The architect and designer Walter Gropius established the Bauhaus in 1919 as a school for art, design, and architecture in Weimar, Germany. It then moved to Dessau in 1925 and was finally located in Berlin. The Bauhaus was closed by Nazi authorities in 1933. The name of the school, derived from the word for a medieval mason's lodge, signified its emphasis on training within crafts workshops, in addition to artistic instruction known as the "teaching of form." In 1922, Gropius began to espouse the unity of art and technology and the reproducibility of works.

This seven-branched menorah by Gyula Pap possibly for a synagogue reflects Gropius's evolving philosophy regarding design. Each of its forms is identical to others of the same type; all are sleek and functional and reproducible. A second example of Pap's menorah is in the Bauhaus archive in Berlin. Both menorot have seven arms, like the original lamp stand in the Jerusalem Temple, but lack the ornament of knops and flowers mentioned in the biblical description. Instead, the artistic effect of Pap's design comes from the harmonious proportions of all the parts and the repeated shapes--for example, the circular base that is echoed in the tops of the oil cups and in the semicircles of the arms. The high polish causes these similar forms to reflect in the base. Menorot like this one were placed in synagogues as reminders of the ancient Temple.

Born in Hungary, Pap moved with his family to Austria when he was thirteen. From 1920 to 1924, he studied metalworking with Johannes Itten at the Bauhaus. In addition to the menorah, Pap created a standing lamp for the common room at the school, as well as many lithographs and photographs. After the war, he served as professor at the University of Fine Arts in Budapest, until his retirement in 1962.