IG Farben Building
- The Grüneburg
- The Community of Interests of Dye-making Corporations plc (IG Farben)
- The IG Farben Building: Construction and Architectural History
- The IG Farben Building 1945 - 1995
- The Eisenhower Room
- The Eisenhower Rotunda
- Attacks by the Red Army Faction (RAF) 1972, 1976 and 1982
- The Goethe University Moves onto the Westend Campus
- The Permanent Exhibition "From Grüneburg to Westend Campus"
- Commemorative plaques for the victims of the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War
The Grüneburg
The diverse history of today’s Westend Campus goes back to the Middle Ages and overlaps with that of the neighbouring Grüneburgpark. The connection between the two has been documented since the 18th century; it embraces several of the most famous banking families in European history, the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and the landscape architect Heinrich Siesmayer. More
The Community of Interests of Dye-making Corporations plc (IG Farben)
When in 1924 German chemical corporations amalgamated under the name “Community of Interests of Dye-making Corporations plc” (IG Farben) and commissioned the IG Farben Building, the “Palace of Money”, as its new administrative headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, probably nobody could imagine that scarcely 15 years later this “Community of Interests” would inflict so much suffering on so many people through its collaboration with the National-Socialists. More
The IG Farben Building: Construction and Architectural History
The former IG Farben headquarters, the most prominent building on Frankfurt University’s Westend Campus—known variously in the past as the “Palace of Money” or “Frankfurt’s City Crown”—remains to this day a striking architectural achievement. Its combination of monumental might and up-to-date functionality in the building’s interior was created through close cooperation between architect and owners. More
The IG Farben Building 1945 – 1995
When in the spring of 1945 US forces reached Frankfurt, the almost deserted city presented a scene of devastation. Allied air raids had reduced large areas of the city to rubble; a strange, eerie silence reigned over the ruins. However, the former headquarters of the “Community of Interests of Dye-making Corporations plc” (IG Farben) [LINK Konzerngeschichte] had come through the war almost entirely undamaged. Not least for this reason, the building seemed an ideal base for the US Military—although originally it was supposed to be a part of the French occupation zone. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the future US President, was quick to recognise the advantages of the location for coordinating the reconstruction of western Germany. More
The Eisenhower Room
In the room located in the centre of the IG Farben Building’s first floor, today known as Room 1.314, history was once made. Named the Eisenhower Conference Room or simply Eisenhower Room, it recalls the time when the IG Farben Building was headquarters of the US Military in Europe [LINK ’45-‘95]. Back then the room was principally used by the man whose name it bears: General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the later President of the United States. After the Second World War, the Americans directed important aspects of the creation of the new Federal Republic of Germany and State of Hesse from this location. More
The Eisenhower Rotunda
The plans for the representative administration building commissioned by Germany’s largest industrial concern, the “Community of Interests of Dye-making Corporations plc” (IG Farben) did not originally include the room that is now used as a cafeteria. At the request of senior management, the architect who designed the building, Hans Poelzig, had indeed planned an exhibition room for special events. However, it was not until construction was under way that it was decided to locate this room on the ground floor, creating a semicircular apse-like structure that would close off the foyer at the rear. More
Attacks by the Red Army Faction (RAF) 1972, 1976 and 1982
The campaign of violence launched by the terrorist Red Army Faction (RAF)—formed in 1970 on the fringes of the German student protest movement—was aimed not only at symbolic figures in West Germany’s ruling class, such as Attorney General Siegfried Buback and President of the Employers’ Federation Hanns-Martin Schleyer, but also at US “imperialism” and the wars fought in its name. From 1972 to 1982, the RAF carried out three attacks on the IG Farben Building and the adjoining Casino, targeting the US Military stationed between 1945 and 1995 on what is now the Westend Campus. More
The Goethe University Moves onto the Westend Campus
“And so the university set out to conquer this territory: a building that stood on a site associated with such renowned Frankfurt names as Stalburg, Bethmann, Metzler, Rothschild and Goethe, and that embodied on the one hand the history of IG Farben—inextricably linked with National-Socialism—and on the other 50 years of American history in Germany. Built on land already drenched in history, it thus symbolises the two extremes of German history in the 20th century—from the break with civilised values to the establishment of a German democracy. For the Goethe University, this move represented a mission, a challenge and a responsibility.”
When on 26 October 2001 University President Professor Werner Meißner spoke these words of hope at the opening of the new Westend Campus—on the site previously occupied by the “Community of Interests of Dye-making Corporations plc” —a long and arduous journey lay behind him and all others responsible for the move to the new location. More
The Permanent Exhibition “From Grüneburg to Westend Campus”
A total of ten topic areas, each accompanied by historical illustrations and photographs, provide a summary history of the present-day Campus Westend, the IG Farben Building, and the uses to which it has been put. The exhibition is located on the 1st to 5th floors of the IG Farben Building, next to the central cross-wings (Q3 and Q4). More
Commemorative plaques for the victims of the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War
The former administrative headquarter of the Community of Interests of Dye-making Corporations plc (IG Farben) has an eventful history. This includes the cooperation of the IG Farben concern with the National Socialist terror regime. The plaques in front of the main entrance commemorate the victims of the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War. Furthermore, they outline the central phases of the building’s history. More
Image: Universitätsarchiv
