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IG Farben Building
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IG Farben Building
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The I.G. Farben Building – also known as the Poelzig Building and the Abrams Building, formerly informally called The Pentagon of Europe – is a building complex in Frankfurt, Germany, which currently serves as the main structure of the Westend Campus of the University of Frankfurt. Construction began in 1928 and was complete in 1930[1] as the corporate headquarters of the I.G. Farben conglomerate, then the world's largest chemical company and the world's fourth-largest company overall.[2]

Key Information

The building's original design in the modernist New Objectivity style was the subject of a competition which was eventually won by the architect Hans Poelzig. On its completion, the complex was the largest office building in Europe and remained so until the 1950s.[3] The I.G. Farben Building's six square wings retain a modern, spare elegance, despite its mammoth size. It is also notable for its paternoster elevators.[4]

The building was the headquarters for production administration of dyes, pharmaceutical drugs, magnesium, lubricating oil, explosives, and methanol, and for research projects relating to the development of synthetic oil and rubber during World War II. Notably I.G. Farben scientists discovered the first antibiotic,[dubious – discuss] fundamentally reformed medical research and "opened a new era in medicine."[5] After World War II, the IG Farben Building served as the headquarters for the Supreme Allied Command and from 1949 to 1952 the High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG). William L. Shirer called it the "building from where the Americans ruled the western part of Germany" in the aftermath of World War II.[6] Notably Dwight D. Eisenhower had his office in the building. It became the principal location for implementing the Marshall Plan, which supported the post-war reconstruction of Europe. The 1948 Frankfurt Documents, which led to the creation of a West German state allied with the western powers, were signed in the building.[7] The I.G. Farben Building served as the headquarters for the US Army's V Corps and the Northern Area Command (NACOM) until 1995. It was also the headquarters of the CIA in Germany. During the early Cold War, it was referred to by US authorities as the Headquarters Building, United States Army Europe (USAREUR); the US Army renamed the building the General Creighton W. Abrams Building in 1975.[1] It was informally referred to as "The Pentagon of Europe."[8]

In 1995, the US Army transferred the IG Farben Building to the German government, and it was purchased by the state of Hesse on behalf of the University of Frankfurt. Renamed the Poelzig Building in honour of its architect, the building underwent a restoration and was opened as part of the university in 2001. It is the central building of the Westend Campus of the university, which also includes over a dozen other buildings built after 2001.

History

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Rear side of the building

The site

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The IG Farben Building was developed on land known as the Grüneburggelände. In 1837, the property belonged to the Rothschild family. It was part of the "Affensteiner Feld", an area in the north of today's Frankfurt Westend District. The name Affenstein derives from an ancient Christian memorial that once stood here on the road outside Frankfurt. It was known as the "Avestein" as in Ave Maria but in the local Frankfurt dialect it was called the "Affe Stein". In 1864, the city's psychiatric hospital was erected on the site.[3] Here, Dr Heinrich Hoffman hired Alois Alzheimer to work in the hospital, where they both explored progressive methods of treating the mentally ill.[4] The Grüneburgpark was established in 1880 on the larger western part of the site.

Early history

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IG Farben acquired the property in 1927 to establish its headquarters there. In the 1920s, IG Farben (full German name Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft or 'Dye Industry Interest Group Limited') was the world's largest drug, chemical and dye conglomerate. Frankfurt was chosen because of its centrality and its accessibility by air and land.[3][9][10]

In August 1928, Professor Hans Poelzig won a limited competition to design the building, among five selected architects, notably beating Ernst May, the then Head of Urban Design for Frankfurt.[1]

Work on the foundations began in late 1928, and in mid-1929 construction started 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.[1][3][10] 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 at a total cost of 24 million Reichsmark[3] (equivalent to 91 million € in 2021).

1930s and Second World War

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Front of the Poelzig Building from the southeast, with its temple-like portico entrance and rotunda
Main article: IG Farben

After completion, the building was the headquarters of IG Farben for 15 years.[1] IG Farben was an indispensable part of the German industrial base from its establishment in 1925, and the world's largest chemical and pharmaceutical company. Although IG Farben had been reviled on the far right and accused of being an "international capitalist Jewish company",[11] the company nonetheless remained a large government contractor under Nazi Party rule.

During World War II, the surrounding neighbourhood was devastated, but the building itself was left largely intact as it was planned to be used by occupying forces. Until occupied by US forces, the building was inhabited by the homeless citizens of a 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.[4] Eisenhower's office was where he received many important guests; including General de Gaulle, Field Marshal Montgomery and Marshal Zhukov.[10] 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

[edit]
View of the IG Farben Building from the Main Tower

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".[9] The United States High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG) and his staff occupied the building from 1949 to 1952.

After 1952, the building served as the European centre of the American armed forces and the headquarters of the U.S. V 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.[9] 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, three bombs were set off by the West German terrorist group Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction, i.e., the Baader-Meinhof Group). Two bombs went off in a rotunda in the rear entrance of the IG Farben building, and a third exploded in a smaller building behind the IG Farben building that was serving as the US Military's officer's club. Lt. Col. Paul Bloomquist was killed by the last bomb, and dozens of Americans and Germans were injured. The IG Farben building was attacked again by the same group in 1976 and 1982.[3][12] Consequently, the publicly accessible adjoining park became part of a restricted military zone which also included the military living quarters and work areas at the rear of the building.

Recent years

[edit]

Following German reunification, the US government announced plans to fully withdraw its troops from Frankfurt by 1995, at which time control of the entire site would be restored to the German Federal Government.[1] It was suggested that the building could become the location for the European Central Bank. 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 50 Million German Mark (about US$26M or 25M €), by the Copenhagen-based architecture practice Dissing+Weitling[13] and were handed over to the university. The complex now houses the Westend Campus of the university,[10][14] which includes the departments of Philosophy, History, Theology, Classical Philology, Art and Music, Modern Languages and Linguistics, Cultural and Civilization Studies, the Center for North American Studies[15] and the Fritz-Bauer-Institute.[16]

Renaming controversy

[edit]

Even in 1995 the association of the building with Nazism had been hard to shake off, despite its outstanding 1920s architecture.[14] Der Spiegel wrote about the "Smell of Guilt" after its public opening in 1995, but also that the building itself did not deserve the bad reputation.[17] Only with the departure of the Americans, the subsequent renovations, and the use of the building by the university has the building's association with Nazi Germany in the popular consciousness receded.

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 proposing to name it the "Poelzig-Ensemble" (Poelzig-Complex). Members of the university insisted on confronting the building's history by retaining its original name, the "IG Farben Building". Meissner's successor, Rudolf Steinberg, upheld the decision to retain the name, but he did not enforce a uniform nomenclature within the university's administration. The university's senate finally settled the discussions in July 2014 by keeping the official name "I.G.-Farbenhaus" (IG Farben Building).[18] [unreliable source?]

By 2004 the university set up a permanent exhibition inside the building, and a memorial plaque, for the slave labourers of IG Farben and those who had been murdered with Zyklon B gas, was installed on the front of the building.[3] After 10 years of debate[18] the Senate of the University agreed in 2014 to name a place on the new campus's southern end after the former slave labourer Norbert Wollheim.[3][19]

Future

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Library in the building

Behind the IG Farben Building, the state of Hessen 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.[20] As of 2018, there are several new buildings finished. Construction of the student union building and of the faculty building for linguistics, cultures, and arts has begun. The last step to complete the new university campus will be the relocation of the main library within the 2020s.

Building

[edit]
South façade of the Poelzig Building showing the main entrance
Plan of the IG Farben Building, showing the six wings (designated Q1–Q6 from right to left), the curving central corridor (designated V1–V5) and the 'Casino' building to the rear

In 1928, IG Farben was the largest chemical company in the world.[2] 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.[21] Georg 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".[3][22] The façade is clad with 33,000 m2 Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt Travertine marble, punctuated in bands of windows decreasing in height with each storey. 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. In the mid-'50s, this upper storey housed a military affiliate radio station (MARS). Until the 1950s, the building was the largest and most modern office building in Europe.[3]

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, but this effect is reduced by the concave form.[23]

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 aluminum 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.[1]

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.[4]

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 and the Officers Club of the US Army ("The Terrace Club"), which now houses a refectory and lecture-rooms.[1]

Rumours

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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.[23]
  • 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. It may also have been that the building was saved by its proximity to Grüneburgpark with its prisoner of war camp holding captured American airmen.[24]
  • Two or three basements were under the Poelzig building, which were sealed and flooded.[1] In fact, the building only has one basement level.
  • There were rumors about a tunnel connecting the building with Frankfurt's main railway station.[1] In fact there was no tunnel to the station, but a service tunnel to connect the dining facility to the main building's heating system, which was filled up during the 1996–2001 renovation.
  • 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 company 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.[1]

References

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IG Farben Building

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from Grokipedia
The Building, formally known as the administrative headquarters of industrie AG, is a large-scale office complex located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, constructed between 1928 and 1931 to serve as the central hub for the world's largest chemical conglomerate. Designed by architect in the industrial rationalism style characteristic of , the structure features a 250-meter-long arc-shaped facade with seven stories, a steel skeleton frame, and six radiating wings tailored to the merger of six predecessor firms, encompassing approximately 23,000 square meters of office space, laboratories, conference rooms, and canteens. At the time of completion, it stood as Europe's largest reinforced concrete office building, symbolizing the economic power and monopolistic ambitions of during the . IG Farben's operations from this extended to pivotal roles in the Nazi regime's wartime economy, where the company exploited forced labor from concentration camps, including the construction of and fuel plants at Auschwitz-Monowitz using tens of thousands of prisoners, and contributed to the production of pesticide adapted for gas chambers. Following 's defeat in 1945, Allied forces seized the undamaged building—spared from bombing due to its industrial significance—for use as the U.S. Army's European and later as the site for operations like the management of post-war and early activities. In 1995, the complex was transferred to , becoming the Westend Campus's centerpiece, though its acquisition ignited disputes over nomenclature, with university president Werner Meissner proposing the "Poelzig-Ensemble" to emphasize architectural heritage over the firm's criminal legacy, while students and faculty advocated retaining the "IG Farben" designation to preserve historical memory of corporate complicity in atrocities. The building's enduring significance lies in its architectural innovation—blending functionalist design with monumental scale—and its embodiment of 20th-century industrial capitalism's dark undercurrents, from Weimar-era consolidation to and repurposing, underscoring causal links between corporate power, state policy, and human cost without evasion. Today, it houses university administration and exhibits documenting its layered past, including the 2001 renaming of its central plaza to Norbert-Wollheim-Platz in honor of a forced labor survivor who successfully sued former executives.

Site Selection and Planning

Historical context of the site

The site of the IG Farben Building, located in Frankfurt's Westend district along Grüneburgweg, formed part of the historic Grüneburg estate, whose origins trace back to as adjacent to the city's expanding suburbs. By the early , the area had transitioned into a prestigious residential zone characterized by villas and parks, reflecting Frankfurt's growth as a financial hub. In 1837, the acquired the Grüneburg property, transforming it into a private estate that symbolized the era's industrial wealth and in . Starting in 1864, the site hosted one of Germany's earliest modern , operated under the direction of influential figures in reform, which utilized the expansive grounds for therapeutic purposes until the early . This institution represented a shift toward humane treatment models in European , though records indicate it closed amid financial and operational challenges post-World War I. By 1927, amid the consolidation of Germany's chemical industry, IG Farbenindustrie AG purchased the Grüneburg real estate from Albert von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, selecting the location for its central accessibility, ample space—spanning approximately 15 hectares—and proximity to the Grüneburgpark, which had been developed from estate remnants. The acquisition cleared the way for large-scale construction, displacing prior uses and marking the site's pivot from residential-medical to corporate-industrial prominence during the .

Architectural competition and design selection

In 1927, IG Farbenindustrie AG initiated a restricted architectural competition to design its new central administrative on the Grüneburg site in , seeking proposals for an expandable complex of approximately 23,000 square meters that included offices, laboratories, canteens, and conference rooms. The company invited six prominent architects of international reputation: Paul Bonatz from , Fritz Höger from , Jacob Koerfer from , from , , and Martin Elsaesser from . Additionally, IG Farben's internal planning department submitted six designs, reflecting the board's interest in balancing innovative corporate symbolism with practical functionality. The competition brief emphasized creating a "symbol, in iron and stone, of German commercial and scientific manpower," blending and while addressing internal debates over high-rise versus low-rise structures. On August 22, 1928, the board selected Hans Poelzig's proposal, which featured a six-storey main building with a slight and radial transverse wings, incorporating a and satisfying both architectural factions by avoiding extreme height while enabling future expansion. Poelzig's design in the style, utilizing a skeleton with infill and cladding, was favored for its functional organization for 2,000 employees and integration of landscaped grounds.

Construction and Architectural Features

Construction timeline and methods

Construction of the IG Farben Building commenced at the end of with foundation work, following site acquisition in 1927 through a land swap. The project employed skeleton construction methods, drawing inspiration from American skyscraper techniques, which facilitated rapid assembly of the structure's frame. utilized innovative tubular frames supplied by the TORKRET-Gesellschaft, marking one of the first large-scale applications of this system in . Modern cranes and scaffolding supported the erection process, enabling work to proceed efficiently despite the building's scale: a 250-meter-long main structure rising seven storeys with six cross-wings. The workforce peaked at up to 1,000 laborers, with shifts extending into nights to accelerate progress, achieving substantial completion of the main building by 1930 and full operational readiness, including auxiliary facilities like the and laboratories, by 1931—within a contracted three-year timeframe. Materials included a concealed behind brick infill walls, with the facade clad in light-colored slabs from Cannstatt and roofs sheathed in rolled ; supplied its own cements, plasters, and paints for interior finishes. Wooden sliding windows, flooring, and doors contributed to the functional interior designed for 2,000 employees across 23,000 square of usable space. Challenges arose early, including an initial structural collapse that killed two workers, as well as repeated design modifications mandated by the board—such as repositioning the main building and scaling down cross-wings—which complicated room allocations and delayed interior work. Despite these hurdles and internal disputes, the building stood as the largest office complex in the upon dedication in , exemplifying efficient industrial-era construction under architect Hans Poelzig's oversight.

Key design elements and innovations

The IG Farben Building exemplifies the (Neue Sachlichkeit) architectural style, characterized by functional rationalism and rejection of ornamental excess in favor of pragmatic, machine-age forms influenced by American skyscraper designs such as Chicago's General Motors Building. Architect Hans Poelzig's winning competition entry emphasized industrial efficiency, with an elongated, slightly curved main structure spanning 250 meters in length and seven stories in height, incorporating six radial cross-wings to symbolize the merger of the six constituent chemical firms into . This arc-shaped layout optimized southern orientation for natural daylight in offices, promoting productivity for approximately 2,000 employees across 23,000 square meters of usable floor space, making it the largest office complex in Europe until the 1950s and the biggest building in the . Structurally, the design innovated through steel skeleton construction, where prefabricated frames were assembled on the ground and hoisted into place by cranes, enabling rapid erection over three years (1928–1931) with up to 1,000 workers and modern steel scaffolding. The facade featured bands of horizontal windows punctuating a cladding of approximately 33,000 square meters of marble from Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, providing durability and a restrained aesthetic, while interiors incorporated IG Farben-produced materials like cements, plasters, paints, and flooring over cork underlay for acoustic insulation. Functional innovations included an expandable modular layout allowing future wings, glass partitions for flexible office divisions, systems, integrated telephones, document lifts, waste chutes, and continuous-loop paternoster elevators for efficient vertical circulation—advanced for corporate architecture. A central rotunda, formed by an hall, served as a communal hub, with interiors detailed by Poelzig's wife, Marlene Moeschke-Poelzig, emphasizing hygienic modernity such as running hot water throughout. These elements collectively represented a pioneering integration of engineering efficiency and corporate functionality, prioritizing usability over decoration.

Interior and functional layout

The functional layout of the IG Farben Building was engineered for administrative efficiency, accommodating approximately 2,000 employees across 23,000 square meters of usable floor space in a seven-story main structure measuring 250 meters in length, with six radial cross-wings extending perpendicularly to house specialized departments corresponding to the constituent companies of the cartel. South-oriented offices maximized natural daylight, while north-facing corridors facilitated access; laboratories, canteens, and conference rooms were integrated to support research, executive oversight, and communal functions. Interior design emphasized rational, serial production reflective of industrial principles, with Marlene Moeschke-Poelzig, Hans Poelzig's second wife and a sculptor-architect collaborator, responsible for the spatial concepts and furnishings. Key innovations included glass partitions for flexible workspaces, , telephones in offices, document lifts, paternoster elevators for continuous vertical circulation, waste paper chutes, and running hot water; flooring over cork underlay provided acoustic insulation, utilizing IG Farben's own materials such as cements, plasters, and paints. Doors featured smooth painted for standard rooms and for entrances and elevators, while hallways incorporated iron-frame doors with wired mirror glass and walls clad in zigzag-patterned marble slabs; railings used shell . Prominent internal spaces included the ground-floor with its double-flight marble staircase, aluminum-leaf ceilings, and bronze panels accented by copper friezes; the second-floor housed the Board of Management offices and meeting room. A north-facing glazed hall, originally for product displays, adjoined the and later served adaptive uses. This configuration prioritized workflow efficiency over ornamentation, aligning with the ethos while incorporating high-tech elements for a modern corporate environment.

Operations Under IG Farben (1930-1945)

Pre-war corporate functions and achievements

The , completed in , served as the central administrative headquarters for , coordinating the operations of what had become the world's largest chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate following its 1925 formation from the merger of major firms including , , and Hoechst. Housing approximately 2,000 employees, the structure centralized key corporate functions such as the management of dye sales, accounting, and oversight of artificial dye-works and fiber research, alongside departments dedicated to international markets in regions including the , , , , the countries, and Nordic nations within the dyes division. Corporate publicity efforts were also based there, supporting the firm's global branding and commercial expansion. The building hosted ' meetings, enabling strategic decision-making that drove 's pre-war growth, with the company achieving annual sales surpassing 3 billion Reichsmarks by the late through dominance in dyestuffs (controlling over 80% of the German market) and expansion into synthetics. Notable achievements coordinated from this included scaling up synthetic fuel production at facilities like the , where coal hydrogenation processes yielded significant output by 1936 (reaching 1.5 million tons annually), reducing reliance on imported oil. In synthetic rubber, advanced Buna-S technology, culminating in the 1935 announcement and 1937 operational start of the Schkopau plant, the world's first large-scale facility for this material, enhancing industrial self-sufficiency. These innovations stemmed from integrated R&D efforts, positioning as a pioneer in high-pressure chemical processes inherited and refined from predecessor companies.

Wartime research and production roles

The IG Farben Building in functioned primarily as the administrative for IG Farbenindustrie AG during , where the company's (board of directors) and technical committees coordinated strategic decisions on research priorities and production scaling to meet Nazi demands for war materials. From onward, executives operating from the building oversaw the expansion of production via coal processes, which by 1943 supplied approximately one-third of Germany's total liquid fuels, including critical aviation gasoline. This oversight included directing investments into facilities like the , where output reached peaks of over 1 million tons annually by 1944, compensating for disrupted petroleum imports. Research and development initiatives managed from focused on high-priority areas such as (Buna), essential for tires and military equipment amid shortages; 's efforts, coordinated centrally, achieved production capacities exceeding 12,000 tons per month across subsidiaries by late 1943, with significant allocation to plants like Schkopau and Auschwitz-Monowitz. The headquarters facilitated collaboration with the regime's war economy offices, prioritizing R&D into explosives, lubricants, and magnesium alloys for aircraft, while integrating forced labor logistics into production planning. These activities aligned with Four-Year Plan directives from 1936, under which committed substantial resources—over 500 million Reichsmarks by 1940—to autarky-driven innovations. Additionally, the Frankfurt center played a role in overseeing subsidiaries involved in chemical agents, including (in which held a ), producer of pesticide adapted for extermination purposes; board-level approvals from the building influenced supply chains that delivered over 20 tons of the substance to concentration camps between 1941 and 1945. While no on-site manufacturing occurred in the building itself, its conference rooms and offices served as hubs for technical evaluations and contracts with the , ensuring alignment of 's output—encompassing pharmaceuticals, dyes, and —with frontline needs, such as methanol for rocket fuels at . This administrative function underscored the conglomerate's transformation into a key pillar of the Axis , with Frankfurt directing a workforce exceeding 300,000 by 1944, much of it coerced.

Connection to forced labor and war industries

During , IG Farbenindustrie AG, headquartered in the IG Farben Building in , played a central role in the German war economy by producing essential materials such as (Buna), synthetic fuels, and explosives, which supported the Nazi military effort. The conglomerate controlled approximately 80% of Germany's chemical output and directed resources toward armaments production, including the development of facilities like the Buna-Monowitz plant near Auschwitz, constructed starting in 1941 to manufacture beyond the reach of Allied bombers. IG Farben's operations relied heavily on forced labor, with the company employing up to 300,000 foreign workers, prisoners of war, and concentration camp inmates by 1944, comprising about 30% of its workforce across subsidiaries. At the Auschwitz III-Monowitz camp alone, IG Farben utilized around 30,000 slave laborers, primarily selected from Auschwitz I and II, under brutal conditions that included systematic mistreatment and high mortality rates to maximize output for war industries. Executives based in the coordinated labor procurement through agreements with SS authorities, including the allocation of prisoners for factory work, as evidenced by internal directives and contracts that treated human labor as a disposable resource akin to machinery. The IG Farben Building served as the administrative nerve center for these activities, housing the (managing board) that approved investments in war-related projects and oversaw the integration of forced labor into production chains. Decisions made within its offices, such as the 1941 selection of the Auschwitz site for its proximity to existing camps and rail lines, directly facilitated the exploitation of slave labor for strategic industries, including the Degesch's production of pesticide later adapted for extermination purposes. This centralization of executive control linked the building to the broader corporate complicity in Nazi policies, as documented in postwar analyses of Farben's hierarchical structure. In the Nuremberg Military Tribunal's IG Farben Case (1947–1948), 13 of 23 tried executives were convicted of war crimes and , specifically for participating in the enslavement and of labor on a vast scale, including the Monowitz operations, with sentences ranging from 1.5 to 8 years. The rejected defenses of necessity or , holding that Farben's leadership knowingly profited from and directed the slave-labor program to sustain war production, underscoring the culpability of administrative decisions originating from the headquarters. Postwar restitution efforts, such as the 1990s slave labor compensation funds, further highlighted these connections, with survivors like Norbert Wollheim successfully litigating against Farben successors for damages incurred at Monowitz.

Post-War Allied Use and Cold War Period (1945-1990s)

U.S. military occupation headquarters

Following the Allied capture of Frankfurt in late March 1945, U.S. forces occupied the IG Farben Building on March 29, serving initially as the headquarters for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. SHAEF operations from the building focused on immediate post-war stabilization, including maintaining public order, advancing denazification efforts, and coordinating the reintegration of displaced persons across Europe; the command disbanded after approximately three months as the European theater concluded. Eisenhower continued directing the U.S. Forces European Theater (USFET) from the site, with Conference Room 130 designated the "Eisenhower Room" for strategic deliberations, including contributions to the 1948 drafting of Germany's Basic Law and foundational state structures. During the Cold War, the building transitioned into a key node for U.S. military administration in Europe, housing V Corps headquarters from 1951 onward and earning the nickname "Pentagon of Europe" for its role in monitoring the and broader strategic planning against potential Soviet threats. It supported the reconstruction of , serving as the European command center for U.S. Army operations until the mid-1990s. The facility faced terrorist attacks by the (RAF), a far-left group, including a 1972 bombing that killed U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul A. Bloomquist and wounded 13 others, followed by incidents in 1976 and 1982 targeting the American presence. In 1975, the building was renamed the General Creighton W. Abrams Building in honor of the U.S. Army , reflecting its enduring significance to American forces. U.S. operations persisted through , but following the Cold War's end, forces withdrew, with the structure handed over to German authorities in 1995 after 50 years of occupation.

Transitional uses in divided Germany

Following the formal division of Germany into the Federal Republic of and the German Democratic Republic in 1949, the IG Farben Building in —located in the American occupation zone that became —continued to function primarily as a key installation for forces stationed in Europe amid escalating tensions. The structure, already repurposed since March 1945 as the headquarters for U.S. European commands, transitioned from immediate postwar occupation administration to supporting NATO-aligned military operations, housing elements of the U.S. Army's V Corps and serving as the base for the Northern Area Command (NACOM), which oversaw logistics and defense coordination in . This period marked a shift from Allied occupation authority to a bilateral hosting arrangement, with the building informally known as the of Europe" due to its central role in strategic planning against potential Soviet advances. In the early , as regained sovereignty under the 1955 Paris Agreements, ownership of the building transferred from IG Farben's receivership to the government, which in turn provided indefinite usage rights to U.S. forces, solidifying its status as a permanent fixture of American military presence without full sovereignty over the site. By 1952, it had evolved into the European hub for U.S. armed forces operations, including the headquarters of the Fifth U.S. Corps, responsible for tactical command and readiness exercises along the . The facility also accommodated ancillary functions such as intelligence operations—reportedly including CIA offices—and administrative support for troop deployments, reflecting its adaptation to prolonged deterrence postures during the and subsequent reinforcements. Renamed the Abrams Building in honor of General in the , it remained a symbol of transatlantic alliance commitments until the end of the . Throughout this era, the building's vast office spaces and infrastructure—originally designed for corporate efficiency—facilitated over 2,000 personnel at peak occupancy, enabling real-time coordination of exercises like REFORGER (Return of Forces to ) that simulated rapid reinforcement from the U.S. to counter threats. Minimal structural alterations were made to preserve its interwar architecture, though internal adaptations included secure communications suites and expanded parking for military vehicles, underscoring its pragmatic repurposing amid geopolitical division rather than any demilitarization. This sustained U.S. tenancy, extending into the , bridged the occupation's end and , with the site's handover to civilian use occurring only after the Soviet Union's collapse diminished the need for forward-deployed commands.

Integration with Goethe University (2000s-Present)

Renovation process and challenges

The handover of the IG Farben Building from U.S. military control to the state of in 1995 initiated a comprehensive renovation process aimed at transforming the structure into the administrative and representational core of Goethe University's Westend Campus. Work began in earnest around 1997 under the supervision of architects PA+ from , focusing on monument preservation while integrating modern functional requirements such as updated electrical systems, , and features. The project culminated in the building's reopening on October 1, 2001, renamed the Poelzig Building in honor of its architect , with the state allocating approximately 147 million Deutsche Marks (equivalent to about 75 million euros) for the conversion. Key challenges included reconciling the building's protected historical status with contemporary safety and operational standards. The original 1930s construction failed to meet post-1990s German regulations, necessitating extensive of stairwells, doors, and escape routes without compromising Poelzig's architectural , such as the terraced layout and interior spatial sequences. Interior adaptations for university administration involved partitioning large halls into offices while retaining original elements like the central and ceremonial spaces, but this required careful navigation of preservation laws enforced by Frankfurt's heritage authorities. Ongoing structural deterioration has posed persistent difficulties, particularly facade degradation from and material fatigue, leading to safety fencing around entrances since at least 2015 to prevent falling debris. Plans for a phased envelope renovation—divided into four stages to minimize disruption—remain without a finalized timeline as of 2023, exacerbated by budgetary constraints and the need for heritage-compliant materials amid rising construction costs. These efforts highlight the tension between maintaining the building's status as a protected and ensuring its long-term for academic purposes.

Current academic and public functions

The Poelzig Building, integrated into Goethe University's Westend Campus since its establishment on 26 October 2001, functions primarily as an administrative and academic hub for the institution. It accommodates offices for university administration, including the president's office, and supports teaching and research activities, particularly in the such as , , , classical , , and . Public functions include a permanent exhibition titled "From Grüneburg to Westend Campus," spanning floors 1 through 5 in the central cross-wings (Q3 and Q4), which documents the architectural history and campus development with ten thematic areas and historical materials dedicated to architect Hans Poelzig. The campus grounds and building are accessible to the public, allowing visitors to explore the premises and view commemorative plaques at the main entrance honoring victims of the Nazi dictatorship and World War II. Specialized facilities within the building, such as the Eisenhower Room (Room 1.314) and Eisenhower Rotunda, host events and lectures, leveraging their historical significance from the postwar U.S. military occupation period. Adjacent libraries on the Westend Campus provide public-accessible study spaces and resources, enhancing the site's role as an educational and cultural venue.

Recent developments and expansion plans

In 2024, initiated construction of the Center for Humanities on its Westend Campus, located adjacent to the Poelzig Building (formerly the IG Farben Building), as part of ongoing campus expansion to consolidate departments. Excavation work commenced in March 2024, followed by an official groundbreaking ceremony on May 28, 2024, with projected construction costs of approximately €20 million and design by architectural firm ArGe Architekten. The three-story structure spans about 2,300 square meters and features flexible, variably sized rooms for , , exhibitions, and events, enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration in language, cultural, and social sciences. Positioned at the northern campus entrance near the Poelzig Building, it integrates with the existing ensemble while adhering to aesthetic guidelines that respect the historical site's scale and modernist legacy. By May 26, 2025, the project reached its topping-out ceremony, marking structural completion on schedule roughly one year after groundbreaking, with full operational readiness anticipated within two years of initiation. This development aligns with broader state of objectives to create a modern campus extension behind the Poelzig Building, accommodating remaining university departments and reinforcing the Westend site's role as the institution's primary hub since the early 2000s relocation. Further phases may include additional facilities to support growing academic needs, building on land acquisitions and master planning efforts dating to 2006.

Architectural and Historical Significance

Innovative aspects and European context

The IG Farben Building, designed by and constructed between 1928 and 1931, incorporated a steel skeleton framework enabled by advanced cranes and techniques, drawing inspiration from American methods to achieve unprecedented scale for an office complex in . This structural innovation allowed for a 250-meter-long, seven-story main edifice with six radial cross-wings, providing 23,000 square meters of usable floor space to accommodate approximately 2,000 employees across over 600 offices. The rational layout optimized natural daylight through southerly-oriented offices and plain, unadorned facades clad in stone, emphasizing functional efficiency over ornamentation. Interior innovations further distinguished the building, featuring high-tech amenities such as glass partitions for flexible workspaces, systems, integrated telephones, document lifts, paternoster elevators—a continuous-loop system for rapid vertical circulation—and even waste paper chutes alongside running hot water in offices. These elements, combined with flooring over cork underlay for acoustic insulation designed by Marlene Moeschke-Poelzig, represented cutting-edge provisions for industrial-era , utilizing IG Farben's own cements, plasters, and paints in . At completion, it stood as the largest building in the and the most expansive office complex in Europe, maintaining that status until the . In the broader European architectural landscape of the , the building exemplified the (Neue Sachlichkeit) style, a pragmatic response to the excesses of and , prioritizing stripped-down functionality and industrial rationalism amid economic recovery efforts. This approach aligned with contemporaneous developments in , such as Bauhaus-inspired functionalism, but adapted for corporate scale, contrasting with the more ornamental styles prevalent in or Britain while prefiguring the austere modernism of Scandinavian and Dutch contemporaries like Gunnar Asplund's works. Poelzig's design thus served as a prototype for twentieth-century company headquarters, bridging Weimar-era innovation with the continent's shift toward rational, machine-age aesthetics before the Nazi regime's preference for neoclassical monumentality curtailed such progressive tendencies.

Preservation debates and structural issues

The preservation of the IG Farben Building was prioritized during after General reportedly ordered its protection from Allied bombardment, citing its potential postwar value as a amid Frankfurt's . This decision preserved the structure's integrity, as it sustained minimal damage compared to surrounding areas, enabling immediate U.S. occupancy in without extensive reconstruction. In the 1990s, as sought to integrate the site into its Westend Campus, preservation debates focused less on physical demolition—which was never seriously proposed given the building's architectural merit and intact condition—and more on ethical repurposing amid IG Farben's Nazi-era complicity in forced labor and chemical production for the regime. Proponents argued for retaining historical and installing memorials, such as a 2001 plaque commemorating slave laborers, to confront rather than erase the past, rejecting proposals to rename it solely the "Poelzig Building" after architect . The university's 1999 convention ultimately voted to preserve the "IG Farben Building" designation as a deliberate reminder of corporate culpability. Renovation efforts, commencing in March 1998 and concluding with a reopening on October 26, 2001, presented primarily adaptive challenges rather than acute structural deficiencies, as the U.S. had vacated the premises in relatively sound condition after 50 years of use. Architects Dissing + Weitling, selected from 125 entrants in a Europe-wide tender, balanced conservation of Poelzig's features—like the curved central corridor, foyer, and original paternoster elevators—with modern necessities, including fire escapes, HVAC upgrades, and reversion of altered interiors such as a former squash court restored to library space. The project, funded at approximately €25 million by the state of , emphasized reversible modifications to safeguard the frame and facade, with no documented foundational or load-bearing impairments requiring reinforcement.

Controversies

Renaming to Poelzig Building

The decision to rename the former headquarters as the Poelzig Building was made by leadership during the building's transition to academic use in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following the U.S. military's handover of the property to the state of in 1995, university president Werner Meissner proposed designating it the "Poelzig-Ensemble" to recognize the contributions of architect , who designed the structure between 1928 and 1931, while explicitly aiming to separate the site from IG Farben's legacy of wartime atrocities, including the exploitation of slave labor at facilities like Auschwitz-Monowitz. This initiative triggered significant debate over historical remembrance versus architectural detachment. Opponents, including a 1999 student initiative presented to the university's convention body, contended that erasing the "IG Farben Building" name risked sanitizing the conglomerate's direct complicity in Nazi crimes, such as producing and relying on concentration camp prisoners for labor, thereby undermining efforts to confront the site's dark history. Proponents of the rename, aligned with Meissner's view, prioritized the building's pre-Nazi design origins and its repurposing as a means of forward-looking rehabilitation, arguing that perpetual association with overshadowed Poelzig's innovative contributions to modern office . The ultimately adopted the Poelzig Building designation upon its official opening as part of the Westend in 2001, though informal references to the IG Farben Haus persist in public discourse, reflecting ongoing tensions between preservation of memory and practical reuse.

Balancing historical memory and modern repurposing

The repurposing of the IG Farben Building as the administrative and humanities center for since 2001 has necessitated efforts to integrate commemoration of its Nazi-era associations with contemporary educational functions. IG Farben's executives collaborated with the Nazi regime, utilizing forced labor from concentration camps, including at Auschwitz where the company operated a factory producing and fuel; the firm also supplied , the adapted for gas chambers in extermination camps. To address this history, the university maintains permanent exhibits on the building's floors 1 through 5 detailing IG Farben's wartime activities and the building's role as headquarters from 1930 onward. A commemorative plaque installed at the main entrance on October 26, 2001, explicitly acknowledges the structure's origins and 's complicity in atrocities, stating it was built for the company's administrative headquarters and served Nazi administrative purposes, with references to forced labor and . Adjacent to the building, the Wollheim Plaza—renamed in honor of the Holocaust survivor who successfully sued in 1952 for compensation representing lost wages from slave labor—hosts the Norbert Wollheim Memorial, managed by the university's Institute for the History of Jews in Europe, which documents the experiences of over 900 Jewish forced laborers deployed to sites. Debates within the university and Frankfurt civic discourse have centered on whether academic repurposing risks diluting historical accountability, yet proponents argue that situating within the site itself fosters direct confrontation with the past, as evidenced by interdisciplinary projects like the 2022 "Staging IG Farben Haus" initiative, which employed performances and installations to interrogate the building's legacy amid its daily use by students and faculty. This approach aligns with broader European practices of for sites of difficult heritage, prioritizing preservation over demolition to enable ongoing pedagogical engagement rather than erasure. No major proposals for alternative uses, such as full memorialization excluding academia, have gained traction, reflecting a consensus that the building's scale and location suit multifunctional utility while memorials ensure memory persists.

Rumors and Misconceptions

Persistent myths about the building

One persistent rumor asserts that General personally ordered Allied bombing raids on to spare the IG Farben Building, anticipating its postwar use as a U.S. military headquarters. This legend attributes the structure's relative intactness amid the city's heavy bombardment—despite over 150 air raids that destroyed much of —to a deliberate directive from Eisenhower, who indeed used the building as his office from onward. Another recurring claim involves architect , alleging that IG Farben barred him from entering the completed building in 1931 due to Nazi regime disfavor, despite his design's approval in a 1928 competition. Poelzig, known for modernist works, oversaw construction from 1928 to 1930, predating full Nazi control, but the story persists amid the company's later alignment with the regime after 1933. Speculation about hidden infrastructure includes unverified tales of multiple sealed sub-basements, some purportedly flooded, and an underground tunnel linking the building to Hauptbahnhof, approximately 3 kilometers away, supposedly for secretive transport or escape during the war. These narratives often tie into broader conspiracies about Nazi-era fortifications, though no archival confirms their existence.

Factual debunkings and origins

One enduring portrays the building's Paternoster elevators—continuous, open-cabin lifts installed during original construction—as a "Todesschacht" (death shaft) purportedly used for Nazi-era executions or disposals. These elevators, operational since , require users to enter and exit moving cabins without doors, a design that has caused injuries in similar systems worldwide due to missteps, with historical data indicating rare but real hazards from falls or entrapments. However, no archival records, trial testimonies from the proceedings, or site investigations document any deaths or atrocities occurring via these lifts; the structure functioned as corporate offices, distant from IG Farben's forced-labor camps like Auschwitz-Monowitz, where abuses were concentrated in production facilities over 600 kilometers away. The myth likely emerged from the elevators' eerie mechanics and the company's notorious , amplified by dependents' anecdotes and modern thrill-seeking tours, but conflates general technological risks with unsubstantiated site-specific claims. A related misconception holds that U.S. forces intentionally exempted the building from Allied bombing campaigns, anticipating its use as a , as evidenced by its relative intactness amid 's devastation. suffered over 150 air raids from 1943 to 1945, with the Westend district—including vicinities of the IG Farbenhaus—experiencing direct hits that destroyed adjacent structures, as confirmed by and RAF reconnaissance photos showing craters and rubble nearby. The edifice endured primarily owing to its robust reinforced-concrete frame, designed to standards with deep foundations and compartmentalized wings resisting blast waves, rather than any preemptive directive; General Dwight D. Eisenhower's post-liberation occupancy in 1945 merely capitalized on its survival. This narrative originated in occupation lore among GIs and locals, rationalizing the anomaly through , but overlooks declassified bombing logs prioritizing industrial targets over administrative ones and the Allies' imprecise high-altitude tactics. Claims of concealed sub-basements, allegedly constructed by for secret archives and deliberately flooded in 1945 to evade capture, persist in anecdotal accounts but contradict verified blueprints and engineering assessments. records from 1928–1931 detail three standard subterranean levels for utilities, vaults, and parking—totaling about 10 meters depth—without esoteric extensions, as mapped in Poelzig's preserved schematics and confirmed by Goethe University's renovations uncovering no anomalous voids. Any wartime inundation would align with routine anti-sabotage measures using building plumbing, not mass flooding of mythical chambers; post-war Allied seizures yielded documents from accessible areas, per prosecutors' inventories. The tale traces to scavenger rumors amid rubble, fueled by the conglomerate's document destruction elsewhere and the site's vast 240,000-square-meter footprint, but lacks substantiation from geophysical surveys or veteran interrogations.

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