Although a Belgian, Van de Velde would play an important role in the German Werkbund, an association founded to help improve and promote German design by establishing close relations between industry and designers.
Van de Velde, hoci bol Belgičan, zohrával dôležitú úlohu v German Werkbund, asociácii zameranej na propagáciu nemeckého dizajnu a podporu pri vytváraní vzťahov medzi priemyslom a dizajnérmi.