Between mysticism and industry: Breuer, the Benedictines and a binder

On November 28, 1959, Baldwin Dworschak (1906-1996), the Abbot of the Benedictine religious community in Collegeville in Minnesota, wrote a letter to the Bauhaus artist and educator, Josef Albers (1888-1976). The letter contained a rejection of Albers's design proposal for the north stained-glass window of the abbey church, which was under construction at the time (1953-1961). Although Dworschak conceded that if the 'decision could have been limited to the question of artistic merits or excellence of design', the decision would have been an 'easy one for the Committee to make', Dworschak was adamant they were not going to choose Albers's design. Dworschak's rejection appeared at the end of a series of committee meetings over a three-year period between 1956 and 1959. Among those present at the meetings were twelve Benedictine monks from different professional backgrounds, architectural consultants, and representatives of the Marcel Breuer Office.4 The purpose of the meetings was to make architectural decisions based on discussions and the advice of independent surveyors. These decisions were also informed by research conducted by both parties on architectural modernism, and on Benedictine history and aesthetics.5 The debate over the content and form of the main window, and its function vis-a-vis the broader architectural and religious context, was a consistent source of contention for a period of over one year between August 1958 and November 1959.6