If your idea of a good World Heritage site is a historic city centre, then this is perhaps not the best place to visit as arriving from the train station the Bauhaus itself could easily be mistaken for any other municipal building pretty much anywhere in the world. However if like me you have a keen interest in modern architecture or design this is less a visit and more a pilgrimage.

The main building of the Bauhaus was designed by Walter Gropius after the school was forced to relocate due to political changes in Wiemar. Gropius is one of the key architects of the twentieth century and this building is his masterpiece. As I have already said it seems to look like many other buildings throughout the world, however it would be more accurate to say that all the other buildings look like this one.

It feels instantly familiar being like the buildings I have used for everything in my life; schools, housing blocks, offices and hospitals and this is where its great value lies. Many of the aims of the Bauhaus have been corrupted, as shown by the particularly expensive gift shop, however the international spread of ideas and objects pioneered in this building are undeniable.

I would recommend taking the guided tour, it was only available in German however it allows you to see much more of the building, especially impressive was the main auditorium, and the office from which Gropius and later Mies Van Der Rohe (a bit of a personal hero) conducted the day to day running of the school. I was also impressed that many of the chair designed by Breuer were available to be sat upon, normally when you see them they are very much of limits in museums and it was with great joy that I finally sat down in his famous Wassily chair looking out of the rows of windows.

About a 10-minute walk away are the master's houses, also designed by Gropius and these are great pieces from the International school of architecture, however we did not visit their interior.

The international importance of the Bauhaus institution is huge, Mies and Gropius both developed the ideas further at IIT and MIT respectively in the USA and architects that have trained under them have shaped the face of many modern cities.

For many people the Bauhaus may not be very interesting and Dessau itself is often ignored by guide books, it is not the most aesthetically pleasing of cities, however for me this was a great World Heritage site and one that can identifiably been seen as having a global impact, a personal favourite.