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IG Farben Building

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Architecture

   IG Farben Building
   South façade of the Poelzig Building showing the main entrance
   Building Information
   Name IG Farben Building
   Location Town Frankfurt am Main
   Location Country Germany
   Architect Hans Poelzig
   Client IG Farben
   Construction Start Date 1928
   Completion Date 1930
   Cost 24 Million Reichsmark
   Structural System Steel Frame with concrete floors
   Style New Objectivity

   The IG Farben Building or the Poelzig Building was built from 1928 to
   1930 as the corporate headquarters of the IG Farben conglomerate in
   Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is also known as the Poelzig Ensemble or
   Poelzig Complex, and previously as the IG Farben Complex, and the
   General Creighton W. Abrams Building. A competition to design the
   building was won by the architect Hans Poelzig.

   On its completion, the complex was the largest office building in
   Europe and remained so until the 1950s. The IG Farben Building's six
   square wings retain a modern, spare elegance, despite its mammoth size.
   It is also notable for its paternoster elevators.

   The building was the headquarters for research projects relating to the
   development of Nazi wartime synthetic oil and rubber, and the
   production administration of magnesium, lubricating oil, explosives,
   methanol, and Zyklon B, the lethal gas used in concentration camps.
   After WWII, the IG Farben Building served as the headquarters for the
   Supreme Allied Command and became the principal location for
   implementing the Marshall Plan, which largely financed the post-war
   reconstruction of Europe. The state apparatus of the Federal German
   Government was devised there. The IG Farben Building served as the
   headquarters for the US Army's V Corps and the Northern Area Command
   (NACOM) until 1995. The US Army renamed the building the General
   Creighton W. Abrams Building in 1975.

   The US Army returned control of the IG Farben Building to the German
   government in 1995. It was purchased on behalf of the University of
   Frankfurt by the state of Hesse, which committed €25 million to the
   restoration. In recognition of the original architect, the University
   renamed the main building the Poelzig Building (Poelzig-Bau) and its
   ancillary buildings and surroundings the Poelzig Complex (Poelzig
   Ensemble). The restoration work started in March 1998, and the formal
   reopening as the Poelzig-Bau was celebrated on October 26, 2001. During
   the ceremony a plaque was unveiled at the building's entrance to
   commemorate the slave labour victims of the IG Farben factory at
   Auschwitz III and all those murdered by Zyklon B gas.

History

The site

   The IG Farben Building was developed on land known as the
   Grüneburggelände in Frankfurt's Westend District. In 1837, the property
   belonged to the Rothschild family. In 1864, the city's psychiatric
   hospital known as "Affenfelsen" or "Affenstein" (ape rock), was erected
   on the site. Here, Dr Heinrich Hoffman hired Alois Alzheimer to work in
   the hospital, where they both explored progressive methods of treating
   the mentally ill. The Grüneburgpark was established in 1880 on the
   larger western part of the site.

Early history

   IG Farben acquired the property in 1927 to establish its headquarters
   there. In the 1920s, IG Farben (full German name Interessen
   Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft) was the world's
   largest drug, chemical and dye conglomerate. Frankfurt was chosen
   because of its centrality and its accessibility by air and land

   In August 1928, Professor Hans Poelzig won a limited competition among
   five selected architects, notably beating Ernst May, the then Head of
   Urban Design for Frankfurt.

   Work on the foundations began in late 1928, and the summer of 1929 saw
   construction start on the steel frame. The building was completed in
   1930 after only 24 months, by employing rapid-setting concrete, new
   construction materials and a round-the-clock workforce. Later in 1930,
   the Frankfurt director of horticulture Max Bromme and the artists'
   group Bornimer Kreis developed designs for the 14 hectares of parkland
   that surrounded the building. The grounds, and the complex as a whole,
   were completed in 1931.

Second World War

   Front of the Poelzig Building from the southeast, with its temple-like
   portico entrance and rotunda
   Enlarge
   Front of the Poelzig Building from the southeast, with its temple-like
   portico entrance and rotunda

   IG Farben subsequently became an indispensable part of the Nazi
   industrial base. The building was the headquarters for research
   projects for the development of wartime synthetic oil and rubber, as
   well as the production administration of magnesium, lubricating oil,
   explosives, methanol, and Zyklon B, the lethal gas used in
   concentration camps. The building was used by IG Farben for 15 years.

   During World War II, the surrounding neighbourhood was devastated, but
   the building itself was left largely intact (and inhabited by homeless
   citizens of bomb-ravaged Frankfurt). In March 1945, Allied troops
   occupied the area and the IG Farben Building became the American
   headquarters of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower's office was
   where he received many important guests; including General de Gaulle,
   Field Marshal Montgomery and Marshal Zhukov. It was there that he
   signed the “Proclamation No. 2”, which determined which parts of the
   country would be within the American zone. Eisenhower vacated the
   building in December 1945 but his office was still used for special
   occasions: the constitution of the state of Hesse was signed there, the
   West German Ministerpräsident received his commission to compile the
   Grundgesetz ( German constitution) and the administration of the
   Wirtschaftsrat der Bizone (Economic Council of the Bizone) was also
   located there.

Cold War

   View of the IG Farben Building from the Maintower skyscraper
   Enlarge
   View of the IG Farben Building from the Maintower skyscraper

   From 1945 to 1947, the IG Farben Building was the location of the
   Supreme Headquarters, Allied European Forces, and was the headquarters
   for the US occupation forces and Military Governor. On May 10, 1947,
   permanent orders to military personnel prohibited further reference to
   the building as the "IG Farben Building", and instead called for it to
   be referred to as "The Headquarters Building, European Command".

   After 1952, the building served as the European centre of the American
   armed forces and the headquarters of the 5th US-Corps. It later became
   the headquarters for the Northern Area Command until 1994. The IG
   Farben Building was also the headquarters of the CIA in Germany, which
   led to its sobriquet 'the Pentagon of Europe'. On April 16, 1975, the
   US army renamed the building the General Creighton W. Abrams Building.
   The renaming did not have full authority in law, because the US was
   technically leasing the building from the German government and thus
   was not the rightful owner.

   On May 11, 1972, the terrace area at the rear of the building, in front
   of the 'Casino', was the scene of a bombing by the Rote Armee Fraktion
   (Red Army Faction, i.e., the Baader-Meinhof Group). In 1976 and 1982,
   this group again attacked the building. The adjoining park, which until
   then had been publicly accessible, became a restricted military area.
   These restrictions also applied to the military living quarters and
   work areas at the rear of the building.

Recent years

   Panorama of the Poelzig building from the south, demonstrating how the
   curved shape of the building's façade reduces the impact of its scale
   Enlarge
   Panorama of the Poelzig building from the south, demonstrating how the
   curved shape of the building's façade reduces the impact of its scale

   Following German reunification, the US government announced plans to
   fully withdraw its troops from Germany by 1995, at which time control
   of the entire site would be restored to the German Federal Government.
   It was suggested that the building could become the location for the
   European Central Bank. The British, however, competing to secure the
   location of the Bank in London, successfully defeated the proposal by
   arguing that the building had been tainted by its Nazi associations. In
   1996, the state of Hesse bought the building and associated land for
   the University of Frankfurt. The buildings were refurbished at a cost
   of DM 50M (about US $26M), by the Copenhagen architect's office
   'Dissing+Weitling' and were handed over to the university. The complex
   now houses the Westend Campus of the university, which includes the
   departments of Philosophy, History, Theology, Classical Philosophy, Art
   and Music, Modern Languages and Linguistics, Cultural and Civilization
   Studies, the Centre for North American Studies and the
   Fritz-Bauer-Institute.

Renaming controversy

   The university's tenancy of the building sparked a debate regarding the
   name of the building. Former University President Werner Meissner had
   started the controversy by renaming it the "Poelzig-Ensemble"
   (Poelzig-Complex); to him, renaming the building would free it from
   associations with Nazism. Students and, in increasing numbers, members
   of the faculty insisted on confronting the building's history by
   retaining its original name, the "IG Farben Building". Meissner's
   successor, Rudolf Steinberg, upheld the university's decision to retain
   the name; however, he did not enforce a uniform nomenclature within the
   university's administration. After the grand opening of the building in
   2001, AStA chairman Wulfila Wido Walter objected to the "misuse of Hans
   Poelzig" [sic] and proposed leaving the name of the main building
   unchanged, and calling the smaller casino building the "Poelzig
   Casino"; this proposal won little support. By 2004, the
   “Poelzig-Ensemble” proposal had become a moot point—the debate was
   overtaken by strong political lobbying for an appropriate commemoration
   and memorial of remembrance: Vice President Brita Rank set up a
   permanent exhibition inside the building, and a memorial plaque—for the
   slave labourers of IG Farben and those who had perished by Zyklon B
   gas—was installed on the front of the building. The Senate of the
   University agreed on a joint initiative by the student senator of the
   German Green Party, David Profit, and Angelika Marx the senator of the
   United Services Union, to name a place on the new campus's western end
   after the former slave labourer Norbert Wollheim.

   Despite the renamings by the University and the American military
   administration, the building is still usually called the IG Farben
   Building by the general public. The association of the building with
   Nazism has been hard to shake off, partly because of the close
   involvement of IG Farben with the Nazi regime and partly because of the
   building's imposing and monumental appearance. Der Spiegel wrote of its
   “Smell of Guilt”. Only with the departure of the Americans, the
   subsequent renovations, and the use of the building by the university
   has the taint of the Third Reich receded.

Future

   Behind the IG Farben Building, the state of Hesse intends to build
   "Europe's most modern campus" to accommodate the remaining departments
   of the University's old Bockenheim campus: law, business, social
   sciences, child development, and the arts. The new buildings will be
   completed in 2014. The University will then move out of the old campus
   in Frankfurt-Bockenheim, which was designed by Ferdinand Kramer in the
   1950s and 1960s.

Building

   Plan of the IG Farben Building, showing the six wings, the curving
   central corridor and the 'Casino' building to the rear
   Enlarge
   Plan of the IG Farben Building, showing the six wings, the curving
   central corridor and the 'Casino' building to the rear

   In 1928, IG Farben was the world's fourth largest company and its
   largest chemical company. Consequently, the space requirements for the
   building were for one of the largest office buildings ever constructed.
   It was designed in the New Objectivity style.

   IG Farben did not want a specifically ' Bauhaus' styled building—it
   wanted:

          A symbol, in iron and stone, of German commercial and scientific
          manpower. Baron von Schnitzler, IG Farben Director, 1930.

   The 250-metre long and 35-metre tall building has nine floors, but the
   height of the ground floor varies (4.6–4.2 m). This variation is
   reflected in the roof line which looks taller at the wings than the
   spine. The volume of the building is 280,000 m³, constructed from
   4,600 tonnes of steel frame with brick infill and floors constructed of
   hollow blocks to provide over 55740 m² of usable office space". The
   façade is clad with 33,000 m² Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt Travertine
   marble, which the windows punctuate in bands. Only at the corners are
   the glazed strips interrupted for emphasis. The top storey is lit from
   skylights rather than banded glazing and has a very low ceiling height.
   It forms a clear building conclusion. Until the 1950s, the building was
   the largest and most modern office building in Europe.
   The pool with the Klimsch Sculpture "Am Wasser" (at the water). The
   Casino is in the background.
   Enlarge
   The pool with the Klimsch Sculpture "Am Wasser" (at the water). The
   Casino is in the background.

   The IG Farben Building consists of six wings, connected by a gently
   curved, central corridor. This arrangement provides all of the offices
   with sufficient natural light and ventilation. This design approach for
   large complexes offers an alternative to the "hollow rectangle" schemes
   of the time, with their typical inner courtyards. The prototype of this
   form is the General Motors Building in Detroit (1917–21) by Albert
   Kahn. The building presents a very large and weighty façade to the
   front; however, this effect is reduced by the concave form.

   The main entrance is at the axial centre of the building, comprising a
   temple-like portico standing in front of the doors—a relatively common
   motif of administration buildings of the time. The entrance arrangement
   is regarded by some people as slightly pompous: the entrance and lift
   doors are of bronze, and the ceiling and walls of the porch are clad in
   bronze plate and copper friezes. The inner lobby has two curved
   staircases with a sheet aluminium treatment, and marble walls with a
   zigzag pattern. The axial centre at the rear of the building has a
   round glazed façade; here, the view of the buildings at the rear of the
   site (the "casino") is maximised by the curved walls that afford vistas
   to the subsidiary buildings 100 m distant, separated from the main
   building by parkland and a pool. During the American occupation of the
   building, this rotunda housed a small kiosk; later, it was used as a
   conference room. Nowadays, it is called the Dwight D. Eisenhower room
   and accommodates a café.

   The paternoster lifts that serve the nine floors are famous, and are
   popular with the university students. After the recent restoration, the
   university has pledged to preserve them in perpetuity.

   Behind the rotunda is an oblong pool with a Nymphenskulptur
   (German:Nymph sculpture) at the water's edge created by Fritz Klimsch
   entitled "Am Wasser". Behind it stands a flat building on a hill with a
   terrace—the casino of IG Farben, which now houses a refectory and
   lecture-rooms.

Rumours

   A number of unconfirmed rumours concern the complex:
     * Hans Poelzig was not favoured by the Nazi regime and was banned by
       IG Farben from entering the building after its completion.
     * General Eisenhower issued orders to preserve the building during
       the bombardment of Frankfurt, because he intended to use it after
       the war as his headquarters. However, it may have been that the
       building was saved by its position in a residential area and close
       to Grüneburgpark with its refugee camp.
     * Two or three basements are under the Poelzig building, which are
       sealed and flooded.
     * A tunnel connects the building with Frankfurt's main railway
       station; however, some sources contend that only the main building
       and the casino are linked, and that there is no tunnel to the
       station.
     * At the reflecting pool behind the building, the "Am Wasser"
       sculpture of a naked water nymph was moved during the American
       occupation. The nymph was moved to the Hoechst Chemical concern in
       Frankfurt/ Hoechst at the request of Mamie Eisenhower (the
       general's wife), who deemed it inappropriate for a military
       installation. The statue has since been returned to its original
       location.

Text of memorial plaque

     * Translated inscription from the plaque placed in front of the IG
       Farben Building main entrance on October 26, 2001:-

     This building was designed by the architect Hans Poelzig and erected
     in the years 1928 to 1931 as the headquarters of IG Farben
     Industries.

     Between 1933 and 1945, as one of the largest chemical concerns in
     the world, the company put its scientific knowledge and production
     technologies increasingly into the service of the war preparations
     and warfare of the National Socialist terror regime. From 1942 to
     1945 IG Farben, together with the SS, maintained the concentration
     camp at Buna-Monowitz beside the IG Farben factory at Auschwitz.

     Of the ten thousand prisoners made to work for the company there,
     most were murdered.

     In the National Socialist extermination camps many hundreds of
     thousands of people, particularly Jews, were killed by the gas
     Zyklon B, which was sold by an IG Farben company.

     From 1945 the building was the seat of the American military
     government and the High Commissioner for Germany. On 19 September
     1945 the establishment of the State of Hesse was proclaimed here.
     From 1952 to 1995 the building was the headquarters of the 5th Corps
     of US Army.

     Aware of the history of the building, the State of Hesse acquired it
     in 1996 for the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. In the future it
     will be used for teaching and research.

                "Nobody can withdraw from the history of one's people.
                One should know that the past may not be based on
                forgetting
                because otherwise it will come again and become the
                present."

                      Jean Améry, 1975

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