolution in 1938 under the NS regime, the Deutscher Werkbund was officially re-established not until 1950.