Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 22, 2006



The IG Farben Building was built from 1928 to 1930 as the corporate headquarters of the IG Farben conglomerate in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. A competition was held to design the building and was won by the architect Hans Poelzig. On 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. 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 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. (more...)

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