THE FAGUS FACTORY

IN ALFELD

NOMINATION FOR INSCRIPTION ON THE

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST

SEPTEMBER 2009
 Summary

SUMMARY

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

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 Summary

State party Federal Republic of Germany

State, province or region Lower Saxony, town of Alfeld

Name of property Fagus factory

Geographical coordinates to the nearest 51° 59’ 01” degrees North

second 09° 48’ 40” degrees East

Textual description of the boundary(ies) of Historical industrial area to the west of the
the nominated property core city of Alfeld: the nominated area
borders the Hanover-Göttingen rail route in
the northeast and the Hannoversche Straße
in the southwest.

A4 (or „letter“) size map of the nominated See end of summary

property, showing boundaries and buffer
zone (if present)

Justification With the construction of the Fagus factory,

Statement of outstanding universal value Gropius made a breakthrough to new,
modern art that went hand in hand with the
age of technology. The Fagus factory, with a
radical break from the conventional design
practice, represents for the first time a new
expression of architecture, which develops
space and form from function, takes into
account the light, air and lucidity require-
ments of its users and makes use of the new
technical possibilities of construction with
glass and steel in industrially pre-produced
processing. Glass, which is actually an
unsubstantial material,becomes a formative
building material and mode of expression of
architecture.The design concepts underlying
this construction had a decisive influence on
the development of twentieth century
architecture not only in Germany and
Europe, but around the globe. The artistic
ideas convincingly introduced in the Fagus
factory and later theoretically and practically
taught in the Bauhaus were brought to
England and USA by Gropius and developed
into decisive values for training in inter-
national style. Its global significance as an
outstanding artistic achievement and as the
first industrial building of modern era is
unequalled and incomparable. Its influence
as an exemplary blueprint and initial
building of an architectural epoch is still
unimpaired.
Criteria under which property is
nominated (itemise criteria) (I) The nominated plant is a chef d'oeuvre
of the human creative power.

With complex interweaving of aesthetic,

psychological, social and technical aspects,

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

the Fagus factory represents a masterpiece

of the creative mind on the threshold of a
new time and manifests, for the first time,
the theoretical basics for the development
of twentieth century architecture.
The structural possibilities of construction
using steel and glass were made subservient
to an extremely modern artistic design for
the first time.The exterior wall of the building
is only perceived as a transparent, space-
encompassing cover and artistically visual-
ised as a protruding, extensively glazed and
subtly sectionalised steel framework that
stands column-free around the building
corner.

(II) The nominated property graphically

documents a significant change in human
values over a period of time or in a
cultural area of the earth with respect to
development in architecture or
technology, large-scale sculpture, urban
development or landscape architecture.

Based on a comprehensively understood

functional analysis that incorporated psy-
chological and socially reforming consider-
ations, the Fagus building documents a
radical change in the working conditions of
the industrial society with respect to the
humanisation of the industrial world and
transparency of its operational sequences.
Art of building and design as essential
factors for the quality of human life were first
programmatically formulated for the Fagus
factory and presented to the following
Name and contact information of official generations.
local institution/agency
Niedersächsisches Ministerium für
Wissenschaft und Kultur
Oberste Denkmalschutzbehörde
Leibnizufer 9; D-30169 Hannover
Phone: 0049 (0)511/1200
Fax: 0049 (0)511/1202801
[email protected]
www.mwk.niedersachsen.de

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für

Denkmalpflege
Scharnhorststraße 1; D-30175 Hannover
Phone: 0049 (0)511/92550
Fax: 0049 (0)511/9255328
[email protected]
www.denkmalpflege.niedersachsen.de

IV
 General map

GENERAL MAP

© 2005

Fig. 1: 1. Nominated area of the Fagus factory with buffer zone, scale 1:5000
Total area nomination property
Nominated individual buildings
Boundary buffer zone
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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

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 Contents

CONTENTS

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

VIII
 Contents

1. Identification of the property 1

1. A Country 2
1. B State, province or region 3
1. C Name of property 4
1. D Geographic coordinates to the nearest second 6
1. E Maps and plans, showing the boundaries of the nominated property and buffer zone 7
1. F Area of nominated property (ha) and proposed buffer zone (ha) 8

2. Description 9
2. A Description of the property 11
2. B History and development 31

3. Justification for inscription 37

3. A Criteria under which inscription is proposed 39
3. B Proposed statement of outstanding universal value 45
3. C Comparative analysis 49
3. D Integrity and/or authenticity 55

4. State of conservation and factors affecting the property 57

4. A Present state of conservation 59
4. B Factors affecting the property 60
I Development pressures 60
II Environmental pressures 60
III Natural disasters and risk preparedness 60
IV Visitor/tourism pressures 60
V Number of inhabitants within the property and the buffer zone 60

5. Protection and management of the property 61

5. A Ownership 62
5. B Protective designation 62
5. C Means of implementing protective measures 62
5. D Existing plans related to municipality and region in which the proposed 63
Property is located
5. E Property management plan or other management system 64
5. F Sources and levels of finance 68
5. G Sources of expertise and training in conservation and management technique 69
5. H Visitor facilities and statistics 70
5. I Policies and programmes related to the presentation and promotion of the property 70
5. J Staffing levels (professional, technical, maintenance) 73

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

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 Contents

6. Monitoring 75
6. A Key indicators for measuring state of conservation 76
6. B Administrative arrangements for monitoring property 77
6. C Results of previous reporting exercises 77

7. Documentation 79
7. A Photographs, slides, image inventory and authorisation table 81
and other audiovisual materials
7. B Texts relating to protective designation, copies of property management plans 89
or documented management systems and extracts
of other plans relevant to the property
7. C Form and date of most recent records or inventory of property 92
7. D Address where inventory, records and archives are held 92
7. E Bibliography 92

8. Contact information of responsible authorities 95

8. A Preparer 97
8. B Official local institution/agency 97
8. C Other local institutions 97
8. D Official web address 97

9. Signature on behalf of the state party 99

Appendix 101
1. Short biographies
1. A Walter Gropius 102
1. B Carl Benscheidt 103

2. External reports
2. A Annemarie Jaeggi 105
2. B Dennis Sharp 115

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 1. Identification of the Property

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROPERTY

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

1. A Country
Federal Republic of Germany

Fig. 2: Central Europe with Germany

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 1. Identification of the Property

1. B State, province or region

Federal State of Lower Saxony

Fig. 3: Germany with Lower Saxony

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

1. C Name of property
Fagus factory, shoe last factory (Fagus-Grecon Greten GmbH & Co. KG)

Fig. 4: Location of the nominated property in Lower Saxony

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 1. Identification of the Property

Fig. 5: Schematic traffic plan

Fig. 6: Schematic site plan of Alfeld with parking spaces

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 7: Alfeld site map of 1:10,000 scale with the nominated property (dark red: main buildings of the Fagus factory; light red: total area of the
Fagus factory with extensions)

1. D Geographical coordinates to the nearest second

51° 59’ 01’’ degrees North

09° 48’ 40’’ degrees East

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 1. Identification of the Property

1. E Maps and plans

© 2005

Fig. 8: Nomination area of the Fagus factory with buffer zone, scale 1:5000
Total area nomination property, Nominated individual buildings, Boundary buffer zone

Fig. 9: Floor plan of the Fagus factory, scale 1:2,500 (dark red: main buildings of the Fagus factory; light red: nomination area, section
1: Sawmill, 2: Store house, 3: Drying house, 4: Workroom, 5: Main building, 6: Cutting die department, 7: Engine house, 8: Chip and coal bunker,
9: Rail-car scales, 10: Gatekeeper’s house with factory gate and boundary wall

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 10: Aerial view from the south-east (1993)

1. F Area of nominated property (ha) and proposed buffer zone (ha)

Nomination area of Fagus factory 1.88 ha

Buffer zone 9.29 ha

Total 11.17 ha

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 2. Description

2. DESCRIPTION

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 11: View from the west with main building, workroom and cutting die department (1997)

Fig. 12: View from the south-west (2009)

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 2. Description

2. A Description of property

Fig. 13: Aerial view from the south-west (around 1955)

Complete property:
The shoe last factory, known worldwide as an single-storied building, in which beech wood
epoch-making industrial building with the used for the shoe last production was cut up
brand name “Fagus” (fagus = Lat. beech), is a into small workpieces from long trunks and
multi-part, long complex of buildings, the roughly prepared for further processing. A five-
individual parts of which vary in their dimen- storied storehouse follows, which was used to
sions depending on their respective functions. store the wood blanks over a period of several
After the foundation stone was laid on 29 May years for drying. Next in line is the almost
1911, Walter Gropius and his fellow employee windowless drying house, where the material
Adolf Meyer designed the plant in three large was subject to another artificial dehumidifi-
construction phases and completed the cation process before it reached the five-axle
construction until 1925.With the uniform use of workroom for further processing. The three-
leather-yellow brickwork coupled with dark storied main building with its glass facades is
grey metal-framed glass surfaces, the complex built angularly around the workroom and
has been optically merged to form one unit. It accommodates the production, packing and
extends from the north-west to the south-east dispatch rooms as well as the administration
and lies in close proximity of the Hanover- and management offices on the top floors.
Göttingen railway line, which runs eastwards
along the factory siding. The site access is The engine house with the prominent smoke
located in the south at the Hannoversche stack, which is situated at the north-east of the
Straße, which is connected to the national drying house,constitutes the heart of the plant.
transport network via the Bundesstraße 3 (A- The chip and coal bunkers, which are used for
road 3), which is located close by. storing wood chips and a rail-lifting jack / rail-
car scales, are situated directly at the railway
Appropriate to the sequence of action in the line across the yard. These scales can be used
production process, the series of buildings to weigh railway cars.
starts with a sawmill in the north-west. It is a

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 14: Sawmill and storehouse, view from the north-west (2002)

Fig. 15: Sawmill, storehouse and drying house, view from the north-west (2002)

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 2. Description

Fig. 16: Perspective of the entire property from south-west, Gropius/Meyer (around 1914)

Out-of-line with the buildings of the shoe last monuments and converted into an engineering
production, the cutting die department is centre in 1990/91. Three adjacent rooms
located across the factory road, to the south- became one single open-plan office the three-
west of the main building. Blades for punching axle structure and the outer appearance of
out shoe leather were manufactured in a which were preserved nevertheless.
second line of production here.
The storehouse
The factory premises can be approached from Prepared workpieces passed a one-storied
the Hannoversche Straße. A paved road along connecting tract, in which wood pieces were
the boundary wall leads to the gatekeeper’s steamed and disinfected, and deposited in the
house and the iron factory gate. Some garages five-storied storehouse with cellar through.This
in the south of the factory yard, one of was is where the wood was stored and dried over a
converted into a transformer station in 1938 by period of several years. The tallest of all Fagus
Ernst Neufert, are part of the original building buildings and the largest space-enclosing
stock of the property. structure on a rectangular ground plan bears
four timber-framed storeys on the heavily
The sawmill stonewalled ground floor. The topmost storey
The complex starts in the north-west with the has been constructed in the form of a slightly
single-storied building of the sawmill the core receding attic and is closed by a long stretch of
part of which was constructed still in the first ventilation lanterns. While the ground floor
construction phase of 1911 and later expanded again exhibits the leather-yellow brickwork, all
several times up to 1950 safeguarding the the timber-framed structures above it are
architectonic language of forms. An additional revetted: three storeys with a plastered facing
room was first planned by Gropius in 1921 and framework and the receding fourth floor with
later in 1938 by Ernst Neufert,a fellow employee brown-beige sandstone slabs. To structure the
of Walter Gropius, who had worked with him in massive cube, the design plan of which reflects
the times of the Dessau Bauhaus. An increase classicistic form conceptions, fine, horizontal
of the base area of the sawmill by 200% joints in plastered surfaces as well as a slightly
resulted, a building measure which became pushed-up wall plate on the south-west slim
necessary due to the increased demand for front of the first three floors are used, besides
shoe last blanks. Like all other buildings of the some few openings in the wall. Separated by a
plant, this part with overhead lights and a band cornice, this motif is repeated in the
hipped roof exhibits the characteristic yellow brickwork of the ground floor as well, but here
brickwork, sharp-edged window apertures and it continues via the three axles of the adjacent
doorways as well as the dark grey painted cast drying house across a gate opening. Both
iron windows sectioned into horizontal building structures are thus meshed together
rectangles. With the changeover in shoe last with the simplest architectonic methods and
production from wood to plastic towards the their common function, the drying of wood, is
end of the sixties of the twentieth century, the emphasised (r.a. drying house).
building lost its original function. After a fire The basic design of the building as an industrial,
accident in the building in 1985, it was rebuilt half-timbered structure goes back to Eduard
according to the guidelines for historical Werner, who had drafted the initial plans of the

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 17: Cutting die department, workroom, store house, 1st building Fig. 18: Entire property from the north-east, 1st building section (1912)
section 1911 (1911)

Fig. 19: Extension of the store house, carpenters (1913/14)

Fig. 20: Extension of the drying house and store house, 2nd building Fig. 21: Store house, sawmill, 1st building section 1911 (1911)
section (1913/14)

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 2. Description

Fig. 22: South-western view with main building, workroom, drying house and store house (2002)

Fagus factory before Walter Gropius took over storeys of this structure, i.e. an area of more
the implementation planning in 1911. Initially than 3000 m2, is being used for permanent
only half its present size was built. Already in exhibition purposes, where the unequalled,
1913, the plant was expanded westwards. architectural-historical topic “Gropius and
Fagus” is presented to the public (r. 5I) in the
Today, the interiors of the building, which were form of an up-to-date presentation divided into
refurbished in 1998/99, display their unpanell- excellent thematic and museum-didactic
ed,partially renovated wooden structure on five sections,in addition to the product range of the
floors, which separates individual floors by company.
wooden beamed ceilings, which have been
constructed as split floors. All six floors can be The drying house
approached using the heavily bricked staircase After undergoing a natural drying process in the
and a lift from the construction period 1911/12, storehouse, the workpieces roughly prepared
both of which are situated at the centre of the for the turning lathes reached the drying house,
building. In the course of the restoration where they were subject to a secondary
process of the building, which was carried out artificial drying process. The drying house
under aspects of preservation of historical accommodated approximately 30 heated,
monuments,a second wooden staircase behind shaft-like drying chambers with a height of 9 m
the south-western narrow side was replaced by each.This equipment requires the height of the
a new one made of reinforced concrete. The building, whose exterior is depicted to be two-
today's use as an exhibition building with a storied, however, actually forms a single high
presentation area of 3000 m2 which made its room inside with a flat ceiling that has been
debut during the EXPO 2000 is thereby possible. designed as a cover girder floor. Ten out of the
It was possible to preserve or regain the former characteristic 15 exhaust air smoke
essential structures and architectonic features stacks could be preserved during the
for this new use of the building, the original restoration work of the brickwork and roof
function was dropped. Only the outer wall taken up in 1997. After extending the plan in
openings that were formerly constructed as 1912, the plant, the construction work of which
ventilation lamellas have now been paned for had started in 1911, received its present day
light and climatic reasons. Since 2005, five dimensions in 1913. Between 1974 and 2003,

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 23: A look inside the workroom (2003)

the machines used for preparing plastic last flooded with light, where the prepared work-
pieces were set up in the hall. Today, this room pieces are processed in precision instruments
serves as a modern laboratory for developing in numerous work steps till they are ready for
electronic measurement devices. Apart from dispatch. The single-storied space is directly
the overhead light, the building only receives connected to the drying house and is enclosed
daylight from the south-western front: four by the L-shaped main and administration
asymmetrically arranged, upright and rect- building, which has been built around it, in the
angular cast iron windows on the top floor,each south and east. After the reduced version of the
divided by a wide,bricked crossbeam,and three workroom was set up in 1911/12 based on the
axially designed windows on the ground floor plans of Eduard Werner, it was extended by
in the pushed-up wall plate with band cornice three axes towards the south-west in 1914 due
that runs across the storehouse (r.a. store- to the rapid increase in production to receive
house). The fourth opening axis is a door with its today's design. It is now a five-axis, large-
a loading ramp fitted in front of it and a double- capacity room on a column grid of approxi-
flight staircase. The building, perched wide on mately 5 x 7 metres, vaulted by partially paned
well-balanced horizontal bedding with a shed roofs. The wooden roof construction is
reddish-violet brick base, stands out due to five based on circular cast iron columns. While the
fine shadow gaps and the cornice of the flat exposed south-west facade of the workroom
roof. In 2007, the installation of some more was designed by Gropius as heavy brickwork
engineering workplaces became necessary in with diagonal windows in the first construction
the north-western part of the hall. This was stage of 1911/12, he took the expansion in 1914
done with maximum possible conservation of as an opportunity to let this facade end in a
the original character of the plant. The continuous wall of glass in the style of the large
necessary, new light openings were built only glass surfaces of the main building.The window
on the side facing the storehouse in a form that axes measuring 6 x 6 units stretch as a
was adapted to the original windows. continuous glass layer in front of the roof
columns. With the transparency of the work-
The workroom room of the Fagus factory, Gropius not only
The workroom is the heart of the shoe last implemented a revolutionary form of industrial
production. It has been conceived as a hall architecture, but also attempted to implement

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 2. Description

Fig. 24: Workroom, iron columns and framing (2002)

Fig. 25: Workroom, gate in the basement (2002) Fig. 26: View of the workroom and main building from the north-west
(2002)

Fig. 27: A look inside the workroom (2003)

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 28: View of the main building and workroom, Gropius/Meyer 1914
(section)

Fig. 29: Facade and window detail, Gropius/Meyer, probably 1911 Fig. 30: Main entrance, design drawing of the door, 1921/22

his often quoted demand that “palaces must be girders, the design of which has been kept to a
built for work”. In his client Carl Benscheidt, minimum, and which lends the building its
Gropius met an entrepreneur, who subscribed striking airiness and transparency. The fragile-
to these exact same modern views of the world looking construction is optically stabilised by a
of employment as business principles and who strong plinth and attic area,the uniform rhythm
was open-minded about the social-reformist of supporting pillars turned slightly inwards
ideas of Gropius. Several facility rooms, includ- and the heavily bricked, pylon-shaped struc-
ing showers and a bathroom, which could also tures on both ends of the L-shaped building,
be used by the members of the staff, were built from which the entrance area of a represen-
in the basement of the workroom.The building tative design is asymmetrically protruding to
was carefully restored in several stages the narrow side.
between the years 1989 and 1993.
The building achieved its present form in two
The main building construction phases that followed each other
The three-storied main and administration in a very short period of time. First came the
building, which runs around the workroom in wing facing the railway line. It was built in
an L-shape, is a clear expression of Gropius’s 1911/12 on a rectangular ground plan.The rapid
ideas of the architectonic designing of a increase in production necessitated an ex-
modern industrial facility. Almost all technical pansion of this building, as it did of the store-
books and articles on the history of architecture house, drying house and workroom. As a result,
introduce the main building of the Fagus the building was expanded south-westwards
factory as the first construction of modern and an entrance area was built at its end.
architecture. The facades of the building are
made completely of glass panels, which are The innovative features of this building, which
suspended between a carrying and supporting have proved to be a landmark in the history of
structure made from the brickwork and steel architecture, can be found in the development

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 2. Description

Fig. 31: General south-eastern view (railway side) (2009)

Fig. 32: Main building viewed from the south-west (2002)

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 33: Main stairway, paned corner, view from the west (1999) Fig. 34: Main building, entrance area, view from the south-west (1999)

Fig. 35: Main building, view from the south-west (1999) Fig. 36: Main entrance, view from the south-west (1999)

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 2. Description

Fig. 37: Main building, foyer, detail of opal glass bands (2002) Fig. 38: Main building, foyer, staircase (2002)

of architectonic forms from their function and

their design with reduced, but very expressive
artistic methods: a regular sequence of facade-
high glass panels,rhythmised with metal bands
that separate the floors.The column-free break
in window panels at the corners of the building
not only generates airiness and transparency,
but also breaks away from the traditional
principles of tectonics. This proved to be the
model approach for modern construction,
functionalism or the international style in the
following centuries. The pylons, which anchor
the building on both ends, are bricked – in
Fig. 39: Main building foyer, ceiling lamp, Bauhaus design of 1922 (2002)
striking contrast with the airiness of this
structure, which is in keeping with the form-
function principle – in the classicistic block-like
shape. Away from the centre and only two
storeys high, this structural element serves as
the portal on the south-west facade, with a
flight of steps in front of it,a deep levelled metal
door and a clinically sober factory clock at the
top of the portal facade.
The internal arrangement of the building is
linked to the production process on the ground
floor and has several accesses to the workroom.
Both the top floors have been designed for
office purposes. These offices open into long
Fig. 40: Main building, entrance, door detail (2002) corridors that run along the inner walls. The

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 41: Main building, staircase, hand rail 1st floor (2002) Fig. 42: Main building, staircase, handrails 1st floor (2002)

rooms had variable and easy-to-change ground tablet with the names of the factory employees
plans with wooden partitions and lightweight who perished in the war. Gropius used the
wooden window walls to the corridor. Varying proportions of this unimplemented human
space requirements have led to modifications, figure as basis for a modular measurement
the last of which was made in 1974, where the system to which all the forms of the room are
basic structure of the spatial program was subjected. This system programmatically de-
retained along with the maximum possible monstrates that man should be the measure of
original character of the structure at the time all things in the working world as well. While
of construction. A staircase in the angle the open-bolted ceiling lamp on a black opal
between both building arms, which has not glass plate dates back to the building plans in
been accentuated from the exterior, is used to 1922, the so-called Gropius handle on the
access the building from all floors. The main entrance door is a prototype manufactured in
staircase of impressive design with freely the Fagus factory itself. The smaller versions of
projecting flights of stairs and half-landings is this handle can be found on the floors of the
situated in the paned south-west corner of the building. The design of the entrance area
building and leads to the two top floors from a reflects the next stage of development of the
ground-level foyer. The artistic form of this initial design concept in 1911 through the
entrance area was initially hindered due to the Bauhaus and is associated with the form
outbreak of the First World War and could be conceptions of other innovative architects,
completed only in 1921/22.The white-plastered including those of the De Stijl movement (Oud
wall surfaces framed and divided by black glass and Rietveld), but also Le Corbusier, Mies van
bands are styled as per the archaic-antique der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. After the
ornamentation. A recess in the northern wall Gropius/Meyer design created in 1925, a living-
was conceived as the only place with artistic- room suite made of white varnished wood was
representative complexity. The initial intention manufactured for the anteroom on the top
was to place male figure in an archaic position floor. This suite, comprising a table, bench and
into this recess. After the First World War, two chairs, has been maintained at the same
however, it was filled up with an inscription place even today.

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 2. Description

Fig. 43: Engine house after restoration, interior view (around 1997) Fig. 44: Engine house, smoke stack, store house, view from the south-
east (2002)

Fig. 45: Engine house and main building, photo by Albert Renger-Patzsch 1928

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 46: Engine house from the north-east, photo by Edmund Lill (1922)

Relevant to its global significance as the first

industrial building of modern architecture,
elaborate restoration work of the building was
taken up between 1985 and 1996 in several
measures which were accompanied by the
state office for the preservation of monuments
and supported by expert colloquiums.

The engine house

The building application for a new engine house
was submitted in 1915, the second year of the
war, as per the plans of Walter Gropius. The
responsibility of construction management
and execution was undertaken by companies
in Alfeld. The single-storied new building that
connects to the eastern wing of the drying
house was built around the already existing
enclosure for a traction engine installed there.
However, this was demolished in 1916 after the
new building was completed. Like the main
building,this structure is also extensively paned
between plinth and attic area.In contrast to the
other buildings, the engine house is a steel-
frame construction, where the roof load is
absorbed by a thin iron support in the otherwise
free north-eastern corner. There is a medium-
sized, heavily bricked structure in the southern
part of the building, which supports the glass
Fig. 47: Smoke stack, brickwork renovation (1988)

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 2. Description

facade of the receding main structure. This

facade has been constructed as a window hinge
that runs around the corner. The building has a
steel roof construction and initially contained
fuelled steam boilers and later oil burners for
power generation till 1994 in the solidly walled-
in boiler room. The part of the building with
floor-to-ceiling glazing,i.e.the engine room,also
contained a power system from the company
Sulzer/Ludwigshafen till the year 1994.A trolley
lane for the transportation of heavy loads
crosses the room lengthwise. The room is Fig. 48: Rail-lifting jack/rail-car scales, chip and coal bunker, engine
house,smoke stack,storehouse,view from the south,photo by Edmund
designed with black and white quadratic tiles Lill (1924)
from Mettlach. The voids in the floor covering
visible after the removal of the generator were
filled up by newly produced replications of
these tiles.The turned pipe railing on both sides
of the entrance, the floor-to-ceiling glazing, the
black and white tiled floor and a black glass
cordon under the open roof construction ex-
press a creative will, which takes the architec-
ture of the engine house way beyond its
function. The entire building was restored part
by part between 1994 and 1997. The former
boiler room is now used as a storehouse and
the engine hall serves as a cafeteria and Fig. 49: Chip and coal bunker, view from the south-west (2002)
visitors’ cafe.

The smoke stack

The 50 m high smoke stack of the Fagus factory
was designed and erected in 1915, the second
year of the war. Like the other brickwork
structures of the factory, it is constructed with
yellow bricks on a circular ground plan with a
slightly tapering shaft on top. The smoke stack
is sheathed in a layer that bricks up to the
height of the building. This brickwork exhibits
equidistant, horizontal bands made of “choco-
late coloured iron clinkers” and thus fits in well
in the graphic frame of reference of horizontal
shadow gaps of the remaining structures. A
crown of thin, rib-shaped supports carries the Fig. 50: Rail-lifting jack, rail-car scales, view from the north-west (2002)
cylinder-shaped fire water container that is
projected to half its height. Like the load-
bearing supports, it is also sheathed in iron
clinkers.The inner core of the smoke stack that
is structured in horizontal stripes towers steep
above the water container.The smoke stack was
erected at the same time as the engine house.
In the years before erection, the power supply
to the factory came from a traction engine, for
which a low metal pipe sufficed as smoke stack.
Since 1975, the water tank of the smoke stack
has been serving as an advertising medium: on
all four sides, it exhibits the brand name, which
was introduced in 1912 and has been
inseparably associated with the factory since
Fig. 51: Rail-lifting jack, rail-car scales, railway side, window front (2002)

25
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 52: Sectional drawing of chip and coal bunker, Gropius/Meyer, 1921

then. The lettering has been drafted by Max example brochures and price lists as well as
Hertwig (1881-1975),one of the first commercial sheets of writing paper and advertisements.
artists in Germany who were trained in a Max Hertwig was introduced to company head
college (Kunstgewerbeschule Düsseldorf, 1902- Karl Benscheidt jr. by Walter Gropius. Gropius
1906).Till 1920, Hertwig looked after the design and Hertwig had worked together in the office
of all printed matter published by Fagus, for of Peter Behrens between 1908 and 1910.

The smoke stack, along with the water

container, was restored in the years 1987/88.

The chip and coal bunker

The chip and coal bunker situated very close to
the factory railway siding was planned and set
up by Gropius’ office in 1911 and extended by
Gropius’ architecture firm in 1923/24, by which
time it was already known as the Staatliche
Bauhaus, Weimar. The original, considerably
smaller building, with an attic area windowed
similarly to the storehouse, was built around on
three sides and provided with a long loading
Fig. 53: In the cutting die department (1912) ramp on the railway side for loading and
unloading of goods wagons and a smaller one
on the side of the factory for the transport of
heavy goods vehicles. The single-storied
construction,which was a mixture of reinforced
concrete and brickwork, is characterised by a
projected, concrete flat roof of varying breadth,
which is shouldered by thin concrete columns
in the widely open ramp areas. Yellow
brickwork, red clinker base and thin iron-
framed window bands establish the material
and form reference to the entire plant. The
building witnessed concrete refurbishment in
1997.Today,its rooms are being used for storage
and workshop purposes.
Fig. 54: Cutting die department, office (2003)

26
 2. Description

Fig. 56: Entrance, gate (2002)

Fig. 55: View of the cutting die department from the north-east (2002) Fig. 57: Boundary wall at the entrance, photo by Albert Renger-Patzsch
(1928)

The rail-lifting jack / rail-car scales Gropius for the Fagus factory in the smallest of
Construction plans for the building situated to spaces. An essential component of the entire
the south of the chip and coal bunker and Fagus factory that had become inoperable in
factory siding were drafted by Walter Gropius the meantime, this building was repaired and
in 1921, when he had already become the renovated in 1991/92.
director of the Staatliche Bauhaus in Weimar.
The building has only one room with weighing The cutting die department
and winching apparatus, which was used to In addition to the production of shoe lasts, a
position rail-cars on the adjoining siding and second line of business, i.e. the manufacturing
weigh them. The form, material and colour of cutting dies, was incorporated in the Fagus
elements, which lend the Fagus factory its factory. It was accommodated in a separate
typical looks, are repeated on this small object building to the south of the factory. Sectional
as well: yellow brickwork with column-free steel blades for leather processing were
glazing at both corners, red clinker base and a manufactured in this single-storied, two-span
flat roof that juts out slightly in form of a walled building. The layout and arrangement of the
brick-on-end course on a band cornice. Two building were submitted to the building
narrow iron beams support the roof on both authority according to the plans of Eduard
sides of the central window element on the Werner in 1911. However in the same year, the
railway side. The entrance door, which is plans of the facades were revised by Walter
panelled in four rectangles and which takes the Gropius’ office and adapted to the exterior
shape of the window partitions, is located at appearance of the remainder of the factory.The
the centre of the heavily bricked and otherwise building contains a forge, the waste gas from
closed wall to the factory yard. This miniature which is drawn off by a 20 m high smoke stack.
building is the youngest and the last of all A locksmith’s shop and a hardening room,
buildings, the plans of which were personally which were extended to their present form by
signed by Walter Gropius. Though a miniature, Gropius in 1914, were attached to this building.
it shows all design characteristics developed by The complex, planned by Eduard Werner in its

27
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 58: Design drawing and perspective of entrance area, Gropius/Meyer (1924)

Fig. 59: Entrance, factory gate, photo by Albert Renger-Patzsch (1928)

28
 2. Description

Fig. 60: Entrance with gatekeeper’s house, view from the south-east (2002)

cubature as a two-span hall under two parallel

double pitch roofs as a conventional industrial
facility, was adapted to the aesthetic central
themes of the entire design in 1911 when it
came to the external appearance: large cast
iron windows divided into three parts by
bricked posts rhythmise the long and stretched
building together with a rigid rectangular sur-
face sectioning as a result of flat cornice and
wall projections. Two of the window compart-
ments have been extended into entrances on
the western side. Like in the sawmill, store-
house and drying house, the design principles
Fig. 61: Gatekeeper’s house, south-eastern corner with gate system
of the classicistic architecture for industrial (2002)
buildings have been applied here.

With the closedown of the cutting die

production in the year 1974, the building was
used for a new function. Conference rooms and
exhibition spaces were fitted such that the
conceptual and constructive characteristics of
the Gropius design were conserved even in the
cast iron columns. Refurbishment work of the
roof was undertaken in 1995 and 1996, where
most of the roof tiles for the new roofing were
handpicked from the original building of 1911
and reused. The year 1997 saw the
refurbishment of the external brickwork. Fig. 62: Boundary wall, entrance (2003)

29
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Gatekeeper’s house with the iron factory

gate and boundary wall
After a makeshift gatekeeper’s house had been view of the road. Even this building is character-
built in 1917 during the First World War, the ised by a window hinge running around the
building application for the today's building corners of the building with a half-glazed
was filed in 1924. This last building of the entrance next to it. Another window opening in
complex was completed in 1925. The boundary a bevelled corner of the building gives a view
wall running from the gatekeeper’s house to to the Hannoversche Straße. The automatic
the Hannoversche Straße was built on the basis gate system, also designed by the Gropius
of the same application. It ends with a dome architecture firm, consists of one light appear-
and exhibits Bauhaus-typical boxlights at both ing framework with clearly proportioned
its ends.The yellow bricks are visually formative sequences of thick and thin vertical bars and a
for both these structures as well. The single- base of horizontal rectangles. With the con-
storied gatekeeper’s house is covered with a struction of such small structures, which were
projecting concrete slab which spans the foot- completed by the Gropius architecture firm
path and which is supported by two wall under the supervision of Ernst Neufert, the
columns till the approach road.The design plan Fagus factory complex attained its final
shows a vertical concrete slab in this place, consolidation and present appearance. The
which along with the projecting roof tile, is concrete roof, curved wall, gate system and the
reminiscent of the design ideas with which the door to the gatekeeper’s house were
Dutch group of artists De Stijl had experiment- refurbished within the scope of the repair work
ed. The design seems to have been especially undertaken in 1997. At the same time, replicas
influenced by Gerrit Rietveld and his free of the boxlights used in a Bauhaus product in
combinations of wall and ceiling surfaces, 1923-25 were installed in the approach area.
which were combined to form variable spatial This consummated and revived the stylistic
sculptures. It was only after 1950 that the homogeneity of the approach road of the
vertical shear wall was replaced by the two factory.
pillars, since it obstructed the gatekeeper’s

30
 2. Description

2. B History and development

The shoe last and cutting die factory was the plant. He could only provide for a closer
founded under the name of “Fagus-Werk GmbH meshing of individual parts of the building, as
Alfeld” in 1911 and later, after the First World for example the sawmill, with the rest of the
War, renamed to “Fagus-Werk Carl Benscheidt buildings to achieve a more compact grouping
OHG”. The founder, Carl Benscheidt (1858-1947), in the entire complex. A separate wing for the
commissioned the architect Walter Gropius cutting die department as a separate line of
(1883-1969) in cooperation with Adolf Meyer production with forge, smoke stack, locksmith's
(1881-1929) to build a uniformly designed group shop and a hardening and grinding shop, was
of buildings that were completed in three built to the south of the main plant.The building
construction phases between the years 1911 sequence,as it exists still today,was determined
and 1925 on the basis of the plans of the by the production action line specified in the
Hanover architect Eduard Werner. The assign- manufacturing process. In April 1911, however,
ment also included interior designing with the Benscheidt had decided first to construct a
styling of doors, metal fittings, lighting and smaller main building and drying house to cut
furnishings. The project planning of the new down costs: the size of the storehouse was thus
factory facility was well under way when Walter reduced by half, the workroom was built with
Gropius and Carl Benscheidt decided to work just two axles and the main building just had
together.Eduard Werner,an experienced,plann- the stretched wing facing the railway. This was
ing industrial architect, who had been working how the plant looked in 1912, with its cutting
on the plans since October 1910, had already die department,a small boiler room and the chip
submitted his drafts to the local building bunker at the site near the railway line. The
authority on 29th April 1911.Hence,Gropius had rapidly flourishing business necessitated the
no influence on the ground plan disposition of second construction phase, planned exclusively

Fig. 63: Site plan, 1st building section (1911)

31
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 64: Floor plan, 1st building section (1911)

Fig. 65: Floor plan of the entire property

32
 2. Description

Fig. 66: Entire property from the south, 1st building section (1912) Fig. 67: Entire property from the south-west, 1st building section (1912)

Fig. 68: Extension of the workroom, 2nd building section (1913/14) Fig. 69: Main building, chip and coal bunker, engine house, 1st building
section (1912)

by Walter Gropius,as early as in 1914.As a result, ing industry were manufactured in a hall built
the drying house and storehouse were extend- away from the old buildings. This hall, however,
ed to double their original sizes, the workroom is not part of the properties for which the
was increased by three axles and the southward nomination is applied.The company came to be
office wing was extended by six axles. The known as “Fagus-GreCon” since then. Refurbish-
projection in the entrance hall and the staircase ment of the exterior design, which had become
at the back were then built in the column-free, an urgent necessity, came through from 1982,
paned southeast corner. The sawmill was also after the interiors of the Fagus main building
extended by constructing a northwest annexe had been adapted to the changed organisatio-
also in 1914. In 1915/16, a water reservoir was nal structure of the plant through careful
attached to the smoke stack. At the same time, renovation in the 1970s. Above all, the large
the new engine house came into being as well. window panels of the main building were
It enclosed the already existing boiler room, damaged irreparably due to corrosion and had
which was demolished after the new building to be replaced. Owing to climatic reasons,
was finished. The year 1912 witnessed the window panels on the facade of workrooms
construction of the rail-lifting jack and rail-car required insulation glazing to retain the original
scales and in 1923/24 the addition of a coal use.
bunker to the chip house followed. The gate-
keeper’s house with a boundary wall that ex- Restored window elements with the original
tended up to the street was the last building to single glazing and metal fittings were reinstall-
be erected on the site in 1924/25. Ernst Neufert, ed in the hallway. The roofs and brickwork of
who had worked with Walter Gropius during the almost all buildings were renovated in several
construction of the Bauhaus in Dessau, made stages until 1999. Due to the extreme impor-
changes in the exterior features of the plant in tance of the property, financial means for the
1938 and extended the sawmill with adaptation preservation of the Fagus complex were pro-
to the style a second time. In 1974, a new pro- vided by the Federal Republic of Germany, the
duction branch was added to the plant under a German Foundation for Monument Protection
new management.Machines for the woodwork- and the European Community,besides company

33
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 70: Main building, roof renovation (1985) Fig. 71: Storehouse during restoration (1999)

Fig. 72: Storehouse during restoration (1999) Fig. 73: Main building, refitting of window elements (1989)

Fig. 74: Main building during the restoration (1987) Fig. 75: Main building, refitting of window elements (1989)

34
 2. Description

Fig. 76: Engine house, extension of the oil burner system (1994)

Fig. 77: Main building, roof renovation (1985) Fig. 78: Main building, restoration of the entrance area (1995)

and state aids. The Fagus factory presented an from 2002 meeting herewith the increasing
exhibition project in the storehouse for the interest of the public and international architect-
EXPO 2000 world fair in Hanover under the EXPO ure experts in the Fagus building complex. The
theme "Humankind - Nature - Technology" which first section that was inaugurated in 2003
showed tradition and innovation under the presents the company history, the story of the
suspense arc and the restoration history of the two protagonists Walter Gropius and Carl
Fagus factory under the aspect of sustainability, Benscheidt as well as the construction and
took up the shoe lasts and the shoe technology restoration history in a modern, multi-media
as well as wood as raw material and its presentation to the visitors. Since 2005, the five-
processing,but also introduced modern derived storied storehouse is being used as exhibition
timber products and environmental technolo- building and attracts about 10,000 visitors a year.
gies to the visitors. The idea of a regular The project was financed by means of the state
exhibition in the storehouse was conceived of Lower Saxony and Fagus-GreCon.

35
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

36
 3. Justification for inscription

3. JUSTIFICATION FOR INSCRIPTION

37
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 79: Application letter by Walter Gropius to Carl Benscheidt, 1910

38
 3. Justification for inscription

3. A Criteria under which inscription is proposed

Fig. 80: View from the railway side and view from the south-east, design drawing Gropius (1911)

(I) The nominated plant is a chef d'oeuvre of soon as one visits the site and perceives it as a
the human creative power. document of its times. Here, the somewhat
From 1911, Walter Gropius laid the foundations acheronian and monumental brick architecture
of modern architecture with the Fagus factory. of contemporary industrial plants in the near
Especially the office building of this complex proximity gave way to a completely new
industrial plant offered the then 27 year old language of form. The industrial design is
architect the opportunity to realise his re- transformed into a coherent art form using
volutionary visions of modern architecture artistic methods, without disclaiming the place
through a project of substantial scope. For the of industrial production. His academic training
first time ever, Gropius coaxed steel and glass, and orientation to space and design values of
which had already proved instrumental in the German Classicism urged Gropius to make
tremendous engineering feats in the nine- adequate use of the new materials steel and
teenth century, into a radically new form. In glass in combination with wood and brickwork.
contrast to the iron and glass constructions that The result reflects disengagement from eclectic
featured in many civil engineering structures of style adaptations, modern material aesthetics
the nineteenth century, Gropius developed and concentration on a three-dimensional
tectonically conceived structures and spaces, world of ideas of prospective users and re-
which, characterised by precision, rigour and cipients. Industrial architecture is raised to be
compactness, lead modern architecture into a work of art, without following the viewing
the twentieth century. habits of academic aesthetics: “The stroke of
genius of young Gropius surpasses the
The structural possibilities of construction architectonic boldness and artistic innovation
using steel and glass were made subservient to of almost all constructions before the First
an extremely modern artistic design for the first World War and its significance for all the
time. The exterior wall of the building is architecture in the twentieth century cannot be
perceived as a transparent, space-encompass- estimated” (Nerdinger, 1985, Pg. 36).
ing cover and artistically visualised through a
superior, extensively glazed and subtly With complex interweaving of aesthetic,
sectionalised steel framework that stands psychological, social and technical functional
column-free around the building corner. aspects, the Fagus factory represents a
masterpiece of the creative mind on the
Merely rating the Fagus factory as an initial threshold of a new time and manifests, for the
version of its many, aesthetically excessive re- first time, the theoretical basics for the
productions and as a timeless work of art of development of twentieth century architec-
international standing would not do justice to ture.
its artistic significance. The claim to distinction
of this piece of architecture gets validated as

39
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 81: Engine house, entrance (2002)

40
 3. Justification for inscription

Fig. 82: Engine house, photo by Edmund Lill (1922)

(II) The nominated plant graphically

documents a significant change in human
values over a period of time or in one
cultural part of the earth with respect to
development in architecture or technology,
large-scale structures, urban development or
landscape architecture.
Based on a comprehensively understood func-
tional analysis that incorporated psychological
and socially reforming considerations, Gropius
developed an aesthetic program for the Fagus
factory, which cumulated in his requirement to
“build palaces for work”. The interplay of all the
creative forces acting on the factory’s construc-
tion, which later came to be taught system-
atically in Bauhaus, took roots in the main
building of the Fagus factory.Its integrative and
detailed styling substantiates Gropius’ ability
to lend an appropriate artistic expression, the
fundamental principles of which have retained
their significance in different variations even
today, to the Modern Era using new technical
and constructive prerogatives.

The Fagus factory is not just a timeless ex-

pression of the Central European industrial
society at the outset of the twentieth century.
It is, so to speak, the reaction of all sections of Fig. 83: Main staircase, south-east corner (1998)

41
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 84: Main building, south-west corner, detail with staircase (around 1990)

42
 3. Justification for inscription

Fig. 85: Main staircase, 3rd floor, photo by Albert Renger-Patzsch (1928)

the civil society in pre-war Germany to the social From this point of view, the Fagus factory is not
revolutions of that time. The transition from an just an unparalleled artistic achievement; it also
agricultural to an industrial society that documents a radical change in the working
occurred a few decades back was accompanied conditions of the industrial society with respect
by a growing culture critique. Considering the to the humanisation of the industrial world and
increasing social unrest in an autocratic social transparency of its operational sequences.
structure that was in dire need of reform, large Architecture and design as essential factors for
sections of the European educated classes the quality of human life were first pro-
pinned their hopes on the aesthetic education grammatically formulated for the Fagus factory
and reformed involvement of workers in the and presented to the following generations.
prospering development of industrial produc-
tion.Against this backdrop,the quasi bright and
clean production building not only symbolises
the cultural and economic superiority of the
bourgeois manufacturer, but also the humani-
sation of the industrial world in an unprece-
dented magnitude.

43
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 86: Main building with dispatch annexe, 1st construction phase (1911/12)

Fig. 87: View of office floor, photo by Edmund Lill around 1922

44
 3. Justification for inscription

3. B Proposed statement of outstanding universal value

The year 1910 is often considered to be the

reference year of the onset of modern archi-
tecture. It coincides with the proposal of the
then twenty-seven year old Berlin architect
Walter Gropius to Carl Benscheidt, the manu-
facturer of shoe lasts in Alfeld, to design the
new building of an industrial plant. Benscheidt
had recently learnt about the latest develop-
ments in the field of shoe last fabrication when
on a fact-finding tour to USA and had returned
to Germany with the vision of building his new
factory in Alfeld taking the most modern
aspects into account. This not only included
business aspects such as rational production
flow and the use of inexpensive building mater-
ial, but also performance-enhancing working
conditions in modern, objective architecture.
With its artistic appearance worked out to the
last detail, Benscheidt wanted the new factory
building to stir commercial appeal for the
product, which is distinguished by extreme
manufacturing precision, and also had the
intention to distinctly express the inner logic of Fig. 88: Letter by Walter Gropius to Karl Benscheidt (1966)
the manufacturing process. This caused Carl
Benscheidt to implement the already existing
conventional drafts of Eduard Werner and have
them revised by the young Walter Gropius and
his colleague Adolf Meyer. Gropius could
recommend himself to Benscheidt through his
work with Peter Behrens in Berlin and his much
noticed factory buildings for AEG.Agreement in
the architectonic and creative objectives of the
property developer and architect formed the
basis of their herewith starting extremely
successful cooperation that resulted in 1911 in
Alfeld in the creation of an epoch making
industrial complex the design principles of
which ushered in a new period of architectural
style. The design concepts underlying this
construction had a decisive influence on the
development of twentieth century architecture
not only in Germany and Europe but around the
globe.The artistic ideas convincingly introduced
in the Fagus factory and then theoretically and
practically taught in the Bauhaus were brought
to England and USA by Gropius and developed
into decisive values for the generation of the
international style. Its global significance as an
outstanding artistic achievement and as the
first industrial construction of modern era is
unequalled and incomparable. Its influence as
an exemplary draft and initial construction of
an architectural epoch is still unimpaired. Fig. 89: Letter by Walter Gropius to Carl Benscheidt (1938)

45
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 90: Main building, south-eastern staircase, box light (2002) Fig. 91: Engine house, gas pipe railing (2002)

The design concept of the Fagus factory stemm- With the construction of the Fagus factory,
ed from sources that go way beyond the purely Gropius achieved a breakthrough to new, mo-
architectonic urge to create. For the first time dern art of construction that went hand in hand
in the history of industrial architecture, a draft with the age of technology. The Fagus factory
was based on the analysis of human needs.The itself is a manifestation of the conquest of
poor working conditions of the advanced meaningless adaptations of style, which were
industrial age had lead to social exclusions in brought forward by nineteenth century architect-
Europe at the beginning of the twentieth ure in innumerable variations: while some of the
century and needed reform. Until that time, buildings such as the sawmill,storehouse,drying
industrial work was carried out in poorly lit and house as well as the cutting die depart-ment still
ventilated spaces purely for reasons of econ- show the subdued, purged classicism in their
omy. The architecture of these rooms lacked architecture, a radical break from the
artistic inspiration and constituted forms that conventional design practice that is evident in
were hackneyed and inappropriate. Gropius the core buildings, workroom, engine house and
followed a strict process of abstraction,both for particularly the three-storied main and office
the overall architectural form as well as for the building, represents an idea of architecture that
details, when designing the Fagus factoring develops space and form from function, takes
reducing all architectonic structures to primary into account the reformed light, air and visibility
and initial shapes. With the Fagus factory, requirements of its users and makes use of the
Walter Gropius succeeded in freeing the art of new technical possibilities of construction with
architecture from the rigid fetters of industrially pre-produced quality glass and steel.
convention and showing development Glass, which is actually an unsubstantial materi-
possibilities for the future, taking into al, becomes a formative building material and
consideration the basic needs of human living mode of expression of architecture. The Fagus
conditions for man in the industrial world as factory is a monument of experimenting with
well. It builds the prelude to a development, modern building technologies and implements
which was interrupted by the First World War, the creative principles of functionalism for the
but reached final formulation with the first time. In the Fagus factory, the principle of
construction of the Weimar Bauhaus in 1919 “form follows function”,which was often trivialis-
and its continuation in Dessau since 1925. ed later, does not come out as rigid automatism

46
 3. Justification for inscription

Fig. 92: Banisters in engine house, design drawing (1919) Fig. 93: Main building, main staircase, 1st floor, door detail (2002)

but as artistic and perfect in form. Everything in new, functional forms, but also the equipage
that was functionally dispensable was excluded such as lamps and furnishings and all the graphic
and a piece of architecture of a higher form of designs are uncompromisingly modern and give
originality with a subtle attraction of the details expression to an early form of corporate identity.
which are combined with technically compelling The Fagus factory is representative of new
necessities and finely balanced moods came into intellectual movements in keeping with practical
being. Reduction of the means of expression – requirements and thus the most revolutionary
such as building all windows of one basic size architectonic achievement before the First
and uniform use of simple yellow bricks – gave World War. Its design principles were accepted
birth to new modern aesthetics, which is ex- at an early stage and transferred from industrial
pressed by coherent proportions, geometrical building to other construction assignments. In
forms and the abandonment of applied orna- all important languages of the world, the
mentation.The Fagus factory is not an ostensibly specialised literature for architectural history
representative piece of architecture; it convinces cites the Fagus factory as one of the first
aesthetically with its precision and consistent construction projects of the Modern Era. As
proportions and conveys a democratic value monument with its original function and largely
system through its open, transparent character. preserved, exemplarily restored building fabric,
Its revolutionary poise was noticed at an early it conveys its epoch-making values with
stage and,as early as after the completion of the unprecedented authenticity. Its openness and
first construction phase in 1913, the Fagus clarity fascinate even today and the fundament-
factory found mention and first recognition in al ideas behind its development process have
specialised literature as an exemplary industrial spread across the globe as cultural heritage of
building. However, modern design does not the twentieth century.
concentrate on architecture alone. Analogous to
the principles of the Werkbund to which Gropius
made a large contribution, it encompasses all
areas of presentation of the company as a
medium of expression for innovation and
quality: When it comes to the interiors,
partitioning, flights and banisters are designed

47
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 94: Main building, south-east corner, photo by Albert Renger-Patzsch (1928)

48
 3. Justification for inscription

3. C Comparative analysis

Fig. 95: AEG turbine hall, Berlin. Architect: Peter Behrens (1908-1909)

The epoch-making importance of the Fagus bearing function of the outer wall. With the
factory is mainly based on the uniqueness of its pulled-up, box-shaped facade components
main building. About 1911, there existed not a made of steel and glass, Gropius made use of a
single architecture either in Europe or any- construction element, which, like a curtain wall,
where around the globe, in which the new enabled the glazing of corners for the first time
possibilities of construction with steel and glass ever. The paned corner allowed the creation of
were combined to an equally visionary archi- arris crystalline or even organically rounded
tectural form. structures, however at any rate glass dominat-
ed structure parts with transparent appear-
With distinct, sharply cut construction cubes ance. Since the twenties of the last century, this
and purely functionally designed facades, facade component started being used more
which refused to adopt the style of historical often and had influenced the structures of the
role models, Gropius broke away from the international style. Multi-storied buildings with
aesthetic limits of the architectural taste of his a load-bearing inner skeleton construction
times in a way that was previously unheard of. were preferred. Initially, however, the Fagus
He freed architecture from the constraint to factory remained the peerless example of the
satisfy the need for the perception of seeming new building style. Other reform-oriented
solidity and stability. In contrast to the AEG- architects of that time, such as Peter Behrens
Turbinenfabrik in Berlin for instance, the monu- and Hermann Muthesius, made use of a
mental main gable of which disclaims the load- classicistic form-oriented architectural lan-
bearing steel arc-type construction with its guage for the industrial buildings they built
broad and huge corner pylon and a drumlike before the First World War. However, due to the
tympanum,the paned corner of the main Fagus outbreak of the First World War, neither the
building explicitly exhibits the non-load- Fagus factory nor the buildings designed by

49
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 96: United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Beverly, Massachusetts, Boston. Architect: Ernest L. Ransome (1903-1905)

Gropius for the exhibition of the German Work construction material for functional civil en-
Federation in 1914 in Cologne managed to have gineering works (François Hennebique in
an immediate impact.It was only as teacher and France, Ernest L. Ransome and Albert Kahn in
director of the Bauhaus that Gropius found it USA) or for monumental architectures with
possible to pass on his ideas in the twenties artistic merit, as Peter Behrens, Hans Poelzig
and to continue on the path he had paved in and Hermann Muthesius, who, like Walter
Alfeld after the construction of the Bauhaus Gropius, strived to achieve the ideal of work
main building in Dessau in 1925. compound by merging “Usefulness and Beauty”.

With the Fagus building Walter Gropius built a However, none of these designs equalled the
style creating artwork, the elements of which pioneering pithiness of Gropius’s Fagus design,
are actually gained from different sources but where the constructive framework was
generate a completely new overall idea of archi- suppressed behind the façade for the first time
tecture that is unique compared to contem- ever, where space demarcation was designed
poraneous or earlier drafts and buildings. as a layer of glass skin around the corners and
where a crystal-clear cubature determined the
Although individual constructive prerequisites, character of the building.The non load-bearing
which facilitated the new building style of the glass curtain wall as a medium of expression
twentieth century – such as the glazed steel of modern artistic design is pre-formulated
skeleton construction and reinforced concrete here; it is a principle design, which since then
skeleton construction – were developed since became and integral part of architecture and
the mid-19th century, it was only due to Walter was continually perfected in the following
Gropius and his Fagus factory that architecture decades.
could outgrow the historicising world of forms
and develop at a completely different level. Since his collaboration with the office of Peter
Toward the end of the 19th century, other Behrens (1908-1910), with whom Gropius had
protagonists of modern industrial construction worked on the new buildings for AEG in Berlin,
used the constructive possibilities of the new the then 27 year old architect intensively dealt

50
 3. Justification for inscription

Fig. 97: Steiff GmbH, Giengen/Brenz, factory building, 1904-1908 (photo around 1920)

with the subject of industrial construction as a of the company and his architect, its direct
construction project,the core duty of which was influences on the Fagus factory in Alfeld can
to demonstrate modernity in an industrial only be noted in economic and production-
society. Particularly in the America of those technical aspects and not in the architecture,
times, Gropius looked for and found modern as the unconditional objectivity was the only
industrial buildings, photographs of which he meeting point of the industrial buildings in
collected and presented as models in lectures America at that time, which were characterised
and magazine articles. These industrial by an austere, functional modernity and the
buildings particularly included the monumen- artistic merit and architecture-theoretic prere-
tal concrete grain storehouses that were built quisites of the Fagus factory. About 1910,
in America around this time and examples of concrete, steel and glass had established
“daylight factories”, out of which only the huge themselves as building materials for industrial
factory complex of the “United Shoe Machinery constructions in America as well as in Europe
Corporation” in Beverly/Massachusetts that and had found remarkable architectonic
was constructed in 1903-1905 should be solutions in many individual elements, which
mentioned here. This design of Ernest L. reappear in the Fagus factory: if one wanted to
Ransome was considered to be the largest characterise the glass fronts of the Fagus
industrial building made out of concrete in the factory as curtain walls, as Gropius later did,
world and the most exemplary factory of his they could be found in Berlin, fully developed
times.Entrepreneur Carl Benscheidt too shared in the otherwise historically ornate facade of
a close relationship with America: In the course the Tietz departmental store (Bernhard Sehring
of the foundation of his company in 1910, he 1899-1900).The architectonically lowbrow glass
won the support of the United Shoe Machinery buildings of the Steiff factories in Giengen/
Corporation in Boston as partner and more Brenz constructed between 1904 and 1908, in
importantly, as financial backer. Founding the which a dual-wall glass skin with intermediate
Fagus GmbH would never have been possible steel construction lights up the workrooms at
without its contribution. Despite the close low power consumption and ventilates them,
association with America of both, the founder also demonstrate a pragmatic and modern

51
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 98: Papierhaus, Berlin. Architect: Bruno Schmitz (1906) Fig. 99: Warenhaus Tietz, Berlin. Architects: Bernhard Sehring and L.
Lachmann (1899-1900)

Fig. 100: Werdermühle, Wroclaw (Silesia). Architect: Hans Poelzig (1906-1908)

52
 3. Justification for inscription

handling of the building material glass. The

exten-sive, box-shaped steel and glass window
rows in the Fagus factory have a similar form –
spanning several floors and with steel revet-
ment in the parapet area – in the construction
of office and branch buildings such as the
“Papierhaus” in Berlin constructed in 1906 by
Bruno Schmitz. As is evident in his design for
the Werder-Mühle in Breslau, Hans Poelzig too
made use of extensive, box-shaped glazing in
1906, which spanned several floors and which
was placed in front of the structures that
otherwise appeared extremely massive and Fig. 101: AEG turbine hall, Berlin. Architect: Peter Behrens, 1908-1909
closed. If it was primarily used for dissolving (2003)
space demarcations in the engineering architect-
ure of the 19th century, reformers such as
Poelzig, Behrens and Gropius intended to use
glass, an unsubstantial material by itself,
architectonically, i.e. for shaping usable and
functional spaces and structures, especially for
places where brightness and light are required.
An example of this is Gropius`s own design for
a new hospital in Alfeld in 1912, where the
operation theatre exhibits such extensively
paned space demarcations.

However, a comparison with the turbine hall

constructed by Peter Behrens in 1908/09 for the Fig. 102: AEG turbine hall, Berlin. Architect: Peter Behrens, 1908-1909
(2003)
AEG in Berlin will throw more light on the
genesis of the Fagus factory. During his time in
the office of Behrens (June 1908 to March 1910),
Walter Gropius was closely involved in the
development process of this gigantic steel arch
construction (designed between autumn 1908
and spring 1909). After the initial identification
with the renowned architect, Gropius experi-
enced a phase of critical self-confrontation. As
Gropius later narrated,the crucial factor for this
was the front part of the turbine hall, which
Gropius regarded as constructively artificial and
aesthetically manipulated. One could actually
view the main building of the Fagus factory as
an architectural rectification of the turbine hall,
in which Gropius takes an antithetic stand to
Behrens. In a reversal process, Gropius corrects
the approach of the teacher: while Behrens
places supports vertically on the longitudinal
side and tilts the intermediate window areas,
Gropius banks the pillars and fixes the glass
skin that spans several floors perpendicular to
the lintel. The supports that have been bent
inwards correspond to the tilted windows in
Behrens design and take a negative shape.They
decline behind the window and this gives rise
to the impression of a continuous glass body
for the first time in the history of architecture,
where the supports only lend rhythm.Two glass Fig. 103: AEG turbine hall, Berlin. Architect: Peter Behrens, 1908-1909
(2003)

53
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 104: AEG turbine hall, Berlin. Architect: Peter Behrens, 1908-1909 (2003)

walls band together with the body through the architects of the De Stijl in Holland, Mies van
glass corner. The fiction of a curtain wall is der Rohe and Le Corbusier, acted as dissemi-
generated, which surrounds the building from nators here.
all sides. Monumentality and outward display
of size, as seen in Behrens’s turbine hall, The Fagus factory was listed in the specialised
especially in the concrete corner pylons and the literature for architectural history in 1914,found
overlying bulky tympanum, do not correspond expression in the artistic architecture and
to the ideas of truly large structures of “Artist- industrial photography (Edmund Lill, 1874-1958
architect” Gropius. He follows his own defini- and Albert Renger-Patzsch, 1897-1966) in the
tion, which he has explained in detailed in his twenties and has been mentioned in every
writings: the Fagus factory in Alfeld does not architectural-historical publication for Modern
seek to convince through its appearance, but Architecture as a landmark building and presti-
through its inner size, which expresses itself in gious component of global architecture ever
the closed shape geometry, structure volumes since.
and well-balanced proportions. In addition to
its transitional ease,it is this form of corporality,
which is far from demonstrating power and
being symbolic, that makes the Fagus main
building into the first work of modern
architecture.

The architectonic ideas that took shape with

the Fagus factory possessed immense
innovative strength.In the following years,they
went beyond industrial construction and were
absorbed in other construction projects of the
20th century. In addition to Gropius himself, the

54
 3. Justification for inscription

3. D Integrity and/or authenticity

Fig. 105: Storehouse, exhibition (2005)

Since the Fagus factory continues to perform

its original function as a production site for shoe
lasts even today, the renowned industrial plant
still guarantees a high degree of authenticity.
This particularly holds true for the core build-
ings, the workroom and the three-storied main
building, where shoe lasts are produced even
today and which serve as the administrative
head office of the plant. The Fagus factory
justifies the claim of authenticity insofar as the
extensive restoration work was taken up by
repairs between 1985 and 1999 strictly observ-
ing the aspect of preserving the original archi- Fig. 105: Main building, model department (2007)

tectural fabric. In cases in which a repair was

excluded for significant corrosion damages to
the steel structure of window panels these
parts were rebuilt according to the original
construction documentation and the result of
a discussion in an expert colloquium.

With the changeover from wood to plastic in

the production of shoe lasts and the moderni-
sation of energy supply, the buildings originally
erected for these purposes have been preserv-
ed due to their significance in the history of
architecture and simultaneously used for new Fig. 107: Evening event in the engine room (2007)

55
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 108: In the workroom (2009)

purposes. This is true for the sawmill, store-

house, drying house, engine house, chip and
coal bunkers and - after close-down of this line
of production, the cutting die department as
well. Offices have now been set up in the
sawmill, the drying house accommodates
offices as well as some development labs, the
engine house serves as a factory canteen/
cafeteria, the chip and coal bunker houses a
carpenter’s workshop while training and con-
ference rooms have been set up in the former
cutting die department. Preserving the five-
storied storehouse proved to be the most
difficult task. Due to its particular design,
Fig. 109: In the workroom (2009)
atmospheric environment and dim lighting
conditions, intensive use of the storehouse for
offices, etc. would have meant extensive
changes and the corresponding loss of the
architectural fabric with its monumental value.

Instead it was rather possible to establish a

permanent exhibition about the history of the
factory, here, in an authentic environment after
an extensive restoration in 1998 and 1999 (see
5I).

However, it was the objective and result of all

operational developments to fully maintain the
entire building complex that represents the
global importance of the plant and to be able
Fig. 110: Event in the engine house (2000) to completely impart the original operation
processes.

56
 4. State of conservation and factors affecting the property

4. STATE OF CONSERVATION
AND FACTORS AFFECTING THE PROPERTY

57
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 111: Main building, restoration of the main staircase (1995)

58
 4. Present state of conservation and factors affecting the property

4. A Present state of conservation

After the multi-phase refurbishment work of Chip and coal bunker:

the Fagus factory completed between 1981 and The concrete of columns and retaining walls as
1999,the condition of the historically important well as of the flat roof solid slabs were
buildings in the entire complex can be refurbished in 1997.
described as very good.
Rail-lifting jack / rail-car scales:
The following measures are taken in detail: In the years 1991/92, small renovation and
repair jobs were executed to preserve the
Main building: material of this small building constructed in
With the partial renewal or refurbishment of 1921.
the glass facade of the main building, which
took place phase-wise between 1986 and 1990, Cutting die department:
the static equilibrium of the building was The roof of this building was renovated in 1995
stabilised by introducing a stiffening roof plate and 1996, where quite a few hand-picked
made of concrete. This prevented strong roofing tiles laid in 1911 were re-used. The
movements of the building, which had led to brickwork of the building was repaired in 1997.
the breakage of the glass of the tightly bolted
window elements. The rear wall of the building Gatekeeper’s house and approach area:
as well as the ramps and the entrance stairway The roof of the gatekeeper’s house was
were also restored in 1990. The restoration of repaired in 1997. The boundary wall in the
the vestibules in the year 1996, which included approach area was refurbished in the same year
the reconstruction of the boxlight installed by installing the replicas of boxlights used in a
there as per the drawing of Meyer/Gropius, Bauhaus product in 1923-25.The refurbishment
repair of the black opal glass bands and job also included the renovation of the gate
refurbishment of the entrance among other system and the door of the gatekeeper’s house.
things, completed the overhauling of the main
building of the Fagus factory. Drying house:
Brickwork and roof repairs in 1997.
Workroom:
The restoration work of the workroom Storehouse:
commenced in 1989, with roof renovations, Refurbishment and partial renovation of the
followed by the restoration of cast iron window timber frame building, renovation of plaster
elements and fungus-affected wooden truss panelling, roof repairs with renovation of lamp
frame constructions.In 1994,the refurbishment fixtures and re-panelling of the attic in 1998/99.
of the parapet brickwork took place. A new concrete staircase was installed as part
of the preparation to convert this into an
Smoke stack: exhibition building. Lamella openings for the
Brickwork at the old height of 50 m, renovation ventilation of the lofts were paned.
of the pipe adapter and water container in the
years 1987 and 1988. Sawmill:
Reconstruction according to the guidelines for
Engine house: historical monuments after a fire accident in
The restoration work started in 1994 by 1985.
preparing the building for new use. The old
boilers were cleared out first and the room was Conversion into an engineering centre in
furbished for storage purposes. The external 1990/91. Refurbishment of the exterior and
brickwork was refurbished and the black and setting up of an open-plan office. The original
white tiled floor covering repaired and partially character of the three-axis hall as well as the
replaced in 1995. The glass refurbishment took external appearance of the building were
place in the same year. Finally, the exterior gas preserved.
pipe railing was restored in 1997.

59
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

4. B Factors affecting the property

I Development pressures
alarm system and a spark extinguishing system
At present, there are no specific development have been installed as preventive fire pro-
pressures that threaten the existence of the tection measures.A plan of action in case of fire
Fagus factory. Since the buildings of this plant has been coordinated with the fire department.
are linked as “living monuments” with the
production processes taking place in them, The Leine, which flows not far from the factory
economic development could be the reasons premises,often experiences floods especially in
for variations or changes in their use.In the past, the winter months. However, the course of the
such changes could be incorporated by develop- river is embanked and has been secured
ing new, monument-compatible application through extensive flood areas that are
concepts and through public funding. With the identified in the land development plan.
use of the regulations of the Lower Saxony
Denkmalschutzgesetz (Monuments and
Historic Buildings Act) and on the basis of the IV Visitor/tourism pressures
extraordinary significance of the Fagus factory
as an outstanding work of art, the right of With approx 10,000 guests/year, the number of
continuance of the building can be considered visitors in the Fagus factory has remained
as safeguarded in the future. relatively constant in the last few years.The year
2000 was an exception since the World
Exhibition EXPO 2000 was hosted by Hanover
II Environmental pressures and the Fagus factory had been included in the
big event as an external project. In that year,
Environmental impairments stay within the the Fagus factory could boast of having enter-
limits of a magnitude that is normal for a milieu tained 20,000 guests. Since the introduction of
of a small-town that is rather scarcely indus- a regular exhibition in the storehouse of the
trialised.Exceptional damages,which can cause plant (2005) and the increasing degree of
more wear and tear or more soiling than usual, popularity of the plant, the attendance figures
are not known. Tremors caused due to the rail have settled down to the abovementioned
route in close vicinity were rendered harmless figure of approx 10,000/year. However, since
by the restoration and stabilisation measures tourist utilisation is primarily concentrated on
taken in the past (see 4 A). These measures the suitably prepared storehouse and external
continue to prevent today the wind breakage areas of the factory, it is unlikely to expect
at the large glass surfaces of the main building detrimental influences on the historically
which occurred frequently before the restora- important Fagus buildings under this aspect.
tion phase. The soiling of and environmental
damage to roofs, brickwork and glazing in the
previous decades have also been remedied V Number of inhabitants within
according to the guidelines for historical
monuments within the scope of the extensive the proberty and the buffer
reconstruction work. zone

III Natural disasters and The historically important building of the Fagus
factory as well as all other architectural struc-
risk preparedness tures on the factory site exclusively serves
Only fire disasters come into consideration commercial purposes. The site is uninhabited.
when speaking of conceivable catastrophes.
Fire prevention arrangements meet the rele- 16 residents are registered within the marked
vant regulations of the German building law buffer zone.
and the provisions of the technical building
regulations and standards. Moreover, a fire

60
 5. Protection and management of the property

5. PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT

OF THE PROPERTY

61
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

5. A Ownership 5. C Means of implementing

protective measures

The Fagus factory is a fourth-generation In the Federal Republic of Germany, the

privately-owned company and all its structural protection of historical buildings and monu-
installations and open areas are owned by ments falls under the cultural and educational
Fagus-Grecon Greten GmbH & Co. KG with head autonomy of the individual federal states.
office in Alfeld.
The Fagus factory is protected by the Lower
Address: Saxony Denkmalschutzgesetz (Monuments
Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG and Historic Buildings Act) and has been
Hannoversche Straße 58 registered in the List of Cultural Monuments.
D-31061 Alfeld
The competent technical authority for monu-
ments is the Lower Saxony State Office for
Preservation of Historical Monuments. On
account of the special cultural and historical
5. B Protective designation significance of the Fagus factory, all measures
are coordinated with the Ministry for Science
and Culture, Lower Saxony as the supreme
With the initiative of Wilhelm Barner, the authority and their implementation is sup-
biographer of Carl Benscheidt, the Fagus ported by the Lower Saxony State Office for
factory, which survived the Second World War Preservation of Historical Monuments. The
almost unscathed, was listed as a historical formal approval of the proposed construction
monument as early as in 1946. Thus, the Fagus measures,which falls under the monument law,
factory could become the oldest heritage- is incumbent on the town of Alfeld as the
protected industrial plant in Europe. The regional Monument Protection Authority, in
impending threat of demolition after the war coordination with the technical authority for
ended could be warded off since the plant was monuments.
placed under protection.
The most important regulations of the
After the Lower Saxony Denkmalschutzgesetz Monuments and Historic Buildings Act for the
(Monuments and Historic Buildings Act) came protection and conservation of a historical
into effect in 1978, the protection status of the monument are summarised in the following:
Fagus factory was redefined and differentiated
on the basis of the new statutory regulations: The owner, Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co.
KG, is obliged to repair, maintain, protect
As per § 3(3) NDSchG (Lower Saxony against menace and, if required, restore the
Denkmalschutzgesetz (Monuments and historically important factory buildings as
Historic Buildings Act)), the Fagus factory, reasonable.The owner can be committed by the
together with all the buildings and open areas competent authority for monuments to take
mapped in point 1.E, is a protected group of certain measures for the conservation of the
architectural structures. Moreover, each factory structure. The appearance of monuments may
structure listed in the following is an archi- be changed, renovated, restored or used for a
tectural monument as per § 3(2) NDSchG: different purpose only with the approval of the
sawmill, storehouse, drying house, workroom, competent authority for monuments. This also
main building, engine house, smoke stack, chip applies for the accessories and furnishings of
and coal bunker, rail-lifting jack and rail-car the monuments. Even the installation, modifi-
scales, cutting die department as well as the cation or demolition of buildings in the
gatekeeper’s house with boundary wall and immediate vicinity of the monuments require
factory gate. the approval of the competent authority, if this
influences their condition or appearance in any
With the induction of the building of the Fagus way. Conditions and requirements can be
factory in the List of Cultural Monuments (§ 4 imposed on the mentioned approvals. All
NDSchG) comes the duty to preserve it (§ 6 modifications in the monuments and measures
NDSchG). taken should be documented. If unapproved

62
 5. Protection and management of the property

Fig. 112: Storehouse during renovation (1998)

measures are implemented, an order can be

issued for the discontinuation of the work or
the restoration of the previous condition.
Persons having disposition power are obliged
to grant the representatives of the monument
authorities access to the property, buildings
and spaces in order to carry out their respon-
sibilities and provide the required information
and documentation. Violations of the above
mentioned regulations of the Monuments and
Historic Buildings Act may be subject to fines.

5. D Existing plans related to

municipality and region
in which the proposed
property is located

Regional Development Plan of Lower Saxony

(2008)

Regional development plan for the district of

Hildesheim, district Hildesheim, 2002

Land utilisation plan, Alfeld, 1976 (see 7 B) Fig. 113: Storehouse, exhibition (2005)

63
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

5. E Property management plan or other management system

I Principles
The designated group of buildings, the “Fagus the historical buildings including the existing
factory”, has preserved its exemplary function utilisation structure.
as the first industrial construction of modern
architecture and as an architectonic achieve- Essential structural modifications due to
ment of the highest quality until today. The production requirements should be carried out
buildings constructed by Gropius between 1911 so that authenticity and integrity of the proper-
and 1925 continue to be used as production ty are preserved.
plants for shoe lasts even today and are thus
the most authentic “living monuments” of As has been done in the past, measure
industrial culture. While sections of the plant catalogues for continuous building mainten-
obtained new functions through the mod- ance according to the guidelines for historical
ernisation of production processes, the archi- monuments shall be developed together with
tectonic character of the plant was preserved the company owner for the implementation of
and partially used as a museum, in full the objectives for the preservation of historical
knowledge of the extraordinary significance of monuments. Intended reconstructions in the
the buildings. buffer zone should respect the dimensions of
The management plan helps safeguard these the designated property and the existing free
qualities and is based on the “The Venice visual connections on the side of the railway
Charter for the Conservation and Restoration line and the Hannoversche Straße.
of Monuments and Sites” (1964) as well as the
“Nara Document on Authenticity” (1994) for the Securing financial resources
conservation of the buildings of the Fagus The provision of financial means for the
factory. maintenance of the buildings and possible
Since the nominated cultural asset “Fagus restoration work in the future is primarily
factory” and all its components are in an incumbent on the owner and can be regarded
outstanding overall state of conservation after as ensured by the owner within the framework
the restoration work done in the eighties and of the continuous management. Tax return
the nineties of the previous century, extensive depreciation options in case of necessary
refurbishment measures are not necessary in investments made for the preservation of the
the short and medium term. Substantial safe- monumental heritage also contribute to this.
guarding of the cultural heritage through
continuous maintenance based on permanent In individual cases, public funding may also be
monitoring is the conservation strategy. Neces- necessary to strengthen financial resources.
sary conservation measures or repairs are Potential world heritage sites also fulfil the
implemented continuously in conformity with eligibility conditions of the federal programme
the material and trade requirements. This of “National valuable monuments”.
management of the nominated property corres-
ponds to a good conservation tradition and has Safeguarding the use as production plant
proved its worth. It will be kept up, since all With new additions in its product range, the
parties concerned i.e., the Bundesland of Lower Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG had to
Saxony as applicant, the competent monument construct new buildings on the factory site.
authorities and especially the owner of the These buildings were erected at reasonable
property, agree to lead the Fagus factory as a distances from the old one and the historical
site of world cultural heritage into the future. buildings were integrated in the production
processes in such a way that the administration
as well as the entire branch of traditional shoe
II Objectives last production remained in the historical
factory building. Despite changing production
Maintaining and safeguarding the monumen- processes, the company owners have placed
tal heritage great emphasis on upholding this application
The primary objective of the management is the and will continue to do so in the future as well.
protection, maintenance and safeguarding of

64
 5. Protection and management of the property

Fig. 114: Storehouse, exhibition, contouring lathe, around 1900 (2002)

Promoting the knowledge and acceptance of Exhibitions and other offers for imparting
the property information shall be organised in cooperation
For the preservation and maintenance of the with scientific and cultural organisations in
nominated property, it is essential to enhance Lower Saxony, which have devoted their teach-
the awareness of the universal value of the ing and training activities in the field of monu-
Fagus factory and to continue to divulge its ment conservation and maintenance of world
conservation according to the guidelines of heritage or their research, collection and exhibi-
historical monuments as a generally recognis- tion activities especially to modern architecture.
ed objective.The strong identification of owners
and employees with their work place as a high- The high level of familiarity of the Fagus factory
ranking cultural monument lays a solid base for as the first construction of modern architecture
this. It can be enhanced into an even broader established in professional circles worldwide
foundation through specific public relations already for a long time can serve as a point of
work. The premises of the former die cutting departure to bring the plant and its significance
department have been opened to a wider, for modern architecture closer to a wider
culturally interested audience for lectures, audience.The most important presentation and
trainings and concerts since years. museum-didactic prerequisites have already
been implemented with the introduction of the
Apart from successful media work as well as Fagus-Gropius exhibition in the storehouse of
publication and exhibition activities, cooperati- the factory. The location Alfeld is well-connect-
on with other world heritage sites, particularly ed – by rail as well as road – to the national
from the field of industrial culture and transport networks and offers further develop-
architecture, are initiated with the intention of ment opportunities together with a correspond-
exchanging practical experiences with this ing tourist conception of the Weser-Leine
category of cultural assets and spreading its region for increasing the number of visitors.
significance as cultural heritage of the 20th However,there is no danger of overexploitation
century. Organisations as the TICCIH (The due to tourism because of the decentralised
International Committee For The Conservation location and the thematic and very exclusive
Of The Industrial Heritage) provide helpful development of the cultural monument.
support.

65
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

III Protagonists
The protagonists of the maintenance and Cooperation partners
further development of the property are the For the conservation of the monumental
company owner, monument authorities as well heritage, it is imperative to consult specialised
as commissioned experts.Apart from these,the expert knowledge. Professional competence of
responsible bodies from politics and the local research and development organisations ex-
building administration,but also specialists and perienced in the field of restoration and of
institutions with special competence in the architects and experts of the region is useful
field of monuments are indispensable partners. for the inspection of the assets, restoration
analyses and the preparation of monument
The steering committee plans. The Leibniz University, Hanover with its
Management tasks call for the pooling in of renowned architecture faculty and the Univer-
multifaceted expertise. Regular consultations sity of Applied Sciences and Art in Hildesheim,
between the owner and the technical authority Holzminden and Göttingen, would be available
for monuments form the basis of the manage- as competent partners in the fields of research
ment control committee,which can be complet- and technology. Committed partners in the
ed by architects, planners, structural engineers, chamber of architects,Lower Saxony,offer their
restorers, etc. if required depending on the services as competent consultants.As a publicly
character of the conservation measure concern- effective discussion and presentation forum,
ed. the chamber of architects incorporates the
Fagus factory in its work and thus emphasises
The owner its outstanding position in the world
Within the framework of continuous manage- architecture.
ment, the owner bears the main share of the
financing for maintenance and renovation of Cooperation with prestigious science and
the building according to the guidelines of the theory institutions working in the field of the
conservation of monuments. If necessary, he conservation of monuments and world
also commissions experts, in agreement with heritage management guarantees a high level
the monument authorities, for drafting reports of preparation and execution of measures.
and monument preservation plans. Further- Lower Saxony can already be proud of two
more, he is also involved in the monitoring world heritage sites (Cathedral and St.
process, since he has access to key information Michael’s Church in Hildesheim, Mines of
regarding the extent of resources used and the Rammelsberg and Old Town of Goslar), which
condition of the property. have gathered management experience. Co-
operation with these and other national and
The monument authorities international world heritage sites will be a self-
According to the regulations of the Lower evident part of the management of the Fagus
Saxony Denkmalschutzgesetz (Monuments factory. In this context, regional focuses as well
and Historic Buildings Act), monument as thematic concentration on world heritage
authorities have to perform their legal duties sites of the modern architecture (e.g. Bauhaus
(see clauses 5B and 5C), starting from adminis- Weimar and Dessau) are appropriate for this
trative protection, professional consultation, purpose.
provision of financial resources in form of tax
relieves or subsidies to property-oriented
research, publications and public relations IV Instruments and
work.
spheres of activity
They have to play the leading role in monitoring A plenitude of legal, planning and monitoring
and other reporting activities, which will result instruments is available for the sustainable
from the registration of the Fagus factory in the protection of monumental heritage and its
list of world heritage sites. They also have to maintenance.
participate in the special activities, which are
essential or recommended for the plant Legal and planning basics
according to this management plan,as initiator The objectives of the management plan can be
and support. implemented on the legal basis of the building
code, the Lower Saxony Denkmalschutzgesetz
(Monuments and Historic Buildings Act) and

66
 5. Protection and management of the property

Fig. 115: Advertisement, draft by Max Hertwig 1912

the Lower Saxony Building Regulations (see 5A) is responsible for the building maintenance
clauses 5B to 5D). The regulations of the Lower and renovation of the Fagus factory within the
Saxony Denkmalschutzgesetz (Monuments scope of his financial standing. He raises the
and Historic Buildings Act) are applicable to the required funds through his continuous ma-
listed property (see under clauses 5C and 7B). nagement and performance. Besides, the
Therefore, structural modifications require owner has the option of depreciating expen-
approval from the monument authorities. This diture for the conservation and maintenance
also refers to the design of advertising measures taken for the historical monument in
structures.Greater structural modifications and accordance with the income tax law.
changes in application require an additional Furthermore, the Bundesland of Lower Saxony
building permit.Violations of the regulations of contributes to the costs for the preservation
the Monuments and Historic Buildings Act can and renovation of cultural monuments in
be fined heavily as administrative offences. accordance with the resources provided in the
Monumental law instruments of the reinstate- budget. Subsidies can be applied from the
ment and restoration order are provided to federal programme of the “National valuable
prevent dilapidation of the components of the monuments” as well as from the German
monumental heritage. Foundation for Monument Protection and
other foundations.
Apart from all this,a land development plan has
been drafted for the town of Alfeld in which the Public relations
Fagus factory has been entered within an The Fagus factory has very effective and well-
extensive industrial estate to the south-west of balanced public relations:
the rail route.The priority of the use of this land
for industry and trade has thus been ensured As an external project, the Fagus factory made
in this region. its maiden appearance in from of a wider
spectrum of audience through the topic “Man-
Financing Nature-Technology” in the year of EXPO 2000.
Ample financial resources are required for the The number of visitors escalated to over 20,000
realisation of the objectives of the manage- in this year.
ment plan. According to the Lower Saxony
Denkmalschutzgesetz (Monuments and Temporary exhibitions on modern architecture,
Historic Buildings Act), the owner (see clause architecture photography and the artists’ circle

67
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

of the Bauhaus are organised in the Fagus 5. F Sources and levels

gallery in cooperation with partners such as the of finance
Bauhaus archive in Berlin.
Brochures, leaflets, Internet presence, lectures
and concerts in the rooms of the property,
cooperation with schools of the region as well Building maintenance and renovation of the
as guided factory tours are effective instru- property are in the responsibility of the owner
ments for increasing the degree of familiarity company (see clause 5.A), which generally
of the Fagus factory even more. provides the required financial resources.
The Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG has
assigned public relations activities (publica- The Lower Saxony Denkmalschutzgesetz
tions, guided tours, press contacts, etc.) to an (Monuments and Historic Buildings Act)
employee who is acquainted with the history (NDSchG) obligates the owner company for the
of the property. “repair, maintenance, protection against
menace and, if required, renovation” (§ 6 para.
The exhibition with the main topics “Walter 1) of the cultural monument.In individual cases,
Gropius – Carl Benscheidt” and “Construction subsidies of the Bundesland of Lower Saxony
history – Restoration” that was inaugurated in can be utilised for expenditures on the con-
2005 in the storehouse of the factory was servation of monuments. Furthermore, accord-
scientifically accompanied by the State Office ing to the existing income tax legislation, the
for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, owner of the property has the option of
Lower Saxony in the conception stage and depreciating its expenditure for measures
prepared for the exhibition by a specialised taken for the conservation or proper use of the
company. historical monument from the taxable earnings
over several years.
Tourism
It is only natural that many of the above In addition to endowments and funds from
mentioned cooperation partners can be in- regional organisations for the preservation of
cluded in the development and implemen- monuments, funds from the Federal Republic
tation of the tourism concept. Cooperation of of Germany and the European Union can also
the UNESCO Welterbestätten Deutschland e.V. be used for the conservation of the Fagus
for the existing marketing activities association factory on account of its outstanding
should also prove to be useful. significance.

The total costs for the restoration measures

V Inspection and monitoring taken between 1985 and 2001 amounted to
6.653 million euros and were shared by the
It is necessary to have a body for monitoring financers as follows:
the conservation status and the renovation,
which documents and assesses the compliance Federal Republic of Germany: 1,444 m
with the principles and criteria of a historical
monument and the related qualitative modifi- Bundesland of Lower Saxony: 1,674 m
cations. For this purpose, available information
is continuously compiled preferentially and The German Foundation 0,153 m
additional findings are obtained through for Monument Protection:
appraisal or survey.
Hanover Klosterkammer: 0,051 m
It is the owner who is primarily included in this
regular process of data acquisition.In individual European Union: 0,043 m
cases, however, architects and specialists can
also be roped in. Purposes of the inspections Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG: 3,288 m
are the key indicators cited in clause 6a and
related query protocols. Besides, modifications The exhibition project,which was implemented
approved on the basis of structural inspections in several segments between 2003 and 2005,
of the complex are documented so that these amounted to a total volume of 1.5 million euros.
documentations are available at the time of The Bundesland of Lower Saxony and Fagus-
monitoring. GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG bore the costs
equally.

68
 5. Protection and management of the property

Fig. 116: Design drawing of the vestibule, Gropius/Meyer (1914)

5. G Sources of expertise and

training in conservation and
management techniques
For the conservation and maintenance of the restorers in Lower Saxony and several
property, it is ensured that the monumental institutions of universities in the region teach
heritage is looked after by the research and do research in the relevant fields. Suitable
personnel of the Lower Saxony authorities for construction, specialist and trade firms are
monuments. The employees are trained art available in Lower Saxony and adjacent regions
historians, architects or restorers. in sufficient numbers.

In addition to this, the owner company has a For all previous restoration and structural
pool of experienced employees and has for the maintenance projects, Fagus-GreCon Greten
past many years employed an architect, well GmbH & Co. KG worked with an architect who
versed in monument-specific matters, for on- had a long-standing experience in matters
going renovation and maintenance activities. related to the conservation of historical
buildings and monuments.In coordination with
Planning of the basic restoration and, to some the monument authorities, suitably qualified
extent, also its supervision is outsourced to architectural firms were commissioned for the
architectural firms that are experienced in special activities undertaken during the lengthy
monument-related work. There are sufficient restoration phase.
numbers of suitably trained architects and

69
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

5. H Visitor facilities There is enough space in the visitor’s parking

and statistics area (parking spaces for approx. 100 auto-
mobiles and five buses).

The outdoor facilities of the Fagus factory are 5. I Policies and programmes
open for all during the daily opening hours of
the Fagus-Gropius exhibition (visit www.fagus- related to the presentation
gropius.com for opening hours). and promotion of the property
Guided factory tours are possible on request.
The Fagus factory is – as a medium-sized
In the year of the world exhibition EXPO 2000 company and as a product plant that is in-
in Hanover, the Fagus factory hosted more than tensively used even today – a “living monu-
20,000 visitors. ment”. On the one hand, this has the benefit
that maximum authenticity is accorded to most
In the following years, especially after the of the listed buildings. Preservation and
inauguration of the Fagus-Gropius exhibition in continuous maintenance of the buildings are
2005, attendance figures settled down at ensured in the future as well.On the other hand,
approx 10,000 per year. however,the presentation of the property in the
sense of large-scale tourist attraction has
Overnight accommodations are available in the limitations. The Fagus-GreCon company, as the
city centre of Alfeld as well as in the surrounding owner of the Fagus factory, has acknowledged
villages. its obligation to preserve and maintain this
significant cultural heritage and opens select
The factory has a cafeteria and toilet facilities parts inside the factory for small and guided
for visitors. visitor groups that have applied for visits.

Fig. 117: Longitudinal section of the former storehouse, southern half. SO: Special exhibition, S1: Carl Benscheidt-Walter Gropius, S2: History of
construction and restoration, S3: What are shoe lasts for S4: 100 years of shoe fashion, S5: Living monument

70
 5. Protection and management of the property

The external part of the factory was made N1: Company history/World Heritage
accessible to larger groups of people and the In the entrance area itself, visitors are given an
need for information is met by the regular insight into the complete Fagus-Gropius exhibi-
exhibition in the storehouse. The thematic tion on all floors. The company history, starting
points of focus of this presentation are the from the foundation of the Fagus factory in
personalities of architect Walter Gropius and 1911, the original company of the present
company founder Carl Benscheidt and the Fagus-GreCon group, up to the present, the
history of construction and restoration of the company products and their production in the
factory. The exhibition concept was developed listed Gropius buildings are shown, the epoch-
in close cooperation between museum making significance of the Fagus factory for
specialists, monument authorities of Lower industrial culture at the onset of the twentieth
Saxony and the company management.Specia- century is illustrated and the origin of the
lists in the field of exhibition organisation and company name “Fagus” is explained, which is
museum consultation were commissioned for renowned worldwide for generations and
its execution.Funds of the Bundesland of Lower means the endemic copper beech (Lat. fagus
Saxony and the company Fagus-GreCon were silvatica), the wood from which shoe last
used for financing. The total exhibition area products are manufactured. The next section
available in the storehouse is approx 3000 deals with the topic of UNESCO World Heritage
square metres. All important explanatory texts with the Fagus factory as an aspirant of this
are presented in German and English. outstanding rating.

Ten exhibition topics are dealt with in the five- S1: Benscheidt and Gropius/
storied storehouse (S1-S5 and N1-N5, see BAUHAUS – history
longitudinal section fig. 117 and 118). Only the This exhibition segment uses written and
architecture and application relevant of these graphic credentials as well as furnishings from
have been presented in brief here: the BAUHAUS shops to illustrate the remark-

Fig. 118: Longitudinal section of the former storehouse, northern half. N1: Company history/world heritage, N2: People at Fagus, N3: Derived timber
products, N4: Massive wood-working, N5: The forest: More than just trees

71
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

ably productive teamwork of property devel- the original interior fittings and valuable
oper Carl Benscheidt and architect Walter furnishings of the plant were adapted to
Gropius,which continued well into the twenties present-day demands, preserving the original
of the last century. Newspaper interviews as materials. The - for the purpose of monument
audio presentations and a film documentation preservation - living and respectful interaction
of the development of the BAUHAUS as well as with this brilliant testimony of architectural
the famous pictures of the Fagus factory taken history is documented here with photographs
by Albert Renger-Patzsch in 1926 are offered to and drawings as well as plenty of examples
the visitors here. from production areas then and now.

S2: Construction history and restoration SO: Special exhibition of the Fagus gallery
Valuable original photos of glass negatives The basement of the Fagus-Gropius exhibition
from the construction period of the Fagus building has a Fagus gallery with an exhibition
factory demonstrate the step-wise emergence area of approx 250 square metres. It hosts
of the factory since 1910 in individual regularly held special exhibitions. Artists from
construction phases. Walter Gropius’s first Lower Saxony present their work here and the
design drawings of the Fagus factory as well as BAUHAUS-Archive, Berlin regularly puts up
different blueprints are displayed in illuminat- exhibitions on the complete subject area of the
ed showcases. The sketches of the Hanover BAUHAUS times. Schedules of these special
architect Eduard Werner, which were drafted exhibitions are announced through the print
almost around the same time but which media and on the Internet (http://www.fagus-
represented inherited building tradition, also gropius.com).
stand in contrast next to these.Photo series and
slide shows document the complete restora- Concert and lectures in the halls of the factory
tion work, which started in 1984, was coordinat- contribute to anchoring awareness about the
ed with the authority for the preservation of outstanding significance of this industrial
monuments and supervised by experienced monument in the public mind.
architects. A model of the factory gives the
viewer the opportunity to differentiate The necessary tourist infrastructure, even for
between the individual construction phases. the accommodation of a larger number of
visitors,is in place: there are approx.100 parking
S5: Living monument spaces for automobiles and five for busses, a
The originality of an unparalleled industrial cafeteria has been set up in the former engine
ensemble should be preserved as much as house and the factory site is equipped with
possible and a globally operating company several toilets for visitors.
must appropriately adapt the utilisation of the
building and structures given the competitive
pressure. Combining the two is and has been a
huge challenge for the company management,
which has tackled it in an exemplary manner.
In collaboration with a Hamburg architect, who
was employed with the company for decades,

72
 5. Protection and management of the property

Fig. 119: Storehouse, exhibition (2005)

5. J Staffing levels
(professional, technical,
maintenance)
The Lower Saxony State Office for the preser-
vation of historical buildings and monuments
provides professional monument conservators
(art historians and architects) as well as
restorers and other specialists with university
education for technical matters related to the
preservation and maintenance of the plant.
Architects, structural designers, civil engineers
and administrators in the building authority of
the town of Alfeld, who are trained in the
conservation of monuments, are responsible
for the Fagus factory.
The Museumsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.
(registered association for the cooperation of
museums in Lower Saxony) and the affiliated
museums have qualified personnel with
university education and experience in the
presentation of cultural assets at their disposal.
The Fagus factory with its “Fagus-Gropius
exhibition” is affiliated with the registered
association of museums.
The Fagus factory itself employs an
experienced person for public relations and
guided tours along with supervisory staff in the Fig. 120: Storehouse, exhibition (2005)
exhibition building.

73
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Fig. 121: Storehouse, exhibition (2005)

Fig. 122: Storehouse, exhibition (2006)

74
 6. Monitoring

6. MONITORING

75
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

6. A Key indicators for measuring state of conservation

After completion of the extensive restoration Indicators based on which survey are carried
process that was executed between 1985 and out once a year in cooperation with the owner
1999 for the entire property, a high level of company:
conservation was achieved according to the
specifications for monument preservation. The – Implementation status of the restoration
owner company, Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & concept
Co. KG, and the competent monument – Development of the maintenance status
authorities keep all parts of the monument – Financial expenditures for restoration as
under continuous monitoring and structural well as general and structural maintenance
maintenance. – Utilisation structure (modifications in the
production process)
Key indicators have been provided for monitor-
ing in order to ensure future preservation of the
monuments and to guarantee that structural
maintenance and renovation measures are
carried out according to the monument
preservation principles and criteria. During
regular monitoring processes, the respective
preservation state shall be specified with the
help of question catalogues and relevant data
shall be recorded.

Data acquisition for the key indicators is

initiated by monument authorities as well as
the owner company.

Indicators based on which the authorities for

monuments carry out surveys once a year or in
case of concrete building measures:

– Maintenance and preservation state of the

monuments
– Restoration status according the specifi-
cations for monument preservation
– Extent of the monument funds that have
been spent for preservation and restoration
– Monument-related approvals for restoration
and maintenance of monuments
– Tax certificates for monument maintenance
measures
– Personnel resources available for the
maintenance
– Planning-related specifications (e.g. modifi-
cations in the urban land-use plan)

76
 6. Monitoring

6. B Administrative 6. C Results of previous

arrangements for reporting exercises
monitoring property
As the highest monument preservation The currently available reports and
authority or as technical authority for documentations that refer to statements about
monuments, the Lower Saxony Ministry for the preservation state of the property mainly
Science and Culture and the State Office for the comprise the extensive documentation
Preservation of Historical Monuments, Lower material, which was generated during the
Saxony ensure adherence to the regulations longstanding restoration phase of the factory.
mentioned under 6A. The present plans and See 4A for the scope and the time-wise progress
measures for the buildings of the Fagus factory of these restoration processes.
have been agreed upon in regular planning
meetings in which Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH
& Co. KG, the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science
and Culture, State Office for the Preservation of
Historical Monuments, Lower Saxony and the
building authorities of town Alfeld participated,
so that adherence to monument maintenance
principles and criteria is ensured and the
preservation purpose is achieved. In detail, the
following persons and institutions bear the
responsibility for the regular monitoring and
daily supervision of the cultural monument as
well as for the provision of the budgetary funds
required for maintenance and preservation:

Ernst Greten
Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG
Hannoversche Straße 58
D-31061 Alfeld

Niedersächsisches Ministerium
für Wissenschaft und Kultur
Postfach 261
D-30002 Hannover

Niedersächsisches Landesamt
für Denkmalpflege
Scharnhorststr. 1
D-30175 Hannover

Bauamt Stadt Alfeld

Marktplatz 12
D-31061 Alfeld

The basis of monitoring are the key indicators

(6A) recorded in query protocols as well as other
status evaluations such as photo
documentations and planning documents, if
required. Query protocols or data collected are
updated according to the prevailing conditions.

The status of the monument property is also

monitored by the employees of the owner
company by taking regular inspection rounds
(see 5A).

77
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

78
 7. Documentation

7. DOCUMENTATION

79
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

80
 7. Documentation

7. A Photographs, slides, image inventory and authorisation table

and other audiovisual materials

All photos used are saved as image files in tif- Illustration credits
or pdf-format on the DVD's attached at the end
of the application form, including a list with
numbering, legends and photo credits (rtf, pdf Institutions, photographers:
and doc).
Bauhaus archive, Berlin: 16, 28, 29, 30, 45, 46, 52,
The „IMAGE INVENTORY AND PHOTOGRAPH 57, 58, 59, 63, 79, 80, 85, 88, 89, 92, 94, 115, 116
AND AUDIVISUAL AUTHORIZATION FORM“
required according to the standard application Fagus-GreCon: Front cover inside. Back cover
form can be found as separate pdf-file on the inside. Fig.: 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 31,
enclosed DVD which includes the entire 33, 34, 35, 36, 43, 47, 48, 53, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
application form. 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 105, 106,
107,108,109,110,111,112,113,117,118,119,120,
It is allowed to the UNESCO to use and divulge 121, 122
the photo and figure materials according to the
information included in this list. Costs for the Frîa Hagen,Hannover: Front cover outside,Back
picture copyrights and usage fees do not cover outside.
accrue.
Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmal-
pflege, Hannover: Fig.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15,
22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 49,
50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62, 81, 90, 91, 93, 101, 102,
103, 104, 114

Literature, Internet:

Beutinger, E.: Der Industriebau: Fig. 64

Jaeggi, A.: Fagus: Fig.: 95, 97, 98, 100
Posener, J.: Berlin auf dem Wege zu einer neuen
Architektur: Fig. 99
Sharp, D.: Fagus Factory, (Global Architecture):
Fig. 65

www.flickr.com/photos/beverlylibrary/341872
3525/ (2009): Fig. 96

81
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

The enclosed DVD documents a television constructed the first factory, this first Gropius
interview with Walter Gropius (incl.master copy building. How did this actually come about?
of the text) recorded on 12.12.1965, in which How did you start working on a shoe last
Gropius commented on the Fagus factory. factory? You were still very young.

Some details of linguistic expression have been G: I had just started working as an independ-
changed in the master copy of the text for ent architect after working with Peter Behrens,
better linguistic expression. who was my master. I opened my own office
with one of his employees and wrote to all; I
wrote to addresses with construction projects
L: Prof. Gropius, we have heard that the new which I somehow managed to obtain. After
Berlin Museum planned in the Lindenstraße having sent hundreds of such letters,the owner
here in Berlin, which will be rebuilt or better of a shoe last factory in Alfeld at the river Leine
rebuilt for the first time by Prof. Wetzlow, has a wrote to me saying that he was interested in
room that will carry your name, i.e. the Gropius my offer. I immediately went there, we quickly
room and that this Gropius room is not only made a deal.He was a man of modern thoughts,
supposed to be a reference to you, probably who already had plans that were started to be
primarily, but it is also supposed to demon- implemented. I had to then remodel them and
strate how your family is, so to say, deeply he allowed me freedom of action. As a young
rooted in the history of Berlin. Could you tell us man, I was obviously ecstatic and wanted to
something about your roots here in Berlin? create something special, I had an image of
what I wanted to do and he just supported me
G: Gladly! The family history, as far as we can throughout.The outcome was good! The factory
actually peek into it, dates back to the first half is in a very good condition even today; I was
of the 17th century.There is a lot of uncertainty there myself two years ago.And it has also been
regarding the goings on before that and in the listed as a historical monument in Germany, as
beginning; the family had quite a few of my you must already know.
namesakes in Berlin. Some of my ancestors
were French emigrants – that is, the Gropius L: Yes, and that’s the way it should be. He
family crossbred with them many generations must have been a really daring man to have
back. They came to Berlin in the time of given a contract for such a building for which
Friedrich the Great and the different Gropius´s there was no real model and have it then be
settled here at that time. Later, different built. Were the people of Alfeld critical about
members of (the) my family got into the artistic this project? Were they taken aback by the
line; there was a wallpaper and silk factory in concept?
the same place where the Leopold castle stood,
close to the Kochstraße, the Gabain factory G: Of course! The population was astonished.
which was later taken over by a Gropius and But since it was a factory, no one really got
then there was Martin Gropius, the architect, worked up about that. One of my brothers-in-
who built the arts and crafts museum. But the law was the district administrator there, which
Diorama Gropius had already come into being was pure coincidence. But he obviously played
before that - a large diorama, the predecessor a role in warming up the public to me. Actually,
of films. And this played an important role in I hardly confronted any problem since the
Berlin and became so popular that when a owner of the factory, Mr. Benscheidt, got the
couple of people from Berlin went to Switzer- others to agree to his opinion.
land, there was an old joke book in which it is
said "Ach, how beautifully the scenery has been L: This first building that you constructed is
painted by Gropiusses”. now a listed historical monument,but when you
visit a place today in any part of the world that
L: So you actually had some form of art is not directly behind the Iron Curtain, which
running in the family. But you started off at a has also evidently changed,you obviously come
remarkably young age. Your first large and across many buildings, mostly buildings, the
significant building was a shoe last factory in designs of which have been inspired and which
Alfeld and the Fagus factor with which you are not very different from the very first
expressed all that you wanted to express building of 1911. Thus, you are one of the few
structurally as early as in 1911. You were hardly who can actually say that they have changed
28 years old, if I calculate correctly, when you the countenance of the earth or at least the

82
 7. Documentation

cities or structures of this world. Is this a have to talk about it in retrospect? A worldly
frightening or a pleasant feeling? For example, monastery.
when you go to Japan and see buildings that
you think can resemble the ones built by you G: I would not call it a monastery, but it was
only to find out that they are actually inspired definitely a close-knit association, which was
by Gropius? structured based on human thinking. I would
like to say that I experienced a very interesting
G: It is but naturally a very good feeling when moment in the post-war period; I came back
you stumble upon them. But I would not and told myself that things would be difficult
overestimate it, since there were other parallel for some time, but everything would snap back
forces which made things to what they are. to normal as it was before, till suddenly one day
However,it is a fact that this Alfeld building,this it struck me that this was not to be.What I could
shoe last factory, was the first curtain wall as it now see around me was rather the beginning
is called today a continuous glass wall that is of something different, something new. This
completely continuous. Obviously, the biggest moment, I cannot express it in words, has
challenge was to convince the building con- proved to be very important for me. There was
struction department, since the law was a marked change in me. During this time, the
partially against such constructions and we had Workers Council for Art was founded in Berlin,
to take the long way round to gain their where I was president for a while and where
approval. The owner supported me throughout we attempted to help artistically inclined
even here. people in Germany and to estimate how the
state should react to this. In the meantime, I
L: You started off immediately after the First was appointed as director for two institutes,
World War, which you lived through as a soldier. both of which were in Weimar – one was a
How was your rank during the World Wars? School of Applied Arts previously under van de
Velde,who was sent away from Germany by the
G: I had served in the Regiment of grand duke there and the other was the
Wandsbeker Hussars and went to war with the Academy. I combined these two instruments to
Zieten Hussars. Just before that, I had held the the Bauhaus “Government University for Arts
Werkbund exhibition in Cologne, a building, and Design”.The basic idea of the Bauhaus was,
which followed the same principles as that of perhaps I can explain it better this way: till then
the Alfeld building and was popular, but which the teaching pattern in Schools of Applied
burnt down at the beginning of the war and Sciences and also in Academies were such that
hence nothing of it remains today.I went to war more or less an influential master would teach
as a hussar on the western theatre of war, have his students to follow in his footsteps. It was
ridden for patrols and was also the first to clear to me that such a pattern could not
receive the Iron Cross in my regiment for patrol produce an independent artist but merely an
rides. I enjoy riding even today. assistant. Just two years before that, I had
visited the city where the renowned American
L: Do you still ride? architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, had worked. He
was a great artist and his wife continued to run
G: Yes. the school after his demise. I went there and
found from 60 of its students that each drafted
L: OK. So you came back from the war and a second or third-rate design a la Frank Lloyd
immediately packed your bags for Dessau and Wright.This was a sign of “Assistant upbringing”
took over the management of the Kunsthoch- and not the upbringing of an independent
schule, as it was called then, when artist.The contribution of the Bauhaus was that
we composed – what I would like to call an
G: It was in Weimar, not Dessau. optical science – objective things,which emerg-
ed from human psychology and physiology
L: Weimar, I beg your pardon. Weimar, yes where we started laying down particular things
obviously, yes, yes and you immediately started which are applicable to every individual and
the Bauhaus of Weimar – something that thus equipped young architects with specific
continues to have an influence on our cities observations and visions, based on which they
even today. This Bauhaus was something had to form their own perceptions.This was the
unique, it could be described as a type of essence of the training. I also realised the need
monastery, or do you think otherwise when you to connect the new production-making

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

machines with the artistic human being. For G: Yes.

this purpose, I set up workshops, in which
people were trained from two aspects; from the L: You then went from Weimar to Dessau
artistic aspect as well as from the technical after a few years. Why did you do so? How did
aspect. It has often been misunderstood that it it happen?
was based on handicraft. It was just a cell of
preparation.One cannot understand a machine G: The national-socialistic wave hit Thuringia
before understanding the tools. Thus we first very strongly, and unfortunately, artistic
trained our students in both, and asked them matters also started being used as playthings
to accept a certificate of apprenticeship from in politics and there was a war of the parties.
the chamber of handicrafts, take exams there As this national-socialistic party - the then
but also to obtain their license from the Voelkisch party - started having a stronger
Bauhaus after training in the formal and artistic foothold in Weimar and dampened our pro-
aspects. However, first I could not find teachers gress, we made a move, which perhaps was not
in Weimar, who would be able to design a new a legal one, but it was definitely the right one.
chair and manufacture it at the same time.I had I sat with my faculty members and declared in
to conduct a two-sided search; look for a public that the decision in favour of the
capable artist and a capable workman. But the Bauhaus was made. That took the wind out of
workman had no own formal ideas. Therefore, the government. Legally perhaps, we were not
each student worked under two teachers in the authorised to do so. But I had the feeling that
workshops and the next generation in Dessau this thing that we had built up together was
was a combination of architects, who were really “ours”, teachers and students together so
artists and were trained in handicraft at the that we also wished to maintain it together.And
same time. thus we had success and four different places
in Germany applied to adopt us and the best
L: Was it difficult to find teachers at that conditions were offered by Dessau, where an
time? One hears such glorious names like outstanding mayor Hesse had the courage to
painters Kandinsky and Klee, plus you have take on these things. He also provided us with
worked with big photographers and great funds, which was important, gave us a
master craftsmen. The style of an epoch has temporary building and commissioned me not
been developed in these couple of - in this short only to construct the Bauhaus, newly, but also
span, in this Age of Genius in Weimar and later seven apartments for the main professors.
in Dessau. How did you get people? Were they
your friends or were they drawn by the sheer L: How long were you in Dessau, Prof.
goodness of your activity? Gropius?

G: I was fortunate in that respect. Some G: I was in Dessau from 1924 to 28. Then the
things also went wrong, but all in all, these pressure from the National Socialists became
people, such as Klee and Kandinsky and so strong that I thought it was perhaps better
Moholy-Nagy,etc.were unknown figures at that for another person to take over. My successor
time, but they were known to me because of was Hannes Meyer, but he immediately left the
the Sturm exhibition, etc. and I knew what their Bauhaus since he had a strong inclination
thinking was and then I also obviously spoke towards the communist side. And then, Mies
with a lot of people. Here in Berlin, I also sought van der Rohe took over on my request.
Adolf Behne’s advice very often; he was always
in the know of things and then I was appointed L: The Bauhaus had an astonishingly strong
at higher positions in various places. influence in Russia in your initial years. Were
Fortunately in the beginning, there was a you yourself in the Soviet Union in those years?
provisional social-democratic government in
Weimar, which allowed me to do what I did and G: In 1933, i.e. after the Bauhaus had ended,
my suggestions were accepted then. But it was I had visited Leningrad for a week for some
more difficult to break away from old professors lectures. That was the time when Hitler came
in Weimar who had spent their life in teaching. to power. That is the only time I was to Russia.
Don’t you see? It was no trivial matter. I do not think that the Bauhaus really worked
in Russia. But on the contrary, we were quite
L: But you evidently managed to do it. interested in the modern artists in Russia such
as Lisetzky, etc. and many others, even

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 7. Documentation

architects, who emerged immediately after the and I have seen it nowadays. It has even been
revolution, but later fell flat in Russia itself. extended. This entire principle of the school
developed further,but the basic idea came from
L: You worked as a freelance architect, Henry Morris, who was a remarkable education
constructed buildings here in Berlin- expert.
Siemensstadt, in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart and
then left Germany in 1933 and went first to L: But you work directly together with – and
England. Did you immediately find a large I mention this because of what you just said –
sphere of work there or was it difficult for you, the customer. You construct buildings for the
as an emigrant,to establish yourself in England, people who shall live in them. Now, in recent
although you already enjoyed worldwide fame? times, there was often discomfort about the
style of architecture – use of iron, concrete and
G: It was obviously very difficult at first. But I glass – which you and the Bauhaus have
had held an exhibition at the Royal Institute of encouraged to a great extent? There was a
British Architects in London and there,one man prejudice against this style, which was
had offered that I should work for him,stay with expressed in a very barbaric way under the
him, he would feed me and my wife and I took Nazis, but still continues to exist; that it does
that opportunity, but the question was how to not generate a feeling of warmth for the
leave Germany. The Italians invited me to the people, that it is too cold, that it is not cosy
Volta Congress. That was a theatre congress, enough,that the kobold,who should actually be
where I presented the theatre I had designed built in under the threshold of the house will
once – the Total theatre – and held a lecture on not be able to live there at all. Such things are
this topic.I asked them whether they could give probably coming to the fore again as counter
us a Berlin-Rome-London ticket instead of a movements as the years pass.What do you have
Berlin-Rome-Berlin one.They agreed, and that’s to say to that Professor?
how we managed to get out of the country. But
my wife and I had only 10 Marks in our pockets G: It is absolutely true. You must not forget
– so it was not easy to pull through. In London, that it was a breakthrough.
I met different people and when they invited
me to their homes and asked me whether they L: Yes.
should fetch me a taxi after dinner, I used to say
that I would rather walk to grab some fresh air. G: Spread and upheld around the world in the
This was because I did not have money to pay 20s. It was a breakthrough against the
for the taxi. But shortly I was introduced to an eclecticism of those times, where all possible
architect in London, Maxwell Fry, who is very old styles were imitated. It was a reflection on
well known today, and I worked with him. But I the self, on the industrial era. It was to create
stayed on only for three years in England since something from the conditions prevalent in
I was offered an appointment in the Harvard those times, something which would finally
University and I accepted it. befit the times. Of course, there was primarily
a cleaning process, a certain amount of
L: Your most renowned work in England has harshness emerged, doesn't it? We made
been a school which you built in Impington. everything too plane and disapproved of the
ornaments, etc., which later developed in a
G: Yes. more cheerful way. Just to quote an example, in
the 30s, we constructed only parallel blocks in
L: Was it built on any particular principle, this the north-south direction and with one west
school? It later became exemplary for many and one east side, which gave rise to corridor-
school buildings all over the world. shaped rooms. We no longer do this today.
Today, since it gets too cold and bare from the
G: It was the idea of an education expert, human point of view, we try to group buildings
Henry Morris, to build a school in rural districts, differently, so that there is space between
a part of which he also intended to devote to buildings, because this space is as important as
adults. The idea behind this was to prevent the room structure itself. The room structure
people from going only to bars and to provide must be made positive; the room must have a
them with a small, cultural centre. This proved human touch,it must be a place where one lives,
to be of extraordinary value. This school was which is not just a residual corpus.
built in Impington near Cambridge, England,

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

L: You have done a lot of construction work definitely also laid the foundations for re-using
in America and you also live in America now. the ornament,but it was rather developed from
And you come to Germany and Berlin only for technique than from structure. It was
visits. You have constructed lots of buildings in something that belonged to the building,which
America. Which is your most favourite building grew from it and was not merely attached to it.
in America, Professor? In fact,there was a kind of iconoclasm involved;
we no longer only wanted a panel painting that
G: Actually my favourite is the American could be hung everywhere, we wanted a mural,
Embassy in Athens, which I built from here, but which is an integral part of the conception of a
I am also obviously extremely interested in the room. And this concept was developed further
large Pan-America building, which I built there. and further.
It is the largest building in New York, too big
actually, with 59 floors and 67 elevators in the L: Professor, you are working on a project in
building, etc. But that was an extremely Berlin at present, which appears to be
interesting building both from the aesthetic as enormous to a layman’s eye. It is an entire city
well as from the technical point of view. that you are building, and it is expected to be
as large as Bremerhaven or Baden-Baden when
L: It must have been tremendously difficult it is finished. This so-called Gropius city in the
from the technical aspect, since this Pan- down south of Berlin, in Britz. Can you tell us
America building soars directly over or on the something about this project?
railway station,the Central-Station in New York.
How did you manage it? The railway line actually G: I shall be glad to! I have always had a
ran under the building when it was being special interest in social matters. I keep telling
constructed. And it continues to do so even my students,that when you build a small house,
today. it is not just a simple task, you must be able to
bring the house to life in your imagination. For
G: There were two different levels of railways. example, when a young couple moves into a
During the construction, we had to erect 99 house, there would be children, these children
large pillars for this skyscraper on the platforms would grow into young boys and girls – and the
of the station. And these large pillars were house is completely different in each of these
erected on lead cushions to prevent vibration stages – then they would move out of the house,
that was transferred to the building from the and the old couple would remain. This
station.This was a successful exercise. It was an receptacle "house" must be able to satisfy all
extremely difficult technical problem. these conditions. But you see, when we think of
a residential area, which is larger, we obviously
L: You have just spoken about ornaments think about the house, the apartment, we have
and the fact that ornaments were thoroughly to build but also the larger structure of the
disapproved of in the initial years of the entire complex, so that all the necessities of
Bauhaus,in certain way of self-defence,perhaps people who live there are satisfied. And by
against the preceding Jugendstil (Art Nouveau). necessities I not only refer to the physical
Would you allow ornaments today? Would you necessities but also the psychological need to
really include them in your plans? feel good in the house. And there are obviously
thousand and one ways of achieving this. I first
G: I would say that in the Bauhaus,we worked studied the conditions of this residential area
very closely on the foundations of the in Berlin that you have just talked about; there
ornament, but did not simply pick up an is an extensive green space that was planned
ornament from the earlier time and use it in as a curve from the east to the north-west with
this. We made an attempt to find something radial paths, which were already there. This
that befits our times and the seeds of this green belt has been taken over by the state to
approach were sowed in the Bauhaus. What I preserve it according to my suggestion and to
actually want to say is that the outcomes of the build an underground subway there. And it is
Bauhaus are not decisive but the direction is from there that all these groups of houses now
essential with which we proceeded with a emerge. But they are placed in such a way that
method. The Bauhaus is a concept of the they are not just parallel rows, but court yard-
method, which can be applied as vividly today shaped structures, which again consider the
as 30 years ago. And the approaches of this, in human dimension. And the population density
all our artistic work in the Bauhaus, have is ever increasing – when planning these

86
 7. Documentation

houses, the density was increased from 1.0 to

1.5 – 1.0 means that the built area in an available
space can be of the number of any cubic meters
that one floor occupies. One can obviously have
rooms with higher or lower ceilings. Hence we
were compelled to go higher. And it is
interesting; I have always made this
observation that an idea, if it really has a strong
base and life, requires almost a generation or
30 years to spread. I propagated the multi-
storey block in the 30s and was dreadfully torn
to pieces by the press and attacked for having
come up with such an idea. Today, I put the
brakes on. But it is, of course, a natural
development – the limitations of the available
development area due to the influx of people
into bigger cities make it imperative to go
higher. And there is nothing to say against the
multi-storey blocks. Proportion-wise, the higher
we go the more green area we get for living and
one also cannot obviously exceed the specified
density,otherwise we will have the pushing and
shoving that we see in Manhattan and New
York, where one had not taken the right
measures at the right time and one can look
directly into the neighbour’s house on opening
one’s window, something that is obviously not
a comfortable feeling.

L: Professor, when according to your

assumption, will this massive project, the
Gropius city in south Berlin, be complete?

G: Actually there are quite a few forecasts.

There are so many other constructions,
including public buildings, which would come
up before that, which have to go in for
competitions, etc., I think it would take about
five years or even more till the area is really
built. But I think even the authorities in the city
have not got a very clear picture in their mind
about how quickly this project will near
completion. It obviously depends on all
financing possibilities; it requires, of course,
large sums, to make apartments for 45,000
people,but a quarter of the houses have already
been built and in the next two,three years there
will be many new buildings erected, if no other
problems arise.

L: We hope that they do not arise and we

want to thank you, Professor Gropius, for
showing us your profile with such details and
in such a friendly manner.Thank you very much,
Professor.

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88
 7. Documentation

7. B Texts relating to protective designation, copies of property

management plans or documented management systems and
extracts of other plans relevant to the property
The following extract from the Lower Saxony § 3 Definitions
Denkmalschutzgesetz (Monuments and Histor-
ic Buildings Act) forms the legal basis of the (1) Cultural monuments with reference to this
preservation status of the Fagus factory: act are architectural monuments, archaeologi-
cal monuments and moveable monuments.
Lower Saxony Denkmalschutzgesetz
(Monuments and Historic Buildings Act) (2) Architectural monuments are physical
(NDSchG) structures (§ 2 Para 1 of Lower Saxony Building
dated 30th May 1978 Regulations), parts of physical structures and
(Nds. GVBl. Pg. 517) parks, whose preservation is important due to
their historical, artistic, scientific or urban
last modified by article 1 of the act for the significance.
implementation of administrative modernisa-
tion in the jurisdiction of the Ministry for (3) An architectural monument is also a group
Science and Culture dated 05.11.2004 (Nds. of physical structures, which should be
GVBl. Pg. 415) preserved due to the reasons mentioned in
paragraph 2, irrespective of whether the
Part one individual physical structures themselves are
General regulations architectural monuments. Plants, open areas
and water bodies in the surroundings of an
§ 1 Basic principle architectural monument and the fittings of an
architectural monument are considered as part
Cultural monuments must be protected, of the architectural monument, if these form
maintained and studied scientifically. Within one unit, which should be preserved due to the
the bounds of what is reasonable, these should reasons mentioned in paragraph 2.
be made accessible to the public.
(4) Archaeological monuments are objects,
§ 2 Monument preservation and maintenance groups and traces of objects which are
as public responsibilities mounted on the ground or concealed in it,
which have been created or processed by
(1) It is the responsibility of the state to ensure human beings or which shed light on human
preservation, maintenance and scientific life of the past and should be preserved due to
research of cultural monuments. The state, the the reasons mentioned in paragraph 2, if they
municipalities, the administrative districts and are not architectural monuments.
other local associations as well as institutions
and unions active in the field of monument (5) Moveable monuments are moveable
preservation and the owners of cultural objects and groups of objects, which have been
monuments shall cooperate in exercising created or processed by human beings or which
monument preservation and maintenance. shed light on human life of the past and should
be preserved due to the reasons mentioned in
(2) The state as well as the municipalities, paragraph 2, if they are not archaeological
administrative districts and other local monuments.
associations are under special obligation to
maintain the cultural monuments owned or § 4 List of cultural monuments
used by them and to make these accessible to
the public within the bounds of the possible. (1) Cultural monuments should be put down in
a list,which should be compiled and maintained
(3) Matters related to monument preservation by the State Office for the Preservation of
and maintenance should be included in public Historical Monuments with the support of the
plans and public building activities in due time municipalities.Moveable monuments are listed
such that cultural monuments are preserved only if their specific significance necessitates
and their surroundings designed appropriately, placing them under the protection of this act.
as long as no other public concerns prevail.

89
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

(2) Lower monument preservation authorities with the earnings from or the utility value of
and municipalities maintain parts from the list the cultural monument. If the obligated person
for their respective regions. Anyone can view can utilise the allowances from public or private
the list and the respective parts. Entries about funds or tax benefits, then these should be
moveable monuments and about fittings of taken into account. The obligated person
architectural monuments may only be viewed cannot cite the pressure of increased
by the owners and other parties holding real preservation costs, which accrued for
rights as well as by persons authorised by them. preservation measures he has not been taken
in violation of this act or the public law.
(3) If the prerequisite for an entry is no longer
present, the respective entry should be deleted (4) Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2, No. 3 are not
from the list. applicable for the state, the municipalities, the
administrative districts and other local
§ 5 Impact of entries in the list authorities.They are obligated for preservation
measures within the scope of their financial
The protection of this act does not depend on capacities.
the fact that cultural monuments have been
listed as per § 4. However, §§ 6, 10 and 11 are § 8 Structures in the surroundings of architectural
applicable for moveable monuments only if monuments
these have been entered in the list.
In the surroundings of an architectural
monument, no structures may be built,
Part two modified or removed if this has adverse affects
Preservation of cultural monuments on the appearance of the architectural
monument. Physical structures in the
§ 6 Obligation of preservation surroundings of an architectural monument
should also be designed and maintained so that
(1) Cultural monuments must be preserved, there is no cause for such adverse effects. § 7
maintained, protected from menace and, if is applicable accordingly.
necessary, restored. The owner or the tenant
under a building lease and the beneficial owner § 9 Use of architectural monuments
are obligated to do so; apart from them,persons
currently exercising executive power over the A use of architectural monuments should be
cultural monument are also under obligation. strove for that ensures their long-term
preservation. The state, the municipalities, the
(2) Cultural monuments must not be destroyed, administrative districts and other local
endangered or altered or displaced such that authorities should support the owners and
their monumental significance is impaired. other beneficiaries for this purpose.

§ 7 Limits of the obligation of preservation § 10 Measures subject to approval

(1) Preservation measures cannot be (1) The following activities require approval
demanded if they put unreasonable financial from the monument preservation authority
pressure on the obligated party. 1. Destruction, modification, repairs or
restoration of a cultural monument,
(2) Approval must be obtained for an 2. Displacement of an architectural or ground
intervention into a cultural monument if monument or a part of an architectural
1. the intervention lies in the public interest for monument mentioned in § 3 Paragraph 3 or
scientific reasons, placing signs or advertisements on the same,
2. another predominant public interest 3. Change in use of an architectural monument
imperatively demands the intervention, or
3. unchanged preservation puts unreasonable 4. Construction, modification or removal of
financial pressure on the obligated person. structures in the surroundings of an
architectural monument, which may have an
(3) Financial pressure is considered to be impact on the appearance of the monument.
unreasonable especially if the preservation and
management costs cannot be compensated (2) Restoration work does not require an

90
 7. Documentation

approval according to paragraph 1 if it only

deals with those parts of the cultural
monument that are not important for its
monumental significance.

(3) Approval should be denied if the measure

has the potential of violating this act. Approval
subject to conditions or requirements can be
granted if this is necessary to ensure adherence
to this act.In particular,it can be demanded that
a certain authorised expert should monitor the
restoration work, that an architectural
monument should be re-constructed at another
location or that certain parts should be retained
or reused in another physical structure.

(4) If a measure requires a construction permit

or an official decision that includes or
substitutes the construction permit, an
approval as per paragraph 1 is comprised.
Paragraph 3 is applicable accordingly.

(5) Measures as per paragraph 1 do not require

an approval if they are to be executed on
cultural monuments owned or possessed by
the federal government or the state or are to
be executed by the federal government or the
state; they have to be notified to the State
Office for the Preservation of Historical
Monuments at the beginning of the planning
phase. Clause 1 is accordingly applicable for
measures as per paragraph 1, which are
executed by the Klosterkammer Hannover or
on cultural monuments owned or possessed by
one of its administered foundations.

§ 11 Duty of disclosure

(1) If a listed moveable monument is sold, the

previous and the new owner must immediately
notify the change of ownership to the
monument preservation authority.

(2) If restoration work is required for the

preservation of a cultural monument or if there
is any other danger to the monument, then the
persons obligated for preservation must
immediately notify the monument
preservation authority if they do not carry out
the restoration work or do not ward off the
danger.

(3) Notification by one obligated person

releases the other obligated persons.

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

7. C Form and date of the most 7. E Bibliography

recent records or inventory
of property
The latest monographic description of the The titles listed in the following present a
Fagus factory is the paper by Annemarie Jaeggi selection of the most important literature with
published in 1998: “FAGUS – Industriekultur the “Fagus factory” and the architectural and
zwischen Werkbund und Bauhaus” (see biblio- historical development of modern industrial
graphy).This work is, for the first time, based on construction as subject matter.
thorough evaluation of the extensive company
archive. Under the wide research approach to Banham, Reyner: Theory and Design in the First
industrial culture, Jaeggi not only examines the Machine Age. London 1960.
construction history of the factory, its architec-
ture and art-historical position compared on Banham, Reyner: A Concrete Atlantis. US
the international level, but also includes in her Industrial Building and European Modern
presentation the company history, the close Architecture. Cambridge/Mass. 1986.
connection of the plant management with the
Bauhaus with respect to design and advertising Barner, Wilhelm: Carl Benscheidt d. Ä., 1858-
graphics as well as the early reception of the 1947.Reprint: Niedersächsische Lebensbilder,3,
Fagus factory in the artistic photography. An 1957, Pg. 1-12.
article by Jürgen Götz deals extensively with the
problematic nature of certain constructive spe- Behne, Adolf: Romantiker, Pathetiker und
cialties, which contribute significantly to the Logiker im modernen Industriebau.
understanding of the plant’s restoration In: Preußische Jahrbücher, Year 1913, Vol. 154
history. (Oct - Dec), Pg. 171-174.

The restoration phase of the Fagus factory that Behne, Adolf: Heutige Industriebauten. In:
started in 1981 and ended to a large extent in Velhagen & Klasings Monatshefte, 28, 1913/14,
1999 has been recorded with all steps in the Vol. 2, Issue 5 (Jan 1914), Pg. 53-64.
papers and publications of the state’s monu-
ment preservation authorities – State Office for Behne, Adolf: Fabrikbau als Reklame. In: Das
the Preservation of Historical Monuments, Plakat, 11, 1920, Issue 6, Pg. 274-276.
Lower Saxony.
Behne, Adolf: Neue Kräfte in unserer Architek-
tur. In: Feuer, 2, 1922, Issue 8 (May), Pg. 269-276.
7. D Address where inventory,
Behne, Adolf: Entwürfe und Bauten von Walter
records and archives Gropius. In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung, 42,
are held 1922, No. 104 (24.12.), Pg. 637-640.

Behne, Adolf: Der moderne Zweckbau.

München/Wien/Berlin 1926.
Niedersächsisches Landesamt
für Denkmalpflege Behnsen, Jörg: Der Fall: Das Fagus-Werk in
Scharnhorststraße 1 Alfeld. In: Der Baumeister, 82, 1985, Issue 10, Pg.
D-30175 Hannover 28-31 and 68.

Bauhaus Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung Behnsen, Jörg and Rentschler-Weißmann,

Klingelhöferstraße 14 Dieter: Zur Restaurierung des Fagus-Werkes in
D-10785 Berlin Alfeld (Leine). In: Berichte zur Denkmalpflege
in Niedersachsen, 6, 1986, Issue 1, Pg. 2-11.
Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG
Hannoversche Straße 58 Behrens, Peter: Die Turbinenhalle der Allgemei-
D-31061 Alfeld nen Elektricitätsgesellschaft zu Berlin. In: Mit-
teilungen des Rheinischen Vereins für Denkmal-
pflege und Heimatschutz, 4, 1910, Issue 1 (1.3.),
Pg. 26-29.

92
 7. Documentation

Beutinger, Emil: Die Faguswerke in Alfeld a. L. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell: Modern Architecture.

In: Der Industriebau, 4, 1913, Issue 1 (15.1.), Pg. Romanticism and Reintegration. New York 1929
11-19. (Reprint: New York 1970).

Buddensieg, Tilmann and Rogge, Henning: Hitchcock, Henry-Russell: Architecture:

Industriekultur. Peter Behrens und die AEG Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.
1907-1914. Berlin 1979. Harmondsworth 1958.

Dieling, Otto: 25 Jahre Fagus-Werk, Karl Hoffmann, Paul: Neue Fabrikbauten in Alfeld
Benscheidt, Alfeld-Leine. Alfeld/Leine 1936. (Leine). In: Deutsche Bauzeitung, 62, 1928, No.
51 (27.6.), Pg. 436-439.
Franz, W.: Fabrikbauten. (= Handbuch der
Architektur, 4th Part, 2nd Half-binding, 5th Isaacs, Reginald R.: Walter Gropius. Der Mensch
issue) Leipzig 1923. und sein Werk. Vol. 1, Berlin 1983.

Giedion, Sigfried: Walter Gropius. Paris 1931. Jaeggi, Annemarie: Adolf Meyer. Der zweite
Mann. Ein Architekt im Schatten von Walter
Giedion, Sigfried: Space,Time and Architecture. Gropius. Berlin 1994.
Cambridge/Mass. 1941.
Jaeggi, Annemarie: Fagus. Industriekultur
Giedion, Sigfried: Walter Gropius. Mensch und zwischen Werkbund und Bauhaus. Berlin 1998.
Werk. Stuttgart 1954.
Jaeggi, Annemarie: Fagus. Industrial Culture
Gordon,B.F.: The Fagus Factory.In: Architectural from Werkbund to Bauhaus. New York 2000
Record, 169, 1981, No. 7, Pg. 114-117.
Koenig, Giovanni Klaus: Walter Gropius e le
Grönwald, Bernd: Faguswerk und Bauhaus. In: officine Fagus. In: Casabella, 30, 1966, No. 11, Pg.
form + zweck, 18, 1986, No. 6, Pg. 10-15. 54-65.

Gropius, Walter: Monumentale Kunst und Müller-Wulckow, Walter: Bauten der Arbeit und
Industriebau.Lecture given on 10.04.1911 in the des Verkehrs. Königstein 1925 (2nd edition,
Folkwang Museum Hagen. Printed in: Probst, 1929).
Hartmut und Schädlich, Christian (Publishers):
Walter Gropius, Vol. 3 (Berlin 1988), Pg. 28-51. Nelson, Daniel: Managers and Workers. Origins
of the New Factory System in the United States
Gropius, Walter: Die Entwicklung moderner 1880-1920. Madison 1975.
Industriebaukunst. In: Jahrbuch des Deutschen
Werkbundes, 2, 1913, Pg. 17-22. Nerdinger,Winfried: Walter Gropius.Berlin 1985
(2nd edition, 1996).
Gropius, Walter: Der stilbildende Wert
industrieller Bauformen. In: Jahrbuch des Nerdinger, Winfried: The Walter Gropius
Deutschen Werkbundes, 3, 1914, Pg. 29-32. Archive. Vol. 1, New York/Cambridge/
Mass. 1990.
Gropius, Walter: Internationale Architektur.
München 1925 (2nd edition 1927). Pevsner, Nikolaus: Pioneers of the Modern
Movement. From William Morris to Walter
Gropius,Walter: Glasbau. In: Die Bauzeitung, 23, Gropius. London 1936 (German edition:
1926, No. 20 (25.5.), Pg. 159-162. Hamburg 1949 and 1957; Cologne 1983).

Gropius, Walter: Architektur. Wege zu einer Pieper, Jan: Gropius Vitruvianus Meyeri. In:
optischen Kultur. Frankfurt am Main/Hamburg Bauwelt, 10, 2009, Pg. 6-11.
1956 (2nd edition, Frankfurt am Main 1982).
Platz, Gustav Adolf: Die Baukunst der neuesten
Heise, Georg: Die Welt ist schön. 100 Zeit. Berlin 1927 (2nd edition, 1930).
photographs by Albert Renger-Patzsch.
München 1928. Posener, Julius: Berlin auf dem Wege zu einer
neuen Architektur. München 1979 (2nd edition,
1995).

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

Probst, Hartmut and Schädlich, Christian: Sharp, Dennis: Walter Gropius, Bauhaus,
Walter Gropius. 3 Volumes, Berlin 1986-1988. Dessau,Germany,1925-26.Fagus Factory,Alfeld-
an-der-Leine, Germany, 1911-25 (with Adolf
Rentschler-Weißmann, Dieter: Ein Meyer). Tokyo 1994 (“Global Architecture”)
Industriedenkmal von Weltrang: Das Fagus-
Werk von Walter Gropius. In: Jahrbuch des Tönnesmann, Andreas: Das Faguswerk wird
Landkreises Hildesheim, 1987, Pg. 161-172. >restauriert<,In: Kunstchronik,40,1987,Pg.261-
264.
Schadendorf, Wulf: Das Fagus-Werk Karl
Benscheidt Alfeld/Leine (= Kleine Kunstführer Weber, Helmut: Walter Gropius und das
für Niedersachsen, Issue 5), Göttingen 2nd Faguswerk. München 1961.
edition, 1958.
Wilhelm, Karin: Fabrikenkunst. Die
Scheffauer,Herman George: The Work of Walter Turbinenhalle, und was aus ihr wurde. In: T.
Gropius. In: Architectural Review, 56, 1924, No. Buddensieg and H. Rogge: Industriekultur.
333 (August), Pg. 50-54. Peter Behrens und die AEG 1907-1914 (Berlin
1979), Pg. 141-166.
Schwartz, Frederic J.: The Werkbund. Design
Theory and Mass Culture before the First World Wilhelm, Karin: Walter Gropius.
War. New Haven/London 1996. Industriearchitekt. Braunschweig/Wiesbaden
1983.
Sharp, Dennis: Architektur im zwanzigsten
Jahrhundert. München 1973.

94
 8. Contact information of responsible authorities

8. CONTACT INFORMATION
OF RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES

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96
 8. Contact information of responsible authorities

8. A Preparer 8. C Other local institutions

Niedersächsisches Landesamt Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG

für Denkmalpflege
Hannoversche Straße 58
Kimpflinger, Wolfgang, Dr. phil. D-31061 Alfeld
Scharnhorststraße 1 Germany
D-30175 Hannover
Germany Phone: 0049 (0)5181/790
Fax: 0049(0)5181/79406
Phone: 0049 (0) 511/92 550 E-Mail: [email protected]
Fax: 0049 (0) 511/92 55 328
[email protected]

8. B Offical local 8. D Official web address

institution/agency

Niedersächsisches Ministerium Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH & Co. KG

für Wissenschaft und Kultur www.fagus-gropius.com
Oberste Denkmalschutzbehörde

Leibnizufer 9 Ministry for Science and Culture, Lower Saxony

D-30169 Hannover www.mwk.niedersachsen.de
Germany

Phone: 0049 (0)511/1200 State Office for the Preservation of Historical

Fax: 0049 (0)511/1202805 Monuments, Lower Saxony
E-Mail: [email protected] www.denkmalpflege.niedersachsen.de

Niedersächsisches Landesamt
für Denkmalpflege

Scharnhorststraße 1
D-30175 Hannover
Germany

Phone: 0049 (0)511/92550

Fax: 0049 (0)511/9255328
E-Mail: [email protected]

Stadt Alfeld
Denkmalschutzbehörde

Marktplatz 12
D-31061 Alfeld
Germany

Phone: 0049 (0)5181/7030

Fax: 0049 (0)5181/703216
E-Mail: [email protected]

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 9. Signature on behalf of the State Party

9. SIGNATURE ON BEHALF OF THE

STATE PARTY

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Lutz Stratmann
Minister for Science and Culture

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 Appendix

APPENDIX

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

1. Short biographies

1. A Walter Gropius
18.05.1883
Born in Berlin

Up to 1908
Studied architecture at the technical universi-
ties in Munich and Berlin-Charlottenburg

1908-1910
Worked with Peter Behrens in Berlin

1910-1918
Independent architect in Berlin, teamed up
with the architect Adolf Meyer

1912
Member of the Deutschen Werkbund (German
Work Federation)

1918
Co-founder of the Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Work
Council for Art)

1919-1925 1942-1952
Head of the "Staatliche Bauhaus" (School for Collaboration with Konrad Wachsmann for
fine arts and crafts) in Weimar constructing plywood houses (General Panel
Corporation)
1925-1928
Director of the Bauhaus Dessau Hochschule für 1945
Gestaltung (Design school in Dessau) Founding of The Architects Collaborative (TAC)

1924 1948-1950
Member of the Berlin Association of Architects President of CIAM
“Zehnerring” (“Der Ring” from 1926)
05.07.1969
1927 Died in Boston (USA)
Member of the Reichsforschungsgesellschaft
für Wirtschaftlichkeit in Bau- und Wohnungswe- Important buildings
sen (Imperial Research Society for Economic
Efficiency in Building and Housing) 1911-1914 The Fagus factory (shoe last factory,
Benscheidt), Alfeld a.d. Leine
1930 1925-1926 Bauhaus building and Meisterhäuser
Vice President of CIAM (teacher's houses), Dessau
1926-1928 Dessau-Törten housing estate
1934
Emigrated to England 1928 residential houses in Dammerstock
housing estate, Karlsruhe
1937 1929-1930 Großsiedlung Siemensstadt (Block 4
Emigrated to the USA,Professor of architecture and 9), Berlin-Charlottenburg
at the Harvard University in Boston (Mass.)
1955-1957 Apartment multi-storied building for
1938-1952 INTERBAU in Hansaviertel, Berlin-Tiergarten
Head of Department of Architecture at Harvard, From 1959, General planning for the
partnership with the former Bauhaus master Großsiedlung in Britz-Buckow-Rudow (Gropius
Marcel Breuer until 1941 City), Berlin-Neukölln

102
 Appendix

1. B Carl Benscheidt

1858
Carl Benscheidt was born on 17 January in Oth-
maringenhausen, Halver district, Westphalia.
He was the oldest of twelve siblings.

1876
Studied at Mittweida technical school

1877/78
Trained at the practice of naturopath Arnold
Rikli in Veldes (Bled) and Triest. Worked for six
months as bath attendant in Triest.

1879
Returned to Germany

1882
Manufactured the first pair of lasts in Lemgo

1884
Founding of last and shoe factory in Hannover
Carl Benscheidt first married Emma nee
1896 Artmann (1855-1920). In this marriage, three
Joined Carl Behrens’ shoe last factory in children were born: Karl (1888-1975),Fritz (1894-
Alfeld/Leine as technical director 1911) and Paula. Benscheidt's second marriage
was with Liesel nee Artmann (1891-1963).
1896
Benscheidt ran the company along with
Wilhelm Bertram after the death of the owner

1899
The non-profit builders’ association of Alfeld
was founded on Benscheidt’s initiative. He was
a part of the management for 40 years.

1910
Benscheidt left the company Carl Behrens

1911
The Fagus factory was founded in March.
Foundation stone laid in May for the factory’s
construction. Production started in autumn.

Until 1926
Benscheidt regularly gave assignments to
Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus artists

1936
Honorary citizen of Alfeld.

1947
Carl Benscheidt died on August 31 in Alfeld.

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 Appendix

2. External reports
2. A Annemarie Jaeggi

The Fagus factory in Alfeld an der Leine (1911-1925)

Expert report for the nomination for inscription on the UNESCO World
Heritage List

Introductory comments

The Fagus factory in Alfeld an der Leine - one of the firstuildings

b designed
by the architect Walter Gropius (1883-1969) who w ent on to acquire
worldwide fame later-on - is described as a turning point in the history of
architecture in the technical literature: It heralds the arrival of the distinctive
modern architecture of the 20th centur y that f ocuses on industr ial
construction as the new challenge for a dynamic society and der ives its
form from its function. The Fagus factory’s superior status as an ‘original
building of modern arts' remains internationally unchallenged. It holds a
unique position not only in the history of architecture, but also in the history
of design because of the furniture conceptualised in the Bauhaus. Added
to it, is perhaps the little kno wn influence of the high social standards of
the company’s founder Carl Benscheidt (1858-1947). He based the
blueprint, the implemented architecture, the daily work and the products
manufactured in the Fagus factory on a holistic concept aiming at reform,
which he considered a duty ser ving to the mankind. It is in no w ay an
overstatement that the F agus factory, apart from its eminent national
significance, is an internationally recognised monument already since just
after World War II. In addition to being acclaimed in all man uals on the
history of architecture, it has to be pointed out thextremely
e early provision
of protection to the Fagus factory - probably the first such instance for a
modern building - in the year 1946, which was a time when the later state
of Lower Saxony was under the so vereignty of the Br itish military
government.

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Historical Context: Factory culture around 1910

When Carl Benscheidt established Fagus GmbH in 1910, there were very
few factory buildings in Germany that followed the reformatory essence
of new architecture. Its appearance was a departure from the notions of
the 19th century that vacillated between two extremes: either no attention
was paid to this supposedly ‘base’ part of building, or they were turned
into gaudy structures on the pretext of publicity. This was most commonly
evident in breweries fashioned on the lines of medieval castles. A gradual
turnaround began only when the Deutsche Werkbund was instituted in
1907. This association, which compr ised of politicians , industrialists,
architects, artists and pub licists, dedicated itself to a comprehensiv e
reform of all walks of life with artistic designs (motto: ‘from construction of
cities to sofa cushions’) in order to bring about a qualitative enhancement
and aesthetic training of the population and at the same time augment
Germany’s competitiveness in the international market.

Among the founders of the DeutscheWerkbund was Peter Behrens (1869-

1940) who was trained as a painter, but engaged in all f orms of art. He
was called in 1907 for the ‘artistic council’ of the Allgemeinen Elektrizitäts-
Gesellschaft in Berlin (AEG). He designed all the areas that defined the
company’s external look for a uniform style. This included the compan y
logo and all adv ertising materials as w ell as the products (electr ical
devices) and e ven the f actory’s architecture. According to our current
understanding, Behrens fulfilled the tasks of a designer , giving AEG a
uniform corporate identity.

The young Walter Gropius worked from 1908 to 1910 in P eter Behrens'
office and w as involved during this time in the designing and
implementation of the AEG projects.After an initial period when he strongly
identified with the w ork of his boss , a cr itical phase of disag reements
followed which led to a deadlock during the construction of a turbine room
for AEG in Berlin-Moabit and ended their association.Gropius left Behrens’
office in 1910. He started working independently and emplo yed Adolf
Meyer (1881-1929) who had also w orked for Behrens and became his
closest colleague until 1925. Towards end of 1910 the y came to kno w
about the F agus factory planned in Alf eld an der Leine and sent an
application to the company’s founder Carl Benscheidt.

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 Appendix

The Employer: Astute businessman with reformatory demand

Since Carl Benscheidt could not fulfil his dream of studying medicine due
to financial reasons , he w orked in a v egetarian and naturopathically
oriented sanatorium in the 1870s. He came across a number of patients
who complained about faulty shoes. At that time, shoemakers made shoes
with their hands and there w as no difference between the left and r ight
lasts. Therefore, the shoes did not fit properly and needed to be broken in
till they adjusted to the f oot. Benscheidt began to cut lasts according to
the foot and achieved remarkable therapeutic results with the shoes made
out of these lasts. Soon he started working independently in Hannover as
a last and shoe mak er. Last manufacturer Carl Behrens (not related to
Peter Behrens) in the nearb y Alfeld an der Leine came to kno w about
Benscheidt and employed him as his technical plant manager.

At the Behrens estab lishment, Benscheidt organised the production

processes and introduced the latest machines. He was also responsible
for the development of lasts which corresponded with the phase leading
to automatic manufacture of shoes in the late 19th centur y.Soon, it became
necessary to expand the factory, which Benscheidt achieved with the help
of Eduard Werner who was a well established industrial architect in the
Hannover region.The important experience of both men in their respectiv e
fields of work gave birth to an exemplary plant that needs a mention f or
its model technical facilities and the work conditions. With the death of the
company owner Carl Behrens, differences arose between the heirs and
Carl Benscheidt which caused him to quit the company.

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The Architects: Old school and Avant-garde

In the area opposite the Behrens f actory, Benscheidt purchased an

expansive plot with railway access in Alfeld an der Leine on which he w ould
later construct his o wn company: The Fagus factory, named after the
botanical name for the beech tree (lat.Fagus silvatica). He became largely
independent in the Ger man credit market on the basis of the Amer ican
capital and adopted the most advanced last turning lathes from America.
He sent his son Kar l Benscheidt jr. to Beverly close to Boston for a year
for training in the heart of US shoe fabrication industry. After returning to
Alfeld, he w as expected to introduce technical kno w-how, efficient
management and modern advertising in the Fagus factory in line with the
American example.

In a successful collaboration with the architect EduardWerner, Benscheidt

developed the factory plant: it follows the production-based sequence of
delivery of the raw material (beech wood) through railway to the sawmill,
from there to the store house and the dr ying rooms and finally to the
workroom where the lasts get their final shape on turning lathes. The so-
called main building houses the model w orkshop, dispatch depar tment
and all offices. The boiler room, engine house and chip bunker are on the
railway side. There is an independent depar tment for metal processing
separated from the actual plant complex with an internal road for fire safety
reasons.

Benscheidt and Werner had thought of everything. Their factory met the
technical requirements of a modern operation and was designed to expand
the factory without any problems. But Carl did not want to settle with the
architecture of Eduard Werner which was conventional and did not meet
the standards propagated by the Werkbund for a comprehensive industrial
culture. He came to know about AEG from the trade journals and wanted
something similar. However, he could not afford a high-level architect like
Peter Behrens at that time. The application by Walter Gropius and Adolf
Meyer, both of them young employees of Behrens, came just at the right
time. Benscheidt offered them the chance to remodel his f actory in the
planning stage and they grabbed this opportunity.

108
 Appendix

The factory structure as an artistic construction work of the future

Like Carl Benscheidt, Walter Gropius also admired the prog ress of the
American industry. He was excited about the unconventional handling of
the new construction materials like concrete, glass and steel that w as
entirely derived from requirement and function. He especially sa w the
power of a mon umental art of constr uction in the utility b uildings
constructed by anonymous builders, mostly engineers that could lead
architecture to a new level away from the ennobled temple motifs and use
of stylistic elements from the past er as. Like his teacher Peter Behrens,
Gropius knew that the castles, town halls or churches were no longer the
major structures of the future, but industry had to be seen as the po wer
that changed the society, in turn giving birth to a new mass culture.

In contrast to his teacher Behrens, Gropius went an important step further

which is clearly manifested in the comparison between the turbine room
of the AEG in Ber lin and the F agus factory in Alfeld. Behrens used the
new materials: concrete, steel and glass, but he covered the turbine hall
in a design reminiscent of monumental buildings of the past eras: the front
likens, though not as a cop y, the str ucture of a temple f acade with
monumental pylons of concrete which framed thin walls mainly made of
glass. Behrens follows the con ventional understanding here which
professed giving clear lines to the corners of a building in order to give it
an optical purchase. In reality, however, the turbine room does not require
this substantial concrete reinforcing, since it is a steel constr
uction.Gropius
and Meyer accuse Behrens of this‘constructively pseudo’ solution and his
attitude of upgrading the str ucture by including the elements of temple
architecture. Though the teacher and his students were of the opinion to
build ‘cathedrals’ for the work place – i.e. industrial buildings that upgrade
the social significance of the w ork through sophisticated architecture –
Gropius and Meyer understood it not in the liter al, but in the figur ative
sense.

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

In his book "Berlin auf dem Weg zu einer neuen Architektur (1979)", Julius
Posener has v ery convincingly introduced an ‘antithetic dependence’
which is evident in relation between the turbine room and the main ubilding
of the Fagus factory. Instead of the powerful pylons, the corners dissolve
into a suppor t-less structure of steel and glass . For the Fagus factory,
columns escarped into the b uilding are used instead of the v ertical
supports on the longitudinal section of the turbine room. The sloping
window surfaces of AEG meet perpendicular and clamped membrane-like
thin glass walls designed over three stories in Alfeld.

It is still incorrectly belie ved that Gropius and Me yer had used ne w
construction materials and constructions in Alfeld as Behrens did in Berlin.
In reality, the Fagus factory was constructed in conventional brickwork
without an inner reinf orcement through steel or use of concrete . This is
explained by the limited budget Benscheidt had and the consequent need
to employ local construction resources. The production of large windo w
elements at a special compan y in Ber lin already brought his scanty
finances to a crisis situation. At the same time, the large window surfaces
have little to do with a curtain wall that is static and would have been placed
on the internal structure of the construction. Gropius and Meyer completed
this section in the Werkbund plant built in 1913/14 in Cologne . Gropius
(without Meyer) then further honed this design in the Bauhaus building in
Dessau to make it a distinguishing characteristic of modern buildings. The
Fagus factory is the first important level in this development.

1913/14 expansion and other plans for extension

The Fagus factory required a two-fold expansion already after two years.
Carl Benscheidt did not contact Eduard Werner for this and worked only
with Gropius and Meyer. They extended the main building and gave it two
more corners without structural support. One of them has a main staircase
that gives an impression that it ho vers in the air . It is a v ariation of the
round and completely glass covered staircases in the Cologne Werkbund
plant. The glass facade has been used in other b uildings of the plant as
well: Gropius and Meyer designed an opening with a glass-covered front
for the main w orkroom. They covered the new engine house in a glass
body. A few years later, the small rail-car scale structure was also enclosed
in glass. Glass was used at every location that requires light or open view.

110
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Besides serving its utilitarian function, it also meets the requirements of

an innovative architecture and appearance of a modern establishment.

Carl Benscheidt was driven by the need for more extension plans at the
beginning of 1920s. He commissioned Gropius and Meyer between 1923
and 1925 to mak e designs f or an e xtensive expansion of the metal
processing department (departments of forge, fitter’s workshop and cutting
die production). Though they were never implemented, they are of great
significance from the point of view of architectural history, since they not
only gave further shape to the concept of glass architecture , but also
anticipate the constitutive elements of the Bauhaus b uilding. Thus, the
Fagus factory is not only a depiction of the e volution evident in Walter
Gropius’ oeuvre, but the design-based evolutionary history of the Bauhaus
building can also be traced through it.

Furnishing by the Bauhaus

The interior furnishing of the F agus factory extended in 1913/14 w as

delayed due to the First World War. From 1919 onwards, Walter Gropius’
office began the design and production of inter iors with the involvement
of the Bauhaus workshops. Special attention was given to the vestibule in
the main staircase which was initiated in 1922/23.Here, like the office wing
on the first floor, a prototype of the so-called Bauhaus handle w as used
for construction which Gropius and Me yer had de veloped in 1922.
Furthermore, they fitted the entr ance area as w ell as the corr idors with
the typical box-shaped lamps.These were later used in the Haus am Horn
in Weimar. The furnishing of the main b uilding also attr acts special
attention. Gropius and Meyer used various types of fur niture, sofas and
tables for the visitors’ area and conference rooms and benches in the
corridors, some of which are no w placed in their or iginal location or
displayed in the Fagus factory museum. With the furnishing of the Fagus
factory, the considerable amount of work rendered by the Gropius office
between 1910 and 1925 for Carl Benscheidt came to an end.

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

The Fagus factory today

In the year 1975, the brothers Gerd and Ernst Greten, great grandchildren
of the founder of the company Carl Benscheidt, took over the management
of the Fagus factory. From the early 1980s, they began the renovation of
the famous, but past-its-prime factory complex. Their approach towards
the decision making process is noteworthy in my opinion for the fact that
they involved the State Office of r the Preservation of Historical Monuments
and the interested specialists who intently participated in the expert talks
and discussion rounds. The process of retrofitting lasted almost 20 years
in sections and with full actory
f operation. At the same time, the traditionally
used beech wood gave way to plastic for producing the shoe lasts . This
made large sections of the factory such as sawmill, the large storehouse,
drying rooms, chip bunker and delivery through railway line along with the
rail-car scales redundant. Before this development, the engine and boiler
house were already out of commission and consequently the smokestack
which was so impor tant for the appear ance of the F agus factory also
became redundant.

The renovation and transformation process had almost been finished by

the Expo Hannover 2000 – the F agus factory participated in the w orld
exhibition as a local site. The buildings which had become obsolete were
given new functions, for instance the engine room is no w used as the
factory canteen and caf eteria. A noteworthy mention is the storehouse
which was completely revitalised.It housed in its our
f floors a professionally
conceptualised and informatively presented exhibition on the histor y of
the Fagus factory, its founder, its seminal architecture, architects as well
as a cultural history of the shoe lasts and shoe fashion. Smaller, eclectic
exhibitions are housed in the basement of the storehouse and the
production hall also hosts concer ts in the e venings or w eekends. The
management of the F agus factory has not only opened the f actory
premises and its building to professionals but also lent an essential cultural
contribution to the small town of Alfeld and its surroundings.

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Summary: Significance and appraisal

No manual on the history of world architecture fails to mention the shoe

last factory Fagus in Alfeld an der Leine, which was started in 1911 and
finished in 1914 in two phases. The industrial complex designed by Walter
Gropius is undeniably the forerunner of architectural modernism because
it was a path breaking architectur al work in terms of functionality of the
building structure. It does not simply follow the demands of production in
a utilitarian sense, but caters especially to the requirements of maximum
light, air and hygienic working conditions for the people working there – a
social concern which found a broader acceptance in the society only after
the 1920s and became the most impor tant requirement in the moder n
world. This prudent standard finds a corresponding e xpression in the
Fagus factory architecture which does not f ollow the concepts of a
representative upgrade of the factory through stylised borrowing from the
past eras that was practiced at the time. It instead derives the shape from
the operational function, the social substance and ref ormatory thoughts
of the time.

The significance of the F agus factory was recognised promptly. Shortly

after its completion, there was an extensive reporting and appraisal in the
German professional circles before the First World War which brought
fame for its architect Walter Gropius as w ell. In 1919 Gropius w as
requested to manage the Weimar art schools - not least because of the
fame that Fagus factory had brought him. He transformed the art schools
into the first moder n college for design under the name “Bauhaus” and
made it w orldwide famous. After the Bauhaus shifted from Weimar to
Dessau in 1925, Gropius built a new building for the Bauhaus there which
was a further development of the task begun in Alfeld for making industrial
buildings the models for modern architecture. Immediately after World War
II and before the making of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1946, the
British military government provided protection to the Fagus factory.

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Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

This extraordinary act of appraisal might be the first entry of a building of

modern architecture in the annals of historical monument conservation. It
recognises the phenomenal significance of the Fagus factory as original
building of modern architecture, its originator Carl Benscheidt as an astute
factory owner and its architect Walter Gropius as a co-founder of a new
form of architecture.

The Fagus factory enjoys an exemplary status. It is still used as production

site for shoe lasts - which alone is astonishing after almost 100 y ears -
even though they are now made of plastic and not with its namesak e beech
wood (lat. Fagus silvatica).The management has started a museum in the
storehouse which was formerly used to dry the wood. The museum lively
illustrates the histor y of the F agus factory and its architecture .
Furthermore, the company contributes towards the enrichment of the local
cultural offer by hosting various exhibitions and events in the halls of its
factory. With a sufficient n umber of parking spaces and toilets f acilities,
the Fagus factory has professional infrastructure within its premises that
is capable and worthy of receiving guests from all over the world who can
visit the museum shop and get refreshments at the eatery.

In my opinion, the Fagus factory meets all prerequisites for being included
in the UNESCO World Heritage List on account of its unique importance
as a forerunner of modern architecture, its exemplary state of preservation
and the public accessibility of the building complex.

Dr. Annemarie Jaeggi

Director, Bauhaus Archiv Berlin

114
 Appendix

2. B Dennis Sharp

115
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

116
Appendix

117
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

118
Appendix

119
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

120
Appendix

121
Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List

122
Appendix

123
 a
Lutz Stratmann Niedersachsischer Minister
fur Wissenschaft und Kultur

UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Director

Mr. Francesco Bandarin
7, place de Fontenoy
75352 Paris 07 SP
France

Hannover, 26 January 2010

Subject: Nomination 01 the Fagus- Factory in Alleld, Germany, lor inscription on the
World Heritage List

Dear Director Bandarin,

in accordance with the Operational Guidelines I submit to you the nomination dossier of
the Fagus Factory in Alleld, in which the comments 01 the technical analysis have been
regarded.
/

~ki
r for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony

. .' "

If"
I
", • .;, £,6 ~
-.,..........,-:-~_.~- -'.-'
,,1 '"
1\J<.o
~W'*)
Leibnilufe, 9
30169 Hannrwt"r
Telefon (OS 11) 120- 24 01 /2402
Tel"f~. (O511) 120-2621
t-M~II lulz.slratmann@
mwk.niedersach,en. dt"
 Preliminary note

The present application was revised and amended according to the oomments of the

2011 COMMITIEE SESSION - DRAFI NOMINAnON COMPLETENESS CHECK

of 05.11.2009.

The comments on the oomparative analysis criticised particularty the term

"inoomparability" that was used. This term is misunderstanding. It is oorrect that the
Fagus factory is an example of unique innovative strength that significantly justifies
Its universal meaning. As none of the architects who acted in the period from the turn
of the century until the oonstruction of the Fagus factory detached themselves from
traditional forms and ideas to the extent Waiter Gropius did, there are no buildings
with similar features from the time about 1911. ThUS, the comparative analysis (3C)
deals with those bUildings in which Waiter Gropius developed his ideas of a modern
architecture with glass as a medium of expression of design. First, Waiter Gropius
himself only propagated this idea with the oonstruction of a sample factory on the
Werkbund exhibition 1914 in Coiogne, interrupted by the First World War (1914-
1918) to be newly formulated to a programmatic form of architecture in the Bauhaus
building in Dessau (1925/26).
Thereafter the basic idea of architecture as glass body with its internal design oould
establish in the modern oonstruction and in the sO-allled International Style. The
basic principle experienced such an enormous propagation in every construction
work that a selection of individual more recent examples does not seem to be
reasonable.

Corrections were included in the following sections of the application:

P. 49, left oolumn, paragraph 1

P. 50, left oolumn, paragraph 2
P. 56, right oolumn from line 20
P.
P.
76,
76,
left oolumn, paragraph 4
right oolumn, paragraph 1 \O,r ',,'0 [~CjA o\roL
P. 81, left oolumn, paragraphs 1 and 2.
~(e.~·
~)f:Y!l.
.

H~~,_January 2010 (~~

(Or. KimPfli~~'
SEKRETARIAT DER STÄNDIGEN KONFERENZ Bonn, 22.11.2010
DER KULTUSMINISTER DER LÄNDER 53117 Graurheindorfer Straße 157
IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND 53012 Postfach 22 40
Tel.: (0228) 501-670
GeschZ.: IIID – 5993 Fax: (0228) 501-777
E-Mail:[email protected]

Vorab per E-Mail Nachrichtlich:

Herrn [email protected]
VLR I Max Maldacker [email protected]
Leiter des Referats 603
Auswärtiges Amt [email protected]
Werderscher Markt 1
10117 Berlin
[email protected]

Betr.: UNESCO-Konvention zum Schutz des Kultur- und Naturerbes der Welt;
hier: Evaluierung des Welterbe-Antrages „Fagus-Werk“
Bezug: Unser Schreiben vom 14.10.2010
Anlg.: -3-

Sehr geehrter Herr Maldacker,

als Anlage übermitteln wir Ihnen vorab per E-Mail die von der Direktorin von ICOMOS, Frau
Durighello, zusätzlich gewünschten Informationen zum Nominierungsantrag „Fagus-Werk“.

Es handelt sich dabei um das Anschreiben an ICOMOS, eine 28-seitige Beschreibung und einen
Bildanhang.

Der Eilbedürftigkeit halber sind diese Unterlagen vom Niedersächsischen Ministerium für
Wissenschaft und Kultur bereits an ICOMOS übermittelt worden, damit der Termin 22. November
2010 gehalten werden konnte.

Das Original folgt unmittelbar auf dem Postwege.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Im Auftrag

(Werner Nagel)
 Niedersächsisches Ministerium
Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur
Postfach 2 61, 30002 Hannover für Wissenschaft und Kultur

Mrs. Director Durighello

World Heritage Programme

ICOMOS International Ministry for Science and Culture
of Lower Saxony
49-51 rue de la Fédération

75015 PARIS

Bearbeitet von Herrn Lucka

E-Mail: [email protected]
Fax: 0511 120 99 2579

Ihr Zeichen, Ihre Nachricht vom Mein Zeichen (Bei Antwort bitte angeben) Durchwahl (0511) 120- Hannover, den
GB/MA 1368 34 – 50923 2579 18.11.2010
30 September 2010

World Heritage List: Fagus factory (Germany) – Additional information

Dear Mrs. Director Durighello,

please find enclosed the additional information, as requested in your letter. I hope, that
they can help to clarify the aspects, to which further explanations were still necessary.

Yours sincerely

Wilhelm Lucka

(Referent for conservation in the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony)

Ausgezeichnet mit dem Dienstgebäude u. Paketanschrift Telefon Überweisung an das

Leibnizufer 9, 30169 Hannover (0511) 120-0 Niedersächsische Ministerium
Telefax für Wissenschaft und Kultur
Stadtbahnen: (0511) 120–2801 oder Konto 106 022 304 Nordd. Landesbank Hannover
Linien 10 u. 17 Clevertor (0511) 120–99-Durchwahl (BLZ 250 500 00)
E-Mail: [email protected]

B_101122_UNESCO_Fagus_na_gk_Anlage 1.doc
 Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege
Bau- und Kunstdenkmalpflege

Hannover, dated 16th November 2010

1. The exact role exerted by the Fagus Factory on the emergence of the
Bauhaus

The starting points of modern architecture in the 20th century are manifested in three
sites that Germany has nominated for adoption in the World Heritage List of the
UNESCO: the Fagus Factory in Alfeld as an innovative site for work and production,
the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates (Berliner Siedlungen) as the sites of the new
residential living (World Heritage List 2008) and the Bauhaus Dessau as a place for
communication and debate, learning and training for imbibing a new image of
mankind (World Heritage List 2003). With this threefold nomination, it is attempted to
give due credit to the significance of the “new style of building” (Neues Bauen), that
characterised the image of built-up spaces in the period between the two world wars
in initially sporadic, but steadily increasing fashion. After 1945, this style of
architecture with its property of bestowing identity spread all over the country and
globally in a second step of its development.

The later nomination of the Fagus Factory for the World Heritage List in the year
2010 as compared to the Bauhaus Weimar/Dessau and the Berlin Modernism
Housing Estates must not lead us to infer that this key construction of modernism is
to be underestimated as a mere premature forerunner of the Bauhaus Dessau or to
even rank it among the prevalent harbingers of modern construction from the
reformist movement around or after 1900. Owing to its outstanding importance for
architectural history, the Fagus Factory has been nominated since 1984 for inclusion
in the application list of the Federal Republic of Germany, which had to apply for
future inclusion of its sites in the World Heritage List. The nomination of the
Bauhausgebäude (Bauhaus Building) in Dessau can be traced back to the list
proposed by the German Democratic Republic before 1989. The two lists were
consolidated after the Change in 1989, so that a tentative list for Unified Germany
was formulated, in which all three sites of modernism – the Fagus Factory, the
Bauhaus and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates – were justifiably included.

In numerous writings by the early protagonists of Neues Bauen, buildings for

industry, production and labour are described as the most promising building tasks,
in which societal change and the creative will of the innovative architects could find
expression. The housing scarcity and the catastrophic social conditions of the initial
years of the Weimar Republic, however, made even the building of settlements into
an experimental field for architectural modernism. As the first learning institute of
repute, the Bauhaus had trained a young generation of architects and artists, who
pursued this creative and forward-looking activity consistently and who earned
worldwide recognition as role models and mediators of the new style of architecture.
If Germany has nominated both an exemplary place of work and industry as well as
the most startling places of housing and living to date (in the Berlin Modernism
Housing Estates) beside a path-breaking place of architectural and design training
(in Weimar and thereafter in Dessau) for inclusion in the World Heritage List of the

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 -2-

UNESCO, then this triumvirate of cultural creativity is of eminent importance for an

understanding of the 20th century.

Meanwhile, the Fagus Factory that preceded the Bauhaus Dessau ensemble by
more than one decade and was temporally separated from it by the First World War,
must be regarded as the starting point and beginning of the modern movement.
Adolf Behne described the Fagus Factory as "the most modern, exemplary German
factory before the War" from the architectural and social point of view (Der moderne
Zweckbau – "The Modern Functional Building", 1926, P. 33). One of the
spokespersons of architectural history writers for the last century, Winfried
Nerdinger, expressed his judgement in 1985 as follows: “The stroke of genius of
young Gropius outclasses nearly all the buildings before the First World War in terms
of architectural daring and artistic innovation and cannot be estimated high enough in
terms of its importance for the overall architecture of the 20th century” (1985, P. 36,
s. Application P. 39). Similar sounding estimations of the Fagus Factory in numerous
publications allow us to consider Criterion II of the World Heritage Guidelines,
according to which the nominated plant “is an expression of a significant change in
human values … in respect of the development of architecture”, as fulfilled without
exceptions.

If one attempts to define the inter-relationship between the two architectural

ensembles, the Fagus Factory and the Bauhaus Dessau, then not only the
architectural forms and design play a role, but also primarily the purpose and
function of the two establishments. In this context, one must conclude that the Fagus
Factory is artistically a starting point and the Bauhaus building a point of culmination
of the new way of construction in the history of architectural development of the
20th century. Whereas the importance of the Fagus Work as industrial and office
building lies in its impelling force for characterising the international style of modern
architecture, the Bauhaus is associated with its function as school, as a place of
training, as an academy for the consummate artist of Classic Modernism. The
Bauhaus was a point of convergence of the architect, painter, sculptor, photographer
and craftsman. They combined architecture with fine arts. At the same time, they
experimented with performing art such as theatre, dance and music.

Even if both building ensembles, the Fagus Factory and the Bauhaus Dessau, bear
the signature of the same architect, they are still of epoch-making importance from
the all-encompassing point of view, for both of which Criterion I of the World Heritage
Guidelines, “Masterpieces of human creativity”, is fulfilled in equal measure. After all,
Walter Gropius was one of the first architects to raise an industrial building to the
level of a work of art with the Fagus Factory. If, on the one hand, the young and
enthusiastic architect Gropius adopted his building owner Benscheidt's idea of
arranging his building structures according to the principle of rationality of operational
sequences developed in America, then, on the other hand, he succeeded excellently
in bestowing artistic beauty of the highest level on the building structures and rooms
through classic proportions, humanely agreeable atmosphere and lighting conditions.

Even this had been recognised by early critics such as Adolf Behne as an unusual
property of the Fagus Factory (The modern functional building, in the place cited). By
juxtaposing the hitherto mostly cramped industrial barracks created without higher
demands on creativity and more or less ugly looking against the above mentioned
design principles, Gropius counteracted the alienation of the individual in industrial

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 -3-

labour. Both to the factory workers and the employees, he and his then congenial
building owner opened up completely new kinds of identification possibilities with the
mass products to be produced in mechanical production work. It is a proven fact that
the Fagus Factory is perceived in this manner to this date. The production there was
intended to bring profit not only to the entrepreneur. The work environment with its
humane dimensions, with light and sequentially arranged work processes was meant
to appear beneficial to the workers and employees as well.

It is unquestionable that the exceptional Fagus Factory cannot be regarded in

isolation in its time of creation, but ought to be considered as a part of the many
reformist endeavours of progressive architects both in Germany as well as e.g. in the
Czech Republic, Austria and the Netherlands. Among the reformists are primarily the
more structurally than artistically active engineers since the 2nd half of the 19th
century, who constructed innovative functional buildings made of steel and glass, i.e.
factory buildings, railway buildings and exhibition halls as well as ever more daring
bridge and tower structures. Ranked among the reformists are the first American
high-rise building architects in Chicago und New York. In the same way, the
remarkable and versatile experiments with reinforced concrete since the 80's of the
19th century belong to the reformist endeavours that usurped various building tasks
both in America as well as in Europe and culminated, for instance, in a structural
peak performance, the Centennial Hall Breslau (Jahrhunderthalle) constructed by
Max Berg from 1911 to 1913 (World Heritage List 2006). However, a potential for
artistic innovation such as in the Fagus Factory is lacking in the Centennial Hall,
which clearly draws on the form repertoire of revived Classicism.

Architects of the Stijl, the Dutch style, as well as of the Deutsche Werkbund, the
"German Work Federation", an association of artists, architects, designers and
industrialists, occupied themselves more with creative and less with structural
innovations. An exception from these two groups of architects and artists was the
Viennese Adolf Loos, who postulated the radical abandonment of ornamental frill
and at the same time sculpted the simple, geometrical structures as basic tectonic
shapes in his buildings. Another exception was embodied in the person of Le
Corbusier, who – four years younger than Gropius – began to shape city building
ideas and housing construction in France after the First World War with an unusual
and completely different kind of signature as compared to those of architects in
Germany and the Netherlands.

As compared to these parallel developments of the early reform-oriented building

creations at the beginning of the 20th century, the Fagus Factory built by Walter
Gropius between 1910 and 1914 embodies for the very first time a consistent
synthesis of the modern design ideas developed until then, a synthesis which breaks
away from the traditional design motifs in building like no other synthesis of this time.
As such, the Fagus Factory admittedly occupies a suddenly appearing special
position in the entire course of architectural events and therewith constitutes a
radical and far-reaching change in architectural history. Without any remnants of
reminiscences from traditional architectural shapes, it first constitutes the change
from historicism, neo-classicism and art-nouveau to modernism.

All the essential elements of the new style of building, the Neues Bauen, appear in
the Fagus Factory with the highest artistic demands and with the application of
classic principles of proportion. All the essential style elements of Classicism and

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 -4-

even more so of art nouveau are shaken off. The building ensemble is composed of
cubic structural parts which, as described above, are arranged in a row according to
the operational sequence and are stacked vertically. The concept radically does
away with conventional dados and traditional brick-tiled roof shapes. The plastic
ornaments hitherto customary in factory buildings, especially those attached on the
facades facing the public, are completely missing. Profiles, fittings, railings and light
fixtures are reduced to geometrical basic shapes. The 'curtain wall elements' in the
facades made of iron sections and glass precede the structural load-bearing
elements and define the seemingly weightless facade relief even in the striking and
famous corners. Horizontally bedded ribbon windows stretch through the facades of
the hall and machine house wing. The design principle of load transmitting building
tectonics predominant before the First World War is completely abandoned, so that
ceilings and roofs appear to float in many views. This design principle regarded as
almost self-evident today due to habitual viewing must have appeared as
revolutionary at that time as the painting of a Malevitch or Mondrian, who totally
abandoned all objective and scenic motifs.

The design elements compiled by the young architect Gropius in a "stroke of genius"
reappear in the Bauhaus Dessau building in a canon style further developed through
increasing but novel experience, never before seen functional definitions. The
characterisation by one and the same architectural signature, however, does not
detract from the outstanding quality of the two building ensembles. Within the
triumvirate of dwelling, working and learning, Walter Gropius is accorded the highest
rank for the second time in the competition for innovation during the emergence of
modernism. This fact is highlighted by the very differences between the Fagus
Factory and the Bauhaus building. They find expression in the respectively existent
conceptual strengths.

Whereas the Fagus Factory arranges operational sequences in various building

structures in a row, the functions of workshop building, school building and studio
building in the Bauhaus are organically oriented towards each other in a triple beam.
School and workshop building are connected over the road by means of a bridge
through the administrative wing and, above that, the architectural department. The
auditorium is inserted between the studio and the workshop building. The connecting
functions prominently penetrate into the architecture of the main functional areas.
These have their own separate design characteristics respectively, which were
spectacular in their time: The school building is the eye catcher with horizontal ribbon
glazing and the 'floating' floor slabs, the orientation of the studio and the housing
wing is in contrast tower-like with its conspicuous projecting balconies, the workshop
building is finally distinguished by the overwhelming glass curtain wall. Gropius
radically uses a new language of forms for the traditionally known building task of a
design school, as accurately described by Huse in 1975 (New Style of Building
(Neues Bauen) 1918-1933, p. 57 f): “The appearance of the entire complex is
dominated by … building shapes from the area of factories and administration, not –
as often in the case of earlier art schools – those from the area of temples, palaces
and castles.”

It is undisputed that Gropius partly cites the Fagus Factory in the Bauhaus
architecture – not only in individual, advanced architectonic design elements such as
the curtain wall facade, but also in its social demands, in “the dignity of the common
idea”, which connects pupils and teachers to each other, just as previously

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 -5-

employees and employer (Gropius, Industrial Building, cited according to Huse,

p. 121). From the design and conceptual aspect, however, the Fagus Factory is the
origin, the root of an epochal innovation, temporally marked at the beginning of
second decade in the 20th century. The international style of Neues Bauen is
manifested for the first time in the Fagus Factory and therewith characterises an
entire century. No other building in the world can demonstrate a potential for
innovation comparable to that of the Fagus Factory in the same period of creation.

2. Comparisons with other sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List
and related to the emergence of 20th Century modern architecture

Eight world heritage sites already contained in the World Heritage List, which are
connected with the development of modern architecture, can be compared to and
related to the universally significant and seminal characteristics for modern
architecture of the Fagus Factory represented in the text of the application. Since the
selected world heritage sites encompass a very heterogeneous spectrum of
architecture of modernism, it is not possible in each case to establish a quasi genetic
link to the Fagus Factory. A few of the objects have emerged considerably later than
the Fagus Factory and already intrinsically bear the impulses emanating from the
Fagus Factory in severalfold communicated and further interpreted form. Owing to
the typological character or regional distinctiveness of other objects, a reference to
the Fagus Factory can be established only due to the modernity of design attitude,
which, as first evidenced in the Fagus Factory, contains a great variation potential of
architectural forming.

The World Cultural Heritage candidates included in the tentative list of the UNESCO
from the area of architectural modernism are a part of the international comparison in
Section 3 of this additional information.

a. Centennial Hall in Breslau, Poland, 1911-1913 by Max Berg (fig. 1)

Among the buildings already contained in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO,
which reflect the modern architecture of the 20th century, the Centennial Hall erected
by Max Berg in Breslau is an outstanding example. It emerged – practically
simultaneously with the Fagus Factory – in 1911 to 1913 and marks an important
milestone in the development of design engineering, especially in respect of the use
of reinforced concrete and the associated possibility of achieving great span widths.
With its diameter of 65 metres and a height of 42 metres, it was the largest cupola of
its kind at its time of construction and therefore counts as a pioneering work of
reinforced concrete construction and as a milestone of modern architecture. Due to
its sober monumentality, the break from the richness of form of historism and the
open presentation of the structural system on the inside, the typical characteristics of
functionalism and a self-assured modernity are realised. The arrangement and
layering of the massive construction dimensions are, however, achieved with the
sooner conservative design repertoire of Neoclassicism as opposed to the main
building of the Fagus Factory: The uniform rows of window openings consolidated in
groups and especially the entrance hall supported by fluted columns remind one of

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 -6-

examples such as the Roman pantheon or the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The
significance of the Centennial Hall in Breslau from the aspect of history of
international architecture lies in the forward-looking use of the most modern
structural technology for a new building task that emerged in that time: The erection
of a multi-functional auditorium for the general public with more than 6000 seating
places.

b. The Bauhaus and its sites in Weimar and Dessau, Germany, 1919-1933 by Walter
Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee et al
(fig. 2)

Out of the Bauhaus sites contained in the World Heritage List, the Haus am Horn,
built as an exhibition venue in Weimar of 1923, the Bauhaus main building in Dessau
of 1925/26 as well as five of previously seven houses for the Bauhaus masters in
Dessau, which were finished in 1926, are to be mentioned as representatives of
modern architecture. Though both the model house in Weimar built in 1923 by
Walter March and Georg Muche as well as the houses for the Bauhaus masters in
Dessau are functionally modern in their structure as dwelling houses, the large-scale
use of glass as construction material is avoided. Here, modernism finds expression
in the cubic design, in the economical division and capturing of space, in the
alternation between horizontal and vertical ribbon glazing as well as in the external
white colouring. Bearing the signature of one and the same architect, the Bauhaus
building erected by Walter Gropius in 1926 cites the "glass curtain facade" in the
main building which was developed in the first attempt in the Fagus Factory, but still
not fully mature then. For the rest, you may kindly refer to section 1 of this additional
information.

c. Rietveld-Schröder-Haus, Netherlands, Utrecht, 1924 by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

(fig. 3)

The small residential house in Utrecht built in 1924 by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld for
Mrs. Schröder-Schräder finds place in the World Heritage List as an icon of modern
architecture. Rietveld belonged to a group of Dutch artists called De Stijl founded in
Leiden in 1917. The group pursued geometrical, abstract presentation shapes in art
and architecture and a purist style based on functionality. Herewith, it followed similar
objectives as those of the Bauhaus in Germany, to which it nurtured close relations –
especially via the Bauhaus master Wassily Kandinsky. The only thing common
between the Rietveld-Schröder-Haus and the architecture of the Fagus Factory is
generally the revolutionary, new language of shapes and forms. In the building that
Rietveld himself described as an "experiment", the individual components are
reduced to their own separate function and are consolidated into a functioning whole
in the manner of "building blocks“.

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 -7-

d. Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, Germany, Berlin, 1919-1931 by Bruno Taut,

Otto Bartning, Walter Gropius, Hugo Häring, Hans Scharoun et al. (fig. 4)

The Berlin Modernism Housing Estates adopted in the World Heritage List in 2008
reflect an aspect of modern architecture that by far surpasses the aspect of purely
architectural shaping: The wide scale modernisation of the German capital since the
beginning of the 1920's after the economic crisis and inflation led to a convergence
of the elite of modern German architecture in Berlin, whose works and writings
caused a sensation in neighbouring countries: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Hugo
Häring, Walter Gropius, Martin Wagner, Otto Bartning, Erich Mendelsohn, Hans
Poelzig, Bruno and Max Taut, Fred Forbat, Hans and Wassili Luckhardt, P. Rudolf
Henning, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Adolf Rading and Hans Scharoun were united by a
common architectonic attitude towards design, in that the question of shape was not
at the fore, but the social, economic, structural and urban construction dimensions of
this enormous task. Modernity as design attitude is expressed in the settlements of
Berlin modernism in the democratic rows of identical apartment types with balcony
and loggias, which resulted in a serial and rhythmic design of the apartment blocks.
In order to lower the building and rent costs, not only were typified apartment floor
plans realised, but also self-contained, varying settlement typologies based on the
respective place were created with new urban development figures. Many of these
new, modern forms were at the same time artistic and rational answers to the
economic and functional problems. In the circle of the architects of the Berlin
Modernism Housing Estates, who did not develop any doctrinaire unified style, but
only developed formal diversity, Walter Gropius belonged to the advocates of
rationalistic and functionalistic concepts, which equally formed the basis of the Fagus
drafts of 1910, but did not lead to any comparable structural shapes there owing to
the completely different building task.

e. White City Tel-Aviv, Israel, 1930- approx. 1950 by Arieh Sharon, Joseph and
Ze’ev Berlin et al. (fig. 5)

The White City of Tel-Aviv with its approx. 4000 buildings in the style of the Bauhaus
and international style is a unique, stylistically uniform city picture of the architectural
modernism. On the basis of a master plan drafted by Patrick Geddes since 1925, a
new city picture could emerge from 1930 onwards on hitherto undeveloped land, the
individual buildings of which were drafted by immigrant architects from Europe. A
large number of the architects involved there had become familiar with the latest
architectural currents in Germany, such as for instance Arieh Sharon, Philipp Huett,
Ze’ev Haller, Shlomo Bernstein and Joseph Neufeld, who were involved in this large
settlement project after their escape from Germany under the National Socialists.
The functionalistic Bauhaus ideas with standardised floor plans, clear cubic forms
with flat roofs and economical building material were implemented here on a large
scale, even though a few typical characteristics of Bauhaus architecture, such as
large-scale glazing, do not appear here due to the warm climate: buildings on stilts
and long, narrow balconies that assure good ventilation are used instead. Rational
and functionalistic drafting and design ideas that Walter Gropius gave shape to for
the first time in the Fagus Factory and which were already two decades old at the
beginning of construction of the White City, find expression in Tel-Aviv in diverse
characteristics and interpretations.

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 -8-

f. Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas (University City of Caracas), Venezuela, 1940-

1960 by Carlos Raúl Villanueva (fig. 6)

The Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas adopted in the World Heritage List in the year
2000 and drafted and built by Carlos Raúl Villanueva (1900-1975) between 1940 and
1960, is the first major project of modern architecture on Latin American soil, which
stems from the hand of one single architect and achieves the urbanistic dimension
(fig. 6). Brought up in London and Paris, Villanueva had received his architect's
training until 1929 at the Parisian École des Beaux Arts, at which an eclectic draft
style was still communicated at this time, which also defined Villanueva's early
buildings in Venezuela. Although the avant-garde European architectural currents
were known to Villanueva, the new reinforced concrete structural techniques were
made familiar to him by his mentor August Perret in Paris, Le Corbusier was
personally known to him and admired by him throughout his lifetime, yet Villanueva
initially still drafted buildings in Neo-classicist manner in his later adoptive country,
Venezuela, before he braved the step towards rational, functionalistic architecture
from 1940 onwards. With his expressive emphasis on structure, however, Villanueva
was set apart from the mainstream of the international style and developed an
unmistakable personal design signature.

g. Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

(UNAM), Mexico-City, 1949-1953 (fig. 7)

Based on a master plan by the great innovator in Mexican architecture, José

Villagrán García, the massive complex of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México was built in the south of Mexico City between 1949 and 1953. More than 60
architects and engineers were involved in the wide-ranging creation with individual
projects, which nonetheless constituted a coherent overall concept. Beside buildings
that are committed to the rationalism of the international style, such as for instance
the rectorate (fig. 8) and the reading room of the central library (fig. 9), architectures
of hieratical blocky design also appear here adorned by murals that remind one of
the pre-Columbian architecture of the country. 40 years after the Fagus Factory, a
direct reference to the original buildings of Modernism can hardly be represented.

h. Villa Tugendhat, Brno, Czech Republic, 1928-1930 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
(fig. 10)

Villa Tugendhat, maintained on the World Heritage List since 2001, was built by Mies
van der Rohe 1928-30 for the couple Fritz and Grete Tugendhat.
It is regarded today as the most important residential house building of his time of
creation in Europe.Created simultaneously with his famous gazebo for the
international exhibition in Barcelona, Mies van der Rohe designed this building as
well with rational strictness and in clear, cubic shapes, but achieved an extraordinary
openness and lightness of architecture due to the chromium-plated steel pillars on
the inside and free-standing walls around which the core of the house is
concentrated. This lightness of architecture is further expressed in the exterior by the
long, uninterrupted glass window all around the corner of the house. The principle
that already formed the basis of the Fagus Factory to diffuse the external boundaries

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that define the room by means of the use of glass is implemented here with the use
of high-quality building material in a luxurious and modern living atmosphere.

3. A comparison of the beginnings of functionalism and modernism in

architecture extended to countries other than Germany

A comparison of the Fagus Factory with the development of a rational, functionalistic

architecture of Modernism outside Germany can only be attempted by means of
selective examples. The selection is limited to countries in which architectural
modernism characterised by rational functionalism has attained a certain continuity
or has emerged with especially concise examples. Similar to Germany, where the
initial impulses were interrupted and suppressed due to the war and the National
Socialist dictatorship, Spain and Italy, for instance, experienced only a brief upsurge
of architecture of early Modernism, before architecture was made an instrument of
the powers of the State for their own purpose from mid-1930 onwards. Special
appearances that are yet to find mention are for instance in Shanghai/China, where
the "International Settlement" briefly put forth European modern architecture,
likewise the colonial architectural works of the 1930's in Asmara/Eritrea, which are
maintained on the tentative list of nominations of this country to the UNESCO.

To begin with, it can be noted down in writing that neither in Europe nor elsewhere
on this earth can buildings be spotted prior to the First World War that come
anywhere close to the modernity and the high artistic quality of the Fagus Factory of
1911. The Fagus Factory was unique work of its time in terms of style and design.
The following comparative overview has been arranged in alphabetical order without
any weighting.

a. Brazil

Scientific studies about light and sun in relation to architecture as well as practical
occupation with structural problems that were important for Brazil, such as primarily
the creation of good lighting conditions and simultaneous protection against too
strong sunlight, generated the intellectual readiness to adopt new architectural
concepts in the Brazilian architectural community since the early 1930's of the 20th
century. The young architects of this epoch developed a specifically Brazilian variant
of the modern, rationally functionalistic architectural standpoint that was prepared in
Europe or even the International Style, as this modern architectural movement was
called since the publication by the same name by Hitchcock and Johnson in the year
1932. One of the earliest examples of this Brazilian Modernism is the Ministry of
Education and Public Health in Rio de Janeiro, which was begun in 1936 and
completed in 1943 (fig. 11). The high-rise building complex that has a glass facade
on one side with reinforced concrete structure on the inside was designed by Lucio
Costa, who formed a team of architects together with Oscar Niemeyer, among other
things. In 1936, Le Corbusier joined this team as Consultant for this building. Le
Corbusier's ideas found receptive ears: His free form designing corresponded to
Brazilian mentality, his brise soleil elements were in many cases a necessity and his
pilotis, or piers, were especially suited to Brazilian climate. As an open glass-

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concrete building structure open on two sides, Oscar Niemeyer also designed the
building for a yacht club in Belo Horizonte in 1940 (fig. 12).

b. Finland

The stagnation of the First World War and the subsequent economic depression was
followed by the breakthrough of rational, functionalistic Modernism in Finnish
architecture around 1928. In Finland more than elsewhere in the world, Modernism
became a style of public buildings – underlining the modernity of the young republic.
The leading position among the rationalists was immediately assumed by Alvar
Aalto, whose City Library in Viipuri (1927-35) with the large glass wall in front of the
main stairs, functionally arranged building cubes and simple punctuated facades
belongs to the Classics of rationalist Modernism (fig. 13). Another early example of
unadorned cubic designing with large glass surfaces as means of expression of
modern architecture is the "Lasipalatsi" in Helsinki, built in 1935/36 by a team of
architects: Viljo Revell, Niilo Kokko and Heimo Riihimäki (fig. 14).

c. France

In France, the entry of Modernism took place primarily by means of the new,
structural possibilities of reinforced concrete and by means of large-scale, urbanistic
concepts, in which primarily the theoretical writings of Le Corbusier and his proximity
to cubism played an important role after his return to Paris in 1917. The variform
onset of Modernism had been communicated to Le Corbusier in the course of his
extensive travelling in the previous years. The architecture of the Mediterranean
region became enduringly inspiring for him, likewise the meetings with the great
innovator of architecture in Austria, Josef Hoffmann (1908), his work in the office of
August Perret in Paris (1908/09) and with Peter Behrens in Berlin (1910/11), from
whose office Walter Gropius had just separated at that time. Le Corbusier was
familiar with the leading minds of the German reformist and Werkbund movement
and he was also already familiar with the works of Frank Lloyd Wright through
publications at this time. His Cité de Refuge testifies to radical modernity, a building
complex erected between 1929 und 1933 as asylum for the Salvation Army, in which
he was able to implement for the first time in a major building task his design
principles that were very similar to those of the European avant-gardists: of rational
composition of the building from elementary geometric forms while avoiding purely
decorative effects (fig. 15). The outstanding importance of the creative work of Le
Corbusier between 1920 and 1960 for the architecture of Modernism has resulted in
three of the residential houses designed by him in France, Belgium and Argentina
already being included on the tentative list for the World Heritage of the UNESCO.
However, beside Le Corbusier, other architects in France such as André Lurcat or
Pierre Chareau have also given artistic and architectural expression to rational
functionalism. From 1928 to 1932, Pierre Chareau built the Maison de Verre in Paris,
in Le Cobusier's own words, a "machine for living" fully consistent and articulated
(fig. 16). A radically modern building style is also manifested in the École Karl-Marx
in Villejuif near Paris (1931-33), built by André Lurcat and designed by him according
to his cooperation in the Viennese Werkbund settlement as a composition made of
cubic shapes and large-scale use of glazed building structures (fig. 17). The ideas

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shaped by Gropius in terms of handling of steel and glass in building facades played
only a subordinate role for the development of modern architecture in France.

d. Great Britain

In the years before the First World War and for some time thereafter, a
monumentalism carried over from the 18th century and strongly influenced by the
academic teaching in France dominated in British architecture. The innovator, who
created a sensation from the end of 1920's in England with markedly modern
structures, was Owen Williams, an engineer who came from the railway and aircraft
industry and became a specialist for reinforced concrete buildings in the area of
architecture. His Boots factory built between 1930 and 1932 in Beeston near
Nottingham is structured with a continuous run of glazing and mushroom-topped
pillars (fig. 18). Reinforced concrete and glass are also the structural elements of the
Wembley Empire Pools, today's Wembley Arena dating back to 1933/34 (fig. 19). In
1932, Williams, together with Clarke and Atkinson, built the administrative complex
of the "Daily Express" (fig. 20), the free-standing facades of which are glazed all
over. In the horizontal bands separating the floors, opaque glass was used for the
first time, a material that Walter Gropius had likewise used in the interior of the
Fagus Factory. During his exile in England, Walter Gropius worked together with
Maxwell Fry from 1934 to 1937, who, with his cubic Sun House designed in concrete
and glass Frogwell/Hampstead in 1934/35 (fig. 21), represented similarly rationalistic
and daring form concepts as Gropius. The Impington Village College (fig. 22) built by
Fry and Gropius in 1936-40 with its sober and objective building technique as
ensemble composed of large-scale brick buildings with flat roofs became a prototype
for many English school buildings after the Second World War.

e. Japan

Japan has a long tradition of expanding its culture by adopting elements of foreign
cultures and transforming them into its own form elements. After especially English
influences also determined Japanese architecture in the 19th century, the Taisho era
between 1912 and 1926 saw a leaning towards modern European Architecture. After
a brief phase, during which young Japanese architects processed the thoughts of
Viennese secession and German expressionism, the rational functionalism of
Modernism made inroads in Japan as well. The new ideas were communicated by
young architects, who had experienced the revolutionary innovations in Europe, such
as for example Kunio Mayakewa and Junzo Sakakura, who had studied with Le
Corbusier in Paris, as well as Bunzo Yamaguchi, who had been with Walter Gropius
in Berlin. Frank Lloyd Wright, too, worked for several years in Japan and built the
Imperial Hotel in Tokyo in 1915-1922, which is preserved only in rudimentary form
today. Bruno Taut lived from 1933-1936 in Japan, where he compared the traditional
Japanese wooden structure with the modern reinforced concrete grid construction in
his writings, which had a great influence on the further establishment of modern
architecture in Japan. The architectural ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright were principally
further perpetuated in Japan by Antonin Raymond, who came to Japan with Wright
and lived there for decades. The adoption of modern architectural notions was,
however, practised in Japan not only by free-lance architects, but is also expressed
in the outstanding buildings of the Urban Development Office of Tokyo, such as for

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instance the elementary school Yotsuya built in 1933, a modern, objective, reinforced
concrete structure with flat roofs and a fully glazed stairwell tower (fig. 23).

f. Mexico:

Well into the 20th century, a historical architectural notion held sway in Mexico,
which was not only oriented towards the architecture of the Spanish motherland, but
was also influenced by the Parisian École des Beaux Arts. In stark contrast to this,
several young architects under the leadership and tutelage of José Villagrán García
began to plan their buildings according to the principles of rationalism, especially in
the case of hospitals and schools, though also in the case of workers' dwellings
around 1925. Between 1930 and 1950, the principles of rationalism then caught on
and became widely accepted on a broad basis. In 1939, the Mexican government
summoned the former Director of the Bauhaus (1928-1930), Hannes Meyer, to the
country; he laid the foundations of a new style of Mexican urban building. The use of
high-rises in social housing began with the Presidente Alemán urban housing
situated in Mexico city with 13-storey buildings for overall 5000 inhabitants by Mario
Pani (1947-50). Along the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City, high administrative
buildings emerged which followed the tendency of glass curtain walls. The same is
applicable for the Torre Latinoamericano located at the core of the old town and built
in 1950 by Augusto Alvarez and Adolfo Zeevaert (fig. 24).

g. The Netherlands

In the first two decades of the 20th century, two opposed currents were active in the
architecture of the Netherlands: Though one group of architects worked with modern
structural techniques, it adorned its buildings with luxuriant decor contrary to realistic
tendencies, such as e.g. Johann Melchior van der Mey and Pieter Lodewijk Kramer
in the Scheepvaartshuis (Shipping House) in Amsterdam (1911-1916). On the other
hand, the architects who cited the rationalist Hendrik Petrus Berlage, out of which
many joined the artists' group De Stijl founded in 1917, began to draft markedly
progressive architectures, most of which were initially built in Rotterdam. Included in
this group were Theo van Doesburg, Johannes J. Pieter Oud, Gerrit Rietveld, as well
as Johannes Andreas Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt, who built the Van Nelle
Factory in Rotterdam in 1926-30 (fig. 25). For this group of architects, progress in
architecture was connected to the new structural techniques, they preferred the use
of steel, concrete and glass and they were – as compared to the artists of the
Bauhaus in Germany – convinced that their functional architecture would contribute
towards a better future. The Van Nelle Factory which had a markedly modern effect
with its stacked, free-moving structural parts with acute-angled offset. It is glazed
over a large area and with the demonstrative display of service provision systems,
such as the two glazed conveyor belts, it reflects influences of Russian
Constructivism, to which links existed in the person of the German-educated
protagonist El Lissitzky. The essential design elements of the Fagus Factory which
was built fifteen years earlier, such as the structural parts reduced to geometrical
basic shapes, the drawn-in structural framework and the fully glazed curtain wall
facades, combine here, intermingled with other influences of European Modernism,
to an outstanding example of new age industrial construction. Characterised by a
similar lightness and openness of structure is the building complex of the sanatorium

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Zonnestraal in Hilversum, which was built by Johannes Duiker in 1928 (fig. 26). The
sweeping horizontal building structure of this complex reminds one of the likewise
rather spacious Prairie houses by Frank Lloyd Wright. Both the objects are on the
tentative list of the Netherlands for adoption in the World Heritage List of the
UNESCO.

h. Russia

Modernism in Russia is mostly equated with the vague term Constructivism, which
experienced a brief blossoming after the end of the Russian Revolution in 1917 until
the Stalinist dictatorship starting in 1927. As in the other artistic branches of
Constructivism, in which the design elements are composed of simple, geometrically
arranged basic elements, the buildings of Constructivism are also characterised by
plain, geometrical shapes, in which the functional component is strongly in the fore.
Due to the emphasised abandonment of luxurious elements in favour of objectivity
and functional aesthetics, the Constructivist master builders wanted to give
expression to the democratisation of society in their architecture primarily with their
public buildings, in line with the societal upheaval in Russia during the 1920's. Well-
known architects among the Russian Constructivists were Konstantin Melnikow,
Moissei Ginsburg, Noi Trozki and Boris Iofan. Characteristic for their buildings and
for Constructivism in general was the Russian peculiarity that it often concerned
novel building tasks. Typical examples for this are the so-called worker's clubs,
cultural centres or even factory kitchens, which were meant to correspond to the
modern post-revolutionary notion of public life of the worker class. Different from the
Fagus Factory and the light-weight, reinforced concrete and glass structures that
developed out of it in Western Europe, the trend in Russia was rather the emergence
of blocky structural parts often fitting into each other, such as for instance the
Worker's Club House Rusakow in Moscow, built by Konstantin Melnikow in 1927/28
(fig. 27). Glass as a means of expression of the architecture is used only sparingly,
such as for instance in staircases that structurally step out of the building structure or
– in rather untypical manner – in the dynamically expressive facade designing of a
park house likewise designed by Melnikow in Moscow in the year 1933 (fig. 28).

i. USA

At the turn of the 20th century, historicising styles dominated in the architecture of
the USA under European influence, which developed a multifaceted world of shapes
through Neoromanticism, Neoclassicism up to the American version of Gothic
Revival. One exception was the buildings of the Chicago School, the clear form
elements of which primarily affected Louis Sullivan, who with his avowal of
functionality in architecture (“form follows function”) was not only one of the founder
fathers of the high-rise building but also became a precursor of rationalism in
American architecture (fig. 29). These early approaches on the road to Modernism
were, however, initially followed only by Frank Lloyd Wright, who kept alive the
rational discipline of his teacher Sullivan with his revolutionary concept of Prairie
Houses between 1894 and 1909 (fig. 30). Lithographs of drawings of these houses
published by Wasmuth in 1910 in Germany were soon became known in Europe and
influenced primarily the Dutch De Stijl group. In the United States of America, Wright,
like the later Sullivan, was initially shown very little appreciation and the two great

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streams of Neoclassicism and Neoromanticism held sway well into the 1920's.
Different from the conventional architectural practice was the contribution of Albert
Kahn, whose company quickly became specialised in the extensive industrial
construction in the region around Detroit. With his pragmatically drafted buildings,
Kahn anticipated at an early stage the precise and finely structured cubic form of the
50's and the 60's. Counted among the pre-eminent examples of a functionalistic
functional building, the architectonic language of which is rationally adjusted to
industrial requirements, is the Glass Plant in the Rouge Plant of the Ford Motor
Company in Dearborn, Michigan from 1924 (fig. 31), as well as in particular the
spacious Chrysler Dodge factory in Warren, Michigan from 1938 enveloped by finely
structured curtain walls (fig. 32). Albert Kahn's factory buildings that were drafted
completely on considerations of functionality are ranked as parallel development
streams in nascent American Modernism, which was still a long time coming in the
1920's: The most important international competition of this period, the one for the
Chicago Tribune Tower in the year 1922, was not yet won by one of the modernist
designs from Europe, but by the reduced Neogothic proposal by Raymond Hood and
John Mead Howells. Walter Gropius was not awarded to a prize for his unadorned
reinforced concrete and glass project (fig. 33) Beside the undefined and
undifferentiated style of Historicism, which reigned for quite a while in the 20's, the
objective and sober aesthetics of rationalism also experienced a blossoming on the
American East Coast towards the end of the century: The immense influence that
European and primarily German immigrants had on the development of American
architecture since the period around 1930's and therewith facilitated the final onset of
the international style, is evidenced for the first time in the Philadelphia Savings Fund
Society Building by George Howe and William Lescaze from the year 1929 (fig. 34).
Lescaze, born in Switzerland, had completed his studies at the Federal Technical
College in Zurich in 1919. He was familiar with the latest European architectural
trends and carried these impetuses with him when he moved to New York in 1925. In
1937, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer came to the USA, in
1938 Martin Wagner and three years later Erich Mendelsohn. Gropius continued his
teaching activity, which he had pursued at the Bauhaus, at the Harvard University in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, to which place he was followed by Wagner and Breuer.
Mies van der Rohe assumed an analogous role at the Armour Institute of Technology
in Chicago. Its influence on the development of architecture primarily on the
American East Coast was decisive and culturally downright commanding. The cool,
perfect, restful stereometry of the buildings by Walter Gropius, by Mies van der Rohe
as well as by Le Corbusier became an example of new American architecture.
Beside numerous single family detached houses that Gropius built in the
surroundings of Boston since the end of the 1930's, the Harvard Graduate Center
(fig. 35) built by him in 1949/50, with its clear, functional strictness, the uninterrupted
ribbon glazing and classical and harmonious proportions, is above all inspired by the
spirit of Fagus Factory from 1911. Since the 1950’s, Gropius once again worked
more frequently in Europe and his influence on the development of American
architecture was propagated primarily by means of his teaching activity. The
meanwhile firmly installed International Style was further perpetuated in the
crystalline buildings by Mies van der Rohe (860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments,
Detroit, 1949-51, (fig. 36) and Seagram Building, New York, 1958, (fig. 37), until his
reduced and limited vocabulary was increasingly trivialised as early as since the
middle of the 50's owing to its rationally producible and imitable design style.
However, one of the final high points was set once again by Walter Gropius with his
PanAm skyscraper (today's MetLife) in New York, which he built together with Pietro

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Belluschi in 1960 (fig. 38). The building projecting out over the Central Station on an
octagonal floor plan and dominating the Park Avenue with its triple horizontal
structuring, the compellingly clear proportions and the fine facade meshwork from
glass, steel and concrete once again supports his 50 year old principles of
architectural modernism on which the Fagus Factory was based.

4. The main examples of the direct influence the Fagus Factory exerted in the
field of architecture

The direct influence of the Fagus Factory on the development of modern architecture
was evidenced after First World War by the examples already described in section 3.
It became visible on a larger level only after the development caesura due to the two
world wars from 1914-1918 and from 1939-1945. The factory and office buildings,
business buildings as well as school buildings and cultural centres which were built in
Europe after 1945 with the economic upswing and which were built with
functionalistic and rationally economical considerations, are numerous and frequently
lose quality of design with their mass emergence in the 1960's and 1970's.

The motif of fully glazed, cubic and unadorned design of reinforced concrete
structures, which – as a structural and design characteristic of the international
style – spanned countries and continents and was reproduced in large numbers
since the end of the Second World War, however, continues to be manifested in
such prominent and outstanding buildings as the UN Headquarters in New York
(1949-50), for the drafting of which the two great innovators Le Corbusier and Oscar
Niemeyer were able to prevail in the course of a worldwide competition (fig. 39). With
the Jespersen office building, Arne Jacobsen also built an elegantly proportioned
building in 1955 in Copenhagen with finely chiselled curtain wall facade, which
reminds one very much of the Fagus Factory (fig. 40).

Were one to pursue the train of development of this architectural shaping in the
history of modern building, then one would run across branches of the new
architectural idea in many countries of the world in the 30's and the 20's, of which a
few examples have been given in Section 3 (cf. Brazil, France, the Netherlands, the
USA amongst others). One of the most important transporters of his architectural
outlook in the Weimar Republic was Walter Gropius himself, who attempted to gain a
foothold in America very early. He testified his engagement with his draft, for
instance, for the high-rise building of the Chicago Tribune.

With a draft for a high-rise building made of glass on freely sweeping floor plan,
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – after initially pursuing Neoclassicist works – joined the
ranks of the functionalists of the modern age in 1922 (fig. 41). Such daring designs
qualified him for the direction of the Bauhaus in Dessau, which he directed from
1930 to 1932 after the departure of Walter Gropius and Hannes Meyer, before it was
closed down by the National Socialists. Naturally, it was this very institution which
promoted the international widespread effect of the modern style of building in large
measure. It is, however, equally self-explanatory that many young architects from
other countries shaped Neues Bauen into their role model after the First World War

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and therewith helped – both as communicators as well as bearers of ideas – to

unfold a broad effect that brought about change.

However, what remains undisputed is that: Before the First World War, it was Walter
Gropius who, with the Alfeld Fagus Factory and the large-scale glazed, unpreserved
model factory in the Werkbund exhibition in Cologne (fig. 42), created two icons of
architecture as art works that founded a new style, i.e. that of Modernism.

5. Augment the chapter on Integrity-Authenticity included in the nomination

dossier which mainly focuses on the industrial function of the property which
is still in use today

As already explained in the comparison of the Alfeld Fagus Factory with the Bauhaus
Dessau, the Fagus Factory assumes the extraordinary function of a foundation
building which conclusively and verifiably illustrates for the first time, with absolutely
consistent handling of his design elements, the style change from Historicism,
Neoclassicism and art nouveau to modern architecture from the standpoint of
architectural history. No other building in the world can demonstrate a potential for
innovation comparable to that of the Fagus Factory in the same period of creation.
And no other building can testify more clearly to the departure from the design motifs
of the preceding epoch. To this extent, the Fagus Factory by Walter Gropius is the
most important key piece of architecture for the development of modern architecture
of the 20th century.

In particular in comparison with the functionalistic and reform-oriented buildings of

the period around 1910, it turns out that no other architect of this time was able to
completely discard the traditional or current style elements of the time and to
simultaneously create with his draft an extraordinary work of art that depicted
exclusively new form, design and structural elements from the stylistic point of view.
It can be concluded without further ado that all the contemporaries in the playing field
of architecture either still felt committed to the aforementioned traditional style
elements in some way or experimented with new materials and techniques without
having an eye on the result of the work of art.

It is not an exaggeration if both the richness of form as well as the design of the
Fagus Factory which can be easily perceived from the building ensemble to this
date, are regarded as authentic to an extraordinarily high degree. Taking into
consideration its age of nearly one hundred years and making allowance for wear
which a factory ensemble is subjected to, the building fabric of the Fagus Factory is
also to be assessed as authentic. Intactness as in a new building can meanwhile not
be assured in a hundred year old building. To this extent, repairs and restoration as
well as replaced parts, which have healed the sufferings of the building ensemble
during the last 25 years of maintenance, have become estimable parts of the
monumental building fabric. The monument protection authorities with many other
participants have devoted themselves to reconstruction measures with the greatest
possible subject knowledge and have provided their support and expertise for all the
necessary measures successfully. For this reason, the requirements of the integrity
of the Fagus Factory affected by the maintenance work are assessed as excellently

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fulfilled. Owing to the protective instruments of building, planning and monument law,
the perspectives for the future intactness of the Fagus Factory at the authentic site
are assured.

As explained in the application, the use of the Fagus Factory corresponds to the
original production flows of the shoe last factory in the predominant part of the
buildings. For the building parts, in which new workshops and/or publicly accessible
exhibition areas have been created, the building owner developed adequate usage
requirements, which do not detract from the extraordinary importance of the
architecture, but, quite to the contrary, further strengthen its architectonic
meaningfulness. This is apparent, for instance, in the machine house and in the
warehouse, building parts of the ensemble, in which the reuse of the interior rooms
has brought rich dividends for their vividness.

In respect of the technical integrity of the Fagus Factory, the "curtain wall facade
elements" of the administrative building has to be particularly focussed. Especially on
the part of the monument care and protection authorities, as well as on the part of all
the participants, it was important to learn how to handle an invention, which was a
perfect success optically but not in terms of material and structure and which lacked
in sustainability and durability. In the present-day combination of toughened and
renovated facade elements, the consensually represented requirement of careful
handling of these sensitive building parts that had been impressed on the minds of
all the participants is clearly visible. Accordingly, it is one of the first tasks in the
handling of the Fagus Factory to place the main focus on these facade elements in
order to defer any further loss for as long as possible. Since it is thanks to these very
steel and glass elements that the Fagus Factory enjoys such extraordinary
appreciation.

To sum it up, it can be noted down that the requirements of authenticity and integrity
named by the World Heritage guidelines may be considered as fulfilled for the Fagus
Factory.

6. Provide additional information on the extensive restoration work that was

undertaken between 1985 and 1999,

and

7. Complete the chapter on "state of conservation" with a detailed architectural

analysis of the different restored parts of the property with special attention to
the concepts of integrity and authenticity

Since the 1920's, small repairs for maintenance have been repeatedly performed on
the building parts of the Fagus Factory, which have not changed the architecture in
any way. In 1982, it was finally recognised for the first time with regard to the core
plant that the building defects that had appeared over the ages could no longer be
eliminated with the help of small repairs. Greater measures had to be undertaken on
the facades in particular. Damages were primarily identified in the roof zone, on
doors and window surfaces, due to crack formation in the raised brickwork, in the

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roof drainage, in the entire installation and heating technology, in the electrical
installation and in the chimneys. The heat protection system of the entire building
was, at least in the office wings, totally insufficient and was to be improved in
connection with the damage repair. Equally necessary were fire protection measures
according to regulations with the creation of appropriate fire areas.

All in all, a reconstruction backlog had formed, which now justified unavoidably
necessary preservation measures. An expert opinion required of the federal state of
Lower Saxony formed the prerequisite for an appropriate measure in which
considerable public funds of the federal state and of the central government were to
flow in as aid. A first certificate by the Engineering Office Hoff, Heuer and Partners
based in Hildesheim from the year 1982/83 proved that the cracks that had appeared
in the building complex were apparently attributable to poor building ground.
Furthermore, an insufficient foundation, missing building joints and insufficient static
load distribution were recognised as the original cause of the damages. At the same
time, the expert opinion also provided the reassurance that the crack formations had
essentially settled down and, therefore, there was no need to perform any soil or
foundation improvements, which would have entailed strong interventions in the
foundations.

From 1984 to 1986, considerable federal state and central government funds were
made available for a first section of measures. Thus, it was possible in the beginning
of 1985 in consultation with the Lower Saxony State Service for Cultural Heritage to
commission the architect Jörn Behnsen of Hannover with developing an overall
concept, which would, on the one hand, provide information about type, scope and
costs of all the necessary preservation measures and, on the other hand, would also
contain a first partial measure for the especially damaged area of the roof and the
steel and glass facade of the three-storey office wing. These first larger-scale
measures starting in 1985 and the subsequent measures were assigned to the
individual buildings of the Fagus Factory in accordance with the representation in the
main application and were described such that the individual measures undertaken
on the respective buildings until 2002 (not only until 1999) can be retraced in detail.

a. Main Building

At the wish of the company, which even today discharges the production of shoe
lasts, the existent use of the main building with offices, production and service
provision was wished to be retained without major changes. In the interior, where no
great damages had occurred, only simple maintenance and restoration jobs were
necessary, so that the entire structure including the mounted wall elements did not
require any intervention. In the area of the roof, however, large-scale damage was
visible due to defective sealing. However, the various shapes of the damages were
visible in particular at the steel and glass facades.

As a first major measure, the reconstruction on the roof began in 1985. Here, the
roofing was essentially renovated so that the overall flat roof structure could be
preserved in its original form. As an addition to the previous situation, an insulation
layer was attached on the roof, on which the appropriate liner sheets were in turn
laid. The damages in the attic area (bulges) were repaired with the existent
substance and restored to the original condition. The attic connection of the roofing

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was restored in the existing form. It was possible to completely retain the original
appearance with the repairs. Since then, there has been no need for further repair of
the roof and the attic.

More problematic was ultimately the repair of the steel and glass elements on the
facade system which was innovative at the time of its creation as extensive corrosion
damage up to total material loss could be ascertained in particular at the profile joints
and behind the fillisters. In the last decades, the glazing demonstrated 20-30
damages annually due to glass breakage, since the cementation of the rigidly
clamped facade, the thermally induced deformation and the insufficiently absorbed
wind pressure frequently led to shattering of the glass panes. Furthermore, the single
folding and sealless wings did not close properly any more and the gear system and
metal fittings were severalfold defective. The single glazing and the sealless nature
of the rows of windows resulted in high temperature fluctuations and immense
heating costs in the rooms in the interior behind the facade. The train line Hannover-
Goettingen passed by directly in the Northeast had a likewise strongly impairing
effect due to the noise emission by the train traffic. In the argument about the
question of repair of defects on these components, the owner of the building for a
long time moved within 'the limits of the economically reasonable'. This option to
allow the status of protected monument to be lifted which is given in Germany
according to the legal regulations of monument protection could be averted thanks to
the financial aid of the federal state of Lower Saxony and the Federal Republic of
Germany.

From the aspect of monument preservation and care, the repair of the steel and
glass elements proved to be specially problematic and involved considerably more
expenditure on planning than expected. Whereas one had assumed at the beginning
of the investigations that it would be possible to perform the repair of the facade
elements while largely preserving the original fabric, it had to be stated after a more
accurate visual inspection of the damage pattern that large parts of the iron frame for
the facade glazing were so strongly corroded that they could no longer be repaired
and were missing. In view of this conclusion, one had to take into consideration the
understandable requirement of the owner from the aspect of usage and economy to
qualitatively improve the workplaces behind the facade on the one hand and on the
other hand to considerably reduce heat losses through the facade. In addition, the
following requirements were formulated as binding after comprehensive discussion
with all the participants as well as a controversial expert hearing:

1. Steel was to be used once again as material for the framework.

2. A sufficient tolerance should be created maintaining the ways of construction of
the two facade building sections for the thermally related stresses – Gropius had
already used differing profiles for the extension of the original facade.
3. It was supposed to be recognisable on the inside and outside that two different
facade solutions formed the basis of the two construction phases.
4. According to the original, the number, arrangement and functionality of the
window wings was to be retained.
5. The glass to be used was supposed to demonstrate the same values in respect
of light permeability and reflection – as far as technically producible – as the
original single glazing. The use of customary green-coloured glass was ruled out.
6. The painting of the steel profile was to be true to the original in lead glance on red
lead.

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7. The external anti-glare shield on the facade was to be restricted to the six fields in
the first upper floor of the second construction phase, which had already been
equipped with slanted awnings since 1925.

All the aforementioned requirements could be fulfilled. The discussion during the
expert colloquium in September 1985 finally resulted in a unanimously accepted
consensus that additionally envisaged the following: The five glazing fields of the
stairwell at the main entrance as well as the fully glazed pillar-less corners in the
Southwest and in Southeast with one additionally abutting field were to be repaired
as original due to lesser damages. Thus, it was possible to completely retain in these
areas several fully glazed three-storey facade fields of the two construction phases.
Therewith, beside the entire stairwell area of the second construction phase
belonging to the main entrance, the originally complete southern gable of the first
construction phase was also preserved in its original form and structure in three
fields including an additional field on the east side. The use of the original steel and
glass elements in these partial areas, however, resulted in offices being reinstalled
only in the facade areas with insulated glazing contrary to the original plans of the
owner, whereas secondary uses or infrastructural areas of the Fagus Factory were
set up behind the facade elements that had remained as original.

Accordingly six facade fields on the east side of the first construction phase were
exchanged, likewise six facade fields on the southern side of the second construction
phase (between the first construction phase and the main stairwell). Structural
alternatives for the exchange of steel and glass elements such as for instance a
second window level corresponding to the box-type window principle in the interior
had to be discarded primarily for optical reasons, since it was perceived during a
sampling inspection that these starkly changed the appearance on the outside. With
the much discussed second window level, it would moreover not have been possible
to resolve the problem of damage of the old, too rigid structure and to satisfactorily
and permanently eliminate the serious material weaknesses of the original steel.

Architect Jörn Behnsen commissioned with the restoration had carried out extensive
detailed measurements of the previous profiles of Gropius and converted these into
appropriate custom-made designs with the same external appearance for insulated
glass panes. In spite of the deviation in depth, the new shatterproof glass panes
were supposed to generate an identical picture that of the original in optical
appearance. From the point of view of monument protection, this objective has been
achieved with slight restriction: The glass pane surfaces are planar according to
industrial production methods. The option of producing slightly uneven glass
surfaces with trapped air, as produced around 1910, did not exist at that time. The
sometimes offered criticism that the new glass pane surfaces reflect light more
intensely than the old ones is not accurate. The reflection effect is attributable to the
regular cleaning of the windows. If the row of windows were dirtier as in earlier
periods, the reflection effect would also be reduced. Since the reflection problem has
been recognised as such even at the preplanning stage of the repair measures, one
had extensively compared and sampled various new glasses with the original glass
panes, before one of the products was selected for the measure with the result
available today.

The complete reconstruction measure for the main building was performed in several
stages between 1986 and 1990. In connection with the repair and/or renovation of

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the steel and glass elements in the facades, the associated ramps and/or entrance
stairs and doors were also treated, but without exchanging the original fabric. The
brickwork and the entire jointing were likewise repaired. In the year 1996, the
restoration of the entrance area and the main stairwell followed, in that the wall
surfaces were restored to their original state, among other things. The lost light
switches formerly fitted there could be reconstructed according to a drawing by
Walter Gropius and/or Adolf Meyer. Finally, one also improved the black opaque
glass sheets embedded in the walls. The basic repair of the main building was
therewith completely concluded.

Finally, it can be noted down that the entire building was completely preserved in its
remaining original fabric except for the described exchange of the facade elements.
Optically, it is identical to the original appearance of the factory. At the same time, it
was a part of the conceptual aim of the measure phase in the mid-80's of 20th
century that the renovated facade elements should be recognisable only for the
expert. For the interested layman, on the other hand, the renovation is as good as
imperceptible to this date. The reprocessed elements of the steel and glass facade,
which comprise approx. 40 % of the original fabric, are sufficient evidence of the
original structure, the lifetime of which will unfortunately be limited where thermal and
hygric forces have a fabric destroying effect. On the part of the monument protection
authorities of the federal state of Lower Saxony and on the part of the owner, every
effort is being made meanwhile to guarantee this lifetime as long as possible.

b. Work Hall

The work hall that was built in two phases is encompassed by the main building in
the south and the east in L-shape. Directly in the south, it adjoins the drying building.
Since the expansion performed in 1914, the work hall exists even today in nearly
unchanged condition in its original form. The original wooden roof truss structure
rests on the original cast iron cylindrical columns. Even the steel and glass facade
oriented towards the Hannoversche Straße was completely preserved in respect of
building fabric. Rust and mechanical damages could be repaired. The old single
glazing could be carefully inserted and/or extended once again after the treatment of
the iron profiles. Merely in the axis that bordered on the administrative building, a
steel and glass element had to be renovated after the old one had no longer existed
since 1982.

In parts, the shed roof structures had to be renovated, since considerable damage in
the area of the brick-tiled roof surface and of the shed itself had occurred. The
replaced shed roof elements as well as the new roof covering, however, correspond
to the previous state in terms of appearance. The incident solar radiation that was
perceived as too intense due to the southwest orientation of the sheds was reduced
by means of changed glazing, which generates – since then – diffused irradiation. As
a final measure, another brickwork and jointing repair in the area of parapet
elements was performed in 1994. Even here, there were no large-scale exchange
measures, but merely repair and small additions.

Altogether, the original building fabric was largely preserved even in the area of the
work hall, in that changes vis-à-vis the original are to be evidenced merely in the
case of the sheds. Even here, another reason for the change, beside the irreparable

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damage, was the improvement of the working situation of the workers in this large
hall.

c. Chimney

The striking factory chimney with the Fagus logo on the water tank was built in 1915
in connection with the boiler house. The originally approx. 50 metres high chimney
had been shortened in the post-war years in connection with the installation of a new
heating plant. In the context of the repair of the chimney effected in 1987/88, the
original height was once again erected approximately, so that the historical
appearance can be regarded as restored today. The Fagus logo on the water tank
exists as advertising vehicle only since 1975.

d. Machine and Boiler House

The today's machine and boiler house was built in the course of plant expansion
between 1914 and 1916. The older and smaller machine house which already
existed at the same place with a traction engine was initially modified by the new
building, but was later demolished. Even in this component, Gropius had remained
true to his form language, which he had used in the main building and in the work
hall facade, a steel and glass structure framed in yellow clinker brick base and a
similar attic. To begin with, a steam engine of the company Sulzer from
Ludwigshafen, the steam boiler of which was fired with coal, was initially integrated in
the machine house. Long before the general overhaul, the steam engine of the
building had been replaced by an oil firing system.

The reconstruction took place between 1994 and 1997. At the same time, the
building was set up as canteen and recreation room for the factory workers and
employees, which today offers the possibility of hosting even larger visitor groups. In
the process, the meanwhile aged oil firing system with the large boilers was removed
to begin with. The reconstruction of the external brickwork followed as well as the
restoration of the still existent original black and white tiled flooring with additions
made at the places where tiles were missing. With the greatest care, the steel and
glass facade was repaired while preserving the single glazing. Defective glass panes
were exchanged. Subsequently, the external area with the entrance gate and the
staircase with the simple railings were restored. The picture of an original machine
house can be retraced especially well even today due to the still existent crane
runway.

The conceptual basic thought in the handling of the machine and boiler house was to
preserve the building fabric as far as possible, even though parts of technical
equipment, which obstructed sensible use, had to be removed. From the point of
view of monument protection, the removed heating systems could not, however,
claim any recognition as monument. At the same time, it may be assumed that
another solution would have been attempted if the original steam engine had still
been present in the building.

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e. Chip and Coal Bunker

The massively constructed chip and coal bunker that was built way back in 1911 and
extended in 1923/24 with yellow clinker brick walls and projecting reinforced concrete
flat roofs was built as a free-standing structure on the railway system with its own
siding track. As a preliminary reconstruction measure, repair of concrete on the roof
and its supports was performed in 1997. Otherwise, the building remained
completely preserved in its original version. It is today used as warehouse as well as
for workshop purposes and is intended to be reconstructed in 2011-12 while
preserving all the original components.

f. Rail-Car Scales

Neighbouring the chip and coal bunker stands the small building of the track scales,
likewise built as a free-standing massive structure in the plant-typical yellow fused
clinker brick, open towards the track side by means of steel and glass window
structure and closed by means of a flat roof. The building constructed in 1921 was
out of operation way back at the beginning of the large-scale repair jobs in the mid-
80's. Nonetheless, it underwent a repair of the brickwork, of the steel and glass
window and of the roof with fabric-preserving improvements in the years 1991/92
and is thus preserved in its original state.

g. Cutting Die Department and Blacksmith's Shop

Way back in the original conception of the plant by the Gropius predecessor Eduard
Werner, the construction of the blacksmith's shop and the cutting die department for
leather production was planned in the south of the main building. Gropius had
undertaken a reworking of the facades with yellow fused clinker bricks from 1911
onwards, without, however, being able to eliminate the already laid down, relatively
strict elements which are still arrested in Classicism such as pilaster structures,
drilling windows and the projecting cornices. He, however, adapted the iron lattice
windows to be used to the rest of the plant in the known form. The chimney of a
height of approximately 20 metres in the southeast corner of the double-gabled
building which is out-of-operation, but nonetheless repaired and to this date
preserved is part of the former blacksmith's shop.

With the task of production of cutting dies in the year 1974, the building was reused
for exhibition area and conference rooms. The necessary rebuilding in the interior
meanwhile take into consideration the original floor plan concept and the structural
elements of the original room layout. A roof reconstruction became necessary, which
was performed according to the measures of the work hall. The old vapour barrier of
the roof was removed; intact bricks were secured and reused. Material such as for
instance rafters, stringers or the like was only exchanged if there was irreparable
damage. Otherwise, repairs appropriate to material were performed. In addition to
the existing structure, insulation was integrated. The roof cover was executed as
before in pantiles while making use of the secured bricks. The likewise reusable roof
light profiles were dismantled, blasted, newly painted and reused. According to the
procedure in the work hall, insulation glazing made of wired glass and a capillary
plate disposed in between were used for the glazing, which directs diffuse light into

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the rooms. As in the other factory buildings, the massive brickwork of blacksmith's
shop and free-standing chimney underwent a jointing improvement.

The structural handling was in line with the strict criteria of monument conservation
which strives for fabric preservation as far as possible and opts for a fabric change
only in case of destroyed material. In the process, the changes vis-à-vis the original
are recognisable only in relation to its changed use. In particular, the outer
appearance has remained unchanged in its original form.

h. Gatekeeper's House with Factory Gate and Wall

The gatekeeper's house with the factory gate and the boundary wall adjoining
Hannoversche Straße, which exists to this date, was built in 1925 as the last building
by Gropius on the premises of the Fagus Factory. Both the factory-typical material
selection of yellow clinker brick as well as the modern design language of the
architect characterises the entrance. The roof overhang was originally borne by a
vertical shear wall made of concrete, which was presumably replaced shortly after
1950 by the present-day support shafts such that the factory road could be surveyed
from the gatekeeper's lodge. In the course of the overall measure, repair work had to
be performed on the gatekeeper's house and the boundary wall; thus, for instance,
the reconstruction of the porous concrete roof as well as rust removal from the steel
and glass window elements and from the door. The wall joints were improved
according to the rest of the building. Same as in the vestibule of the staircase, a
boxlight reconstructed according to the Bauhaus design was installed in the
gatekeeper's house. All in all, the original appearance of the access road is
completely preserved except for the exchange of the shear wall with shafts as load-
bearing elements of the concrete roof that took place after the war.

i. Drying Building

The construction of drying house, which is directly upstream of the work hall, begun
in 1911 and was finished in 1913. It served the purpose of mechanical drying of the
wooden work pieces for shoe last production which were already pre-dried in the
warehouse. Though the building with its high drying chambers had one storey, it has
the effect of a double-storeyed building on the outside due to accordingly distributed
windows, which are attributable to the predecessor Gropius. The drying house is
covered with a flat roof, out of which the exhaust shafts of the drying chambers
projected. With the changeover to plastic production, parts of the drying chambers
were removed already in 1974.

In connection with the large-scale factory reconstruction, repairs were also

performed on the drying house in 1997, in particular on the roof and the facades, in
which the roof sealing had to be completely renovated and furnished with an
insulating layer. The brick-work covering made of zinc sheet was restored as original
and does not allow any change in the appearance to be recognised on the outside.
The rain drainage system, the trapping boxes and the rainwater pipes were dealt with
in the same way. For optical reasons, a few of the exhaust shafts on the roof were
also preserved, although their function was redundant now. The reconstruction of the
brickwork surfaces and of the steel windows was carried out as a repair measure

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according to the previously executed work on the rest of the buildings. In 2007, an
independent wood structure was added into the interior space of a large volume
without interfering into the historical building fabric, thus setting up additional
workplaces for engineers. In addition, the vertical windows to the narrow courtyard
opposite the warehouse wall were installed for a better illumination.

Insofar it can be concluded even for the former drying house that the external
appearance as well as the internal building fabric remained largely preserved by the
measures.

k. Sawmill

The sawmill building behind the large warehouse represents the northwestern
conclusion of the factory and belongs in core to the buildings of the construction
phase of 1911. In the following years, it was changed and expanded several times,
for the first time in 1921 under Gropius, in 1938 by Ernst Neufert and later once
again around 1950 by the internal building department of the factory. The single-
storey building demonstrates on the outside the design language of the remaining
factory, defined by the use of yellow clinker brick and the iron lattice windows. Closed
by three very flatly inclined, hipped roofs in parallel, the building has the effect of a
flat roof closure seen from the level of the pedestrian.

After the building had lost its original function already in 1960's due to the
changeover from wooden to plastic processing in shoe last production, it was largely
destroyed by a fire in the year 1985 except for the external brickwork. With the
reconstruction in the original appearance, it was reused from 1991 onwards as an
engineer's centre. Out of the three halls originally lying next to each other, a large
room was created. The optically generated three-naves design, however, remained
retraceable both on the outside as well as on the inside. Naturally, all the windows
were destroyed in the fire, so that contemporary replacement was used with the
reuse.

l. Warehouse

The warehouse, built in two construction phases in 1911 and 1914, can be traced
back in its conception to the architect Eduard Werner, the predecessor of Walter
Gropius. The basement and ground floor with bricked external walls form the base
for the rising half-timbered framework structure. All the wooden beam ceilings are
designed with perforated floor in the bearing areas. Three upper floors in traditional
lattice framework structure with bricked up lattice framework external walls and a
four-cm-thick so-called "washed-out concrete plaster layer" applied in front form the
core of this mighty factory building. The 4th upper floor is optically slightly recessed
over the 3rd upper floor by means of a wooden fascia at the ceiling level and
appears to be a fitted and stacked floor clad in sandstone plates. The closure is
formed by the ventilation louvers recessed on all sides and running across the entire
length of the building with the open side fronts which are likewise constructed in half-
timbered framework. The warehouse as a striking building that significantly co-
determines the complete ensemble was repaired as the last object of the large-scale
reconstruction measure towards the end of the 90's.

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No maintenance and preservation work was undertaken before the measure on the
building which stood empty for more than three decades. The ageing of the building
progressed without any control. Building damages as well as problems in the static
safety increasingly set in. The damaged roof sealing, the missing rainwater drainage
as well as the facade damage ultimately burdened the wooden structure to a high
degree. Frost in the damp walls caused cracks and shell-like flaking of the facade
plaster. Penetrating water created mouldiness and dry rot in the structural wood as
well as animal infestation in the entire structure.

Since 1995, it began to be deliberated for the first time to adopt the warehouse as
external Expo project "Technology Centre" in the world exhibition concept of the year
2000 in Hannover. With a measurement that made allowances for deformation and
an initial cost estimate, the basis for the reconstruction was formed in 1995/96.
Further appraisal of the warehouse with mapping of the damage followed up to 1997.
From the aspect of monument conservation, it was likewise the objective in the case
of the warehouse to preserve as far as possible of the historical building fabric and
its appearance on the inside and outside, although it was already apparent that a
great part of the external half-timbered framework structure and of the plaster could
not be maintained for reasons of too great damage – overall approx. 75 % of the
external structure. Finally, it was the conviction that the preservation of the inner half-
timbered structure and the perforated floors as the core fabric of the building
appeared to be indeed 100 % possible in spite of the static problems that had
occurred. Thus, a preservation of the fabric in the interior of the house and a facade
design as original was agreed and performed between 1998 and 2002. In view of the
planned permanent reuse as an exhibition building, the facade structure was
provided with an insulated face shell consisting of plywood panels under the
renovated plaster layer. On the inside, the visible half-timbered framework, which
was not filled with bricks anymore for weight reasons, had the same form as the
previous structure. The existent, centrally located staircase could be likewise
repaired. An additional staircase in reinforced concrete on the inside was added for a
static securing of the building and in view of the requirement of building authorities
and of fire protection.

In the course of the unavoidable static stabilisation of the inner half-timbered

framework and the facades, cross-bracings made of visible steel elements were built
on the lower three floors. The force-fitted connection of the ceiling beams at the half-
timbered framework nodal connections was visibly executed in steel. With respect to
the design, there was consensus among planners, structural designers, monument
preservationists and owners that the static protection should be left clearly visible in
the interior as structural addition and integrate it in the factory exhibition after the
avoidance of the danger of collapse, whereas the external appearance was intended
to be kept as close as possible to the original. From the outside, only the new
windows, which replace the original ventilation louvers in identical size, give away
that the warehouse of the Fagus Factory had undergone a reconstruction and/or a
reuse.

All in all, it may be noted down that the preservation of the wooden warehouse in the
Fagus Factory could only succeed due to the impulse from Expo 2000. On the basis
of the Expo project, other exhibitions on the topics "Walter Gropius as Architect of
the Fagus Factory", "Bauhaus Architecture", "Shoe Lasts and Fashion" as well as

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"Wood and Technology" were held up to 2005, which helped to bring a sizeable flow
of visitors to the Fagus Factory and the city of Alfeld every year.

8. Could there be development pressures in the buffer zone and in the wider
surroundings of the factory which could impact on the landscape?

With the existent legal instruments of building and monument preservation law of the
federal state of Lower Saxony (Denkmalschutzgesetz and Bauordnung (Law on
Monument Protection and Building Code)) as well as of planning law of the Federal
Republic of Germany (Baugesetzbuch (Town and Country Planning Code)) all the
developments that could exert pressure on the Fagus Factory in Alfeld can be
controlled (s. chapter 5D and 5E IV-V). The following precise detailed information in
respect of the safeguards related to planning law for the protection of the Fagus
Factory can be amended:

The legally effective land use plan of the city of Alfeld from 1976 represents the plot
of land and the extended environs of the Fagus Factory as commercial building area
so that the future commercial development of this municipal area is secured. The
development plan worked out from the land use plan of 2010 (No. 42.2, "Neue
Wiese/Limmerburg"), which adjoins the nominated world heritage site in the
northwest, has the objective of permitting the use of commercial building areas "for
not significantly polluting commercial business of production, handicraft and service
provision".

Both the area of the development plan as well as all the remaining areas in optical
range are subject to § 34 of the Baugesetzbuch (Town and Country Planning Code)
according to which the permissibility of possible neighbouring development in the
near and extended environs has to be regularised. Each additional development
must merge with the uniqueness of the existent surrounding. At the same time, the
image of the place, which is characterised in particular by the significance of the
Fagus Factory, must not be impaired. The requirements of healthy living and working
conditions must be safeguarded.

Based on these planning law related commitments, it will always be possible to scale
down planned buildings that are too bulky or too high and could impair the Fagus
Factory. Taking the Fagus Factory into consideration is a planning goal to be
observed and implemented for directly neighbouring buildings in the future. To this
extent, an inappropriate optical competition with the Fagus Factory can be ruled out
with the greatest degree of certainty. With these legal instruments, the conditions are
created for all kinds of possibilities for additions in the close and extended environs
of the Fagus Factory which are desirable from the point of view of urban planning.

As a basis for further urban land-use planning in the future, the city of Alfeld had
developed a landscape plan for the extended environs of the Fagus Factory beyond
the borders of the settlement in the year 1996. Optical disturbances from the
southwestern hill side can be controlled with the help of the building and planning law
in such a way that there are no negative effects on the Fagus Factory and the old
town of Alfeld. In particular, the view relation between the Wahrberg and the Fagus

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Factory can be regulated in combination of §§ 34 and 35 of the Baugesetzbuch

(Town and Country Planning Code) and the objectives of the landscape plan.

The following has to be added with respect to other regionally relevant planning
measures that could affect the Fagus Factory: At present, a regional planning
procedure for setting up a 380-KV line between the substation Wahle in Lower
Saxony and the substation Mecklar in Hessen is being conducted. Within the
framework of the application conference, the responsible power supply company has
been informed that a nomination has been made for inclusion of the Alfeld Fagus
Factory in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO on the part of the federal state of
Lower Saxony and/or the Federal Republic of Germany in the year 2009. An electric
line routing in optical range of the Fagus Factory is therewith forbidden. Alternative
line routings are meanwhile existent.

Other regionally relevant planning measures that could affect the Fagus Factory in
any way are not known. In particular for wind energy plants, neither has investor
interest been registered nor have planning procedures been initiated. With the
additional instrument of environmental compatibility checks, the Fagus Factory could
be likewise protected effectively with the help of the described legal instruments.

The following explanations may be given for the buffer zone: To the northwest the
latch is closed with sufficient distance and adequate height on the Gropius buildings
due to the mechanical engineering hall of the company Fagus-GreCon (nowadays
GreCon-Dimter, s. application chapter 2.B, p. 33) built in 1974 as an expansion
measure, which supports the design qualities of the cultural monument and makes
an extended buffer zone in this direction superfluous. Since the plots in southwestern
direction between the Hannoversche Straße and the railway line are narrower, the
buffer zone in this direction is longer in order to have a strong instrument for height
limitation of possible new buildings. On the city outskirts towards the southwest and
inwards of the city to the northeast, the binding nature of building, planning and
monument protection law apply without limitations (s. also application chapter
5.B/7.B). To this extent, optical obstructions for the Fagus Factory from these sides
are not to be feared.

With the selected designation of the buffer zone, a consensus between the World
Heritage applicants and the municipal planning administration is achieved, which
makes the urban development in the environment of the Fagus Factory controllable
under the economic conditions to be expected in the medium term. This consensus
comes up with both, the strict requirements of monument protection as well as the
necessary planning perspectives of the city of Alfeld.

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege
Bau- und Kunstdenkmalpflege

Hannover, den 16. November 2010

1. The exact role exerted by the Fagus Factory on the emergence of the
Bauhaus.

Die Ausgangspunkte der modernen Architektur im 20. Jahrhundert manifestieren

sich in drei Stätten, die Deutschland zur Aufnahme in die Welterbeliste der UNESCO
angemeldet hat: das Alfelder Fagus-Werk als einer innovativen Stätte von Arbeit und
Produktion, die Berliner Siedlungen als Stätten des neuen Wohnens (Welterbeliste
2008) und das Dessauer Bauhaus als einem Ort der Vermittlung, des Lernens und
der Erziehung zu einem neuen Menschenbild (Welterbeliste 2003). Mit dieser
dreifachen Anmeldung wird der Bedeutung des Neuen Bauens Rechnung getragen,
das zwischen den zwei Weltkriegen zunächst punktuell, aber beständig zunehmend,
das Bild der gebauten Umwelt prägte. Nach 1945 breitete sich diese Stilrichtung mit
ihren identitätsstiftenden Eigenschaften in einem weiteren Entwicklungsschritt
flächendeckend und global aus.

Aus der gegenüber dem Weimarer/Dessauer Bauhaus und den Berliner Siedlungen
späteren Nominierung des Fagus-Werkes für die Welterbeliste im Jahr 2010 darf
nicht abgeleitet werden, diesen Schlüsselbau der Moderne lediglich als noch nicht
ausgereiften Vorläufer für das Dessauer Bauhaus abzuwerten oder ihn gar unter die
verbreiteten Vorboten des modernen Bauens aus der Reformbewegung um oder
nach 1900 einzureihen. Seit 1984 ist das Fagus-Werk aufgrund seiner überragenden
architekturgeschichtlichen Bedeutung für die Anmeldeliste der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland benannt worden, deren Stätten sich für die zukünftige Nominierung zur
Aufnahme in die Welterbeliste zu bewerben hatten. Das Bauhausgebäude in Dessau
zu nominieren, geht auf die ehemalige Vorschlagsliste der Deutschen
Demokratischen Republik vor 1989 zurück. Beide Listen wurden nach der Wende
von 1989 aufeinander abgestimmt, sodass daraus eine Tentativliste für den
vereinigten Staat Deutschland entstand, in der alle drei Stätten der Moderne –
Fagus-Werk, Bauhaus und Berliner Siedlungen – begründet enthalten blieben.

In zahlreichen Schriften der frühen Protagonisten des Neuen Bauens sind Bauten
von Industrie, Produktion und Arbeit als die chancenreichste Bauaufgabe
beschrieben, in der sich der gesellschaftliche Wandel und der Gestaltungswille der
innovativen Architekten ausdrücken konnten. Die Wohnungsnot und die
katastrophalen sozialen Verhältnisse der ersten Jahre in der Weimarer Republik
machten aber auch den Siedlungsbau zu einem Experimentierfeld der modernen
Architektur. Dazu hat das Bauhaus als erste und berühmt gewordene Lehranstalt
eine junge Architekten- und Künstlergeneration ausgebildet, die dieser
schöpferischen und zukunftsweisenden Tätigkeit konsequent nachging und die als
Vorbild und Vermittler des neuen Stils weltweit Anerkennung fand. Wenn aus
Deutschland sowohl eine exemplarische Stätte der Arbeit, als auch die bis heute
aufsehenerregenden Stätten des Wohnens (in den Berliner Siedlungen) sowie ein
bahnbrechender Ort der Ausbildung (in Weimar und danach in Dessau) für die Liste
des Welterbes der UNESCO vorgeschlagen wurden, so ist dieses Dreigestirn der

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Kulturschöpfungen für das Verständnis des 20. Jahrhunderts von eminenter

Bedeutung.

Mehr als ein Jahrzehnt vor dem Dessauer Bauhausensemble und zeitlich getrennt
durch den Ersten Weltkrieg muss das Fagus-Werk indessen als Ausgangspunkt und
Beginn der modernen Bewegung betrachtet werden. Schon Adolf Behne
bezeichnete das Fagus-Werk aus architektonischer und sozialer Sicht als „die
modernste, die vorbildliche deutsche Fabrik vor dem Kriege“ (Der moderne
Zweckbau, 1926, S. 33). Einer der Wortführer der Architekturgeschichtsschreibung
für das letzte Jahrhundert, Winfried Nerdinger, hat sein Urteil 1985 folgendermaßen
ausgedrückt: „Der Geniestreich des jungen Gropius übertrifft an architektonischer
Kühnheit und künstlerischer Innovation nahezu alle Bauten vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg
und ist in seiner Bedeutung für die gesamte Architektur des 20. Jahrhunderts gar
nicht hoch genug einzuschätzen“ (1985, S. 36, s. Antrag S. 39). Die in zahllosen
Publikationen ähnlich lautenden Einschätzungen des Fagus-Werkes erlauben es,
das Kriterium II der Welterberichtlinien, nach dem die nominierte Anlage „einen
bedeutenden Wandel menschlicher Werte … in Bezug auf die Entwicklung der
Architektur ausdrückt“, einschränkungslos als erfüllt anzusehen.

Will man aus fachlicher Sicht das Verhältnis der beiden Bauensembles, Fagus-Werk
und Dessauer Bauhaus, zueinander definieren, so spielen nicht nur die
architektonischen Formen und die Gestaltung eine Rolle, sondern vor allem auch der
Zweck und die Funktion der beiden Einrichtungen. In diesem Zusammenhang muss
man feststellen, dass das Fagus-Werk gestalterisch ein Ausgangspunkt, das
Bauhausgebäude ein Höhepunkt des Neuen Bauens in der Architekturentwicklung
des 20. Jahrhunderts ist. Während jedoch die Bedeutung des Fagus-Werkes als
Industrie- und Bürobau in seiner Impulskraft für die Ausprägung des internationalen
Stils der modernen Architektur liegt, verbindet man mit dem Bauhaus die Funktion
als Schule, als Ausbildungsstätte, als Akademie für den umfassenden Künstler der
klassischen Moderne. Am Bauhaus trafen Architekten, Maler, Bildhauer, Fotografen
und Kunsthandwerker aufeinander. Sie verknüpften die Baukunst mit den bildenden
Künsten. Zugleich experimentierten sie mit den darstellenden Künsten aus Theater,
Tanz und Musik.

Wenn beide Bauensembles, das Fagus-Werk sowie das Dessauer Bauhaus, auch
die Handschrift desselben Architekten tragen, so kommt ihnen aus gesamtheitlicher
Sicht eine epochale Stellung zu, für die das Kriterium I der Welterberichtlinien,
„Meisterwerke der menschlichen Schöpferkraft“ zu sein, in gleicher Weise zutrifft.
Immerhin hatte Walter Gropius als einer der ersten Architekten mit dem Fagus-Werk
einen Industriebau zum Kunstwerk erhoben. Nahm der junge und enthusiastische
Architekt Gropius einerseits von seinem Bauherrn Benscheidt die Idee auf, die
Baukörper nach der in Amerika entwickelten Rationalität der Betriebsabläufe zu
ordnen, so gelang es ihm andererseits in hervorragender Weise, den Baukörpern
und Räumen durch klassische Proportionen, menschlich-wohltuende Atmosphäre
und Lichtverhältnisse künstlerische Schönheit auf höchstem Niveau zu verleihen.

Auch das hatten frühe Kritiker wie Adolf Behne bereits als außergewöhnliche
Eigenschaften des Fagus-Werkes erkannt (Der moderne Zweckbau, a. a. O.). Indem
Gropius den bis dahin meist beengten und ohne höhere Gestaltungsansprüche
entstandenen, mehr oder weniger hässlich geratenen Industriekasernen diese
Gestaltungsprinzipien entgegenstellte, steuerte er der Entfremdung des Einzelnen in

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der Industriearbeit entgegen. Den Fabrikarbeitern wie den Angestellten eröffneten er

und sein damals kongenialer Auftraggeber damit völlig neuartige
Identifikationsmöglichkeiten mit den in mechanisch-maschineller Arbeit
herzustellenden Massenprodukten. Bis heute wird das Fagus-Werk nachweislich in
dieser Art und Weise wahrgenommen. Die Produktion sollte nicht nur dem
Unternehmer Gewinn bringen. Die Arbeitsumgebung sollte auch Arbeitern und
Angestellten mit ihren menschlichen Dimensionen, mit Licht und geordneten
Arbeitsabläufen vorteilhaft erscheinen.

Es steht außer Frage, dass die Ausnahmeerscheinung Fagus-Werk in ihrer

Entstehungszeit nicht isoliert betrachtet werden kann, sondern ein Teil der vielen
Reformbestrebungen fortschrittlicher Architekten sowohl in Deutschland als
beispielsweise auch in Tschechien, Österreich und den Niederlanden ist. Zu den
Reformern gehören vor allem auch die mehr konstruktiv als gestalterisch tätigen
Ingenieure seit der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, die innovative Zweckbauten
aus Stahl und Glas, d. h. Industrie-, Eisenbahn- und Ausstellungshallen sowie immer
kühnere Brücken- und Turmbauwerke konstruierten. Den Reformern zuzuordnen
sind die ersten amerikanischen Hochhausarchitekten in Chicago und New York. In
gleicher Weise darf man die beachtlichen und vielseitigen Experimente mit
Eisenbeton seit den 80er-Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts zu den Reformbestrebungen
zählen, die sich sowohl in Amerika als auch in Europa verschiedener Bauaufgaben
bemächtigten und beispielsweise in einer konstruktiven Höchstleistung, der 1911 bis
1913 errichteten Breslauer Jahrhunderthalle von Max Berg (Welterbeliste 2006)
gipfelten. Ein künstlerisches Innovationspotential wie im Fagus-Werk fehlt jedoch der
Jahrhunderthalle, die sich deutlich auf das Formenrepertoire des wiederbelebten
Klassizismus bezieht.

Mehr mit gestalterischen und weniger mit konstruktiven Innovationen beschäftigten

sich Architekten des niederländischen Stijl sowie des Deutschen Werkbunds. Eine
Ausnahmeerscheinung außerhalb dieser beiden Architekten- und Künstlergruppen
war der Wiener Adolf Loos, der den radikalen Verzicht auf ornamentales Beiwerk
postulierte und zugleich die einfachen geometrischen Baukörper als tektonische
Grundfiguren in seinen Bauten herausarbeitete. Eine weitere Ausnahmeerscheinung
erschien in der Person Le Corbusiers, der – vier Jahre jünger als Gropius – in
Frankreich mit einer außergewöhnlichen und ganz anders gearteten Handschrift als
in Deutschland und den Niederlanden Städtebauideen und den Wohnungsbau nach
dem Ersten Weltkrieg zu formen begann.

Im Verhältnis zu diesen parallelen Entwicklungserscheinungen der frühen

reformorientierten Bauschöpfungen am Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts verkörpert das
Fagus-Werk von Walter Gropius zwischen 1910 und 1914 zum allerersten Mal eine
konsequente Synthese der bis dahin entwickelten modernen Gestaltungsideen, eine
Synthese, die wie keine andere mit den traditionellen Gestaltungsmotiven im
Bauwesen zu dieser Zeit bricht. Als solche nimmt das Fagus-Werk
anerkanntermaßen eine plötzlich auftretende Sonderstellung im gesamten
Baugeschehen ein und begründet damit eine tief greifende und weitreichende
Veränderung in der Architekturgeschichte. Ohne verbliebene Reminiszenzen an
traditionelle Bauformen begründet es erstmals den Wandel von Historismus,
Neoklassizismus und Jugendstil zur Moderne.

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Alle wesentlichen Elemente des Neuen Bauens tauchen am Fagus-Werk mit

höchstem künstlerischem Anspruch und unter Anwendung klassischer
Proportionsprinzipien auf. Alle wesentlichen Stilelemente des Klassizismus und erst
recht des Jugendstils werden abgeschüttelt. Das Bauensemble setzt sich aus
kubischen Baukörpern zusammen, die, wie oben beschrieben, nach betrieblichen
Abläufen aneinandergereiht und in die Höhe gestapelt sind. Das Konzept verzichtet
konsequent auf herkömmliche Sockelbereiche und auf traditionelle, mit Ziegeln
gedeckte Dachformen. Die bis dahin im Industriebau üblichen, besonders die an den
der Öffentlichkeit zugewandten Fassaden angebrachten, plastischen Ornamente
fehlen vollständig. Profile, Beschläge, Geländer und Leuchtkörper werden auf
geometrische Grundformen reduziert. Die ‚Vorhangelemente’ in den Fassaden aus
Eisenprofilen und Glas treten vor die konstruktiven Tragelemente und bestimmen,
sogar an den markanten und deshalb berühmt gewordenen Ecken, das gewichtlos
wirkende Fassadenrelief. Waagerecht gelagerte Fensterbänder ziehen sich durch
die Fassaden des Hallen- und des Maschinenhaustrakts. Das vor dem Ersten
Weltkrieg beherrschende Gestaltungsprinzip einer Lasten abtragenden
Gebäudetektonik ist vollständig preisgegeben, sodass Decken und Dächer in vielen
Ansichten zu schweben scheinen. Dieses heutzutage durch die Sehgewohnheit fast
als selbstverständlich angesehene Gestaltungsprinzip muss seinerzeit ebenso
revolutionär gewirkt haben wie die Malerei eines Malevitch oder Mondrian, die sich
von allen gegenständlichen und szenischen Motiven vollständig abgewandt hatten.

Die vom jungen Architekten Gropius in einem „Geniestreich“ zusammengesetzten

Gestaltungselemente tauchen im Dessauer Bauhausgebäude in einem durch
zunehmende Erfahrung weiterentwickelten Formenkanon, aber mit neuartigen,
vorher nie dagewesenen Funktionsdefinitionen wieder auf. Die Prägung durch ein
und dieselbe Architektenhandschrift tut der überragenden Qualität beider
Bauensembles jedoch keinen Abbruch. Innerhalb des Dreigestirns aus Wohnen,
Arbeiten und Bildung kommt Walter Gropius im Wettbewerb der Innovationen ein
zweites Mal ein höchster Rang bei der Entstehung der Moderne zu. Das mögen
gerade die Unterschiede zwischen Fagus-Werk und Bauhausgebäude beleuchten.
Sie drücken sich in den jeweils vorhandenen konzeptionellen Stärken aus.

Während das Fagus-Werk Betriebs- und Produktionsabläufe in unterschiedlichen

Baukörpern in Reihe setzt, sind im Bauhaus die Funktionen von Werkstattbau,
Schulbau und Atelierbau wie in einem Dreistrahl organisch aufeinander ausgerichtet.
Schul- und Werkstattbau sind über die Straße mithilfe einer Brücke durch den
Verwaltungstrakt und die darüber liegende Architekturabteilung verbunden. Zwischen
Atelier- und Werkstattbau ist die Aula eingefügt. Auffällig dringen die
Verbindungsfunktionen baulich in die Hauptfunktionsbereiche ein. Diese haben
gestalterisch jeweils eigene, in ihrer Zeit allerdings spektakuläre Charakterzüge: der
Schulbau wird zum Blickfang mit den horizontalen Fensterbändern und den
‚schwebenden’ Geschossdecken, der Atelier- und Wohnbau richtet sich
demgegenüber turmartig auf mit den wie als Klappen auskragenden
Balkonscheiben, der Werkstattbau schließlich wird mit der überwältigenden
Vorhangverglasung nobilitiert. Radikal wendet Gropius eine neue Formensprache für
die traditionell bekannte Bauaufgabe einer Bauschule an, wie Huse es 1975 treffend
beschrieb (Neues Bauen 1918-1933, S. 57 f): „In der Erscheinung des
Gesamtkomplexes dominieren … Bauformen aus dem Bereich von Industrie und
Verwaltung, nicht – wie oft bei früheren Kunstschulen – solche aus dem Bereich der
Tempel, Paläste und Schlösser.“

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Es ist unbestritten, dass Gropius in der Bauhausarchitektur das Fagus-Werk in

Teilen zitiert – nicht nur in einzelnen weiterentwickelten architektonischen
Gestaltungselementen wie der Vorhangfassade, sondern vor allem auch im sozialen
Anspruch, in „der Würde der gemeinsamen Idee“, die Lernende und Lehrende
ebenso wie zuvor Arbeitnehmer und Arbeitgeber miteinander verbindet (Gropius,
Industrie-Bau, zit. nach Huse, S. 121). Gestalterisch und konzeptionell ist das Fagus-
Werk jedoch der Ursprung, die Wurzel einer epochalen Innovation, zeitlich markiert
am Beginn des zweiten Jahrzehnts im 20. Jahrhundert. Erstmals manifestiert sich
der internationale Stil des Neuen Bauens im Fagus-Werk und prägt damit ein ganzes
Jahrhundert. Kein anderes Bauwerk der Welt kann zur gleichen Entstehungszeit ein
dem Fagus-Werk vergleichbares Innovationspotential aufweisen.

2. Comparisons with other sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List
and related to the emergence of 20th Century modern architecture.

Acht bereits in der Liste des Weltkulturerbes enthaltene Welterbestätten, die mit der
Entwicklung der modernen Architektur in Zusammenhang stehen, können mit den im
Antragstext dargestellten, für die moderne Architektur wegweisenden und universell
bedeutenden Merkmalen des Fagus-Werkes verglichen und in Beziehung gesetzt
werden. Da die ausgewählten Welterbestätten ein sehr heterogenes Spektrum der
Architektur der Moderne umfassen, ist es nicht in jedem Fall möglich, eine quasi
genetische Verbindung zum Fagus-Werk herzustellen. Einige der Objekte sind
wesentlich später als das Fagus-Werk entstanden und tragen die vom Fagus-Werk
ausgegangenen Impulse bereits in mehrfach vermittelter und weiterinterpretierter
Form in sich. Bei anderen Objekten ist wegen ihres typologischen Charakters oder
regionaler Besonderheiten ein Bezug zum Fagus-Werk nur durch die Modernität der
Entwurfshaltung herzustellen, die, am Fagus-Werk erstmals sichtbar geworden, ein
großes Variationspotential architektonischer Formgebung beinhaltet.

Die auf der Tentativliste der UNESCO enthaltenen Weltkulturerbeanwärter aus dem
Bereich der architektonischen Moderne sind Teil der international vergleichenden
Darstellung in Abschnitt 3 dieser Additional Informations.

a. Jahrhunderthalle in Breslau, Polen, 1911-1913 von Max Berg (Abb. 1)

Von den bereits in der Welterbeliste der UNESCO enthaltenen Bauten, welche die
moderne Architektur des 20. Jahrhunderts reflektieren, ist die von Max Berg in
Breslau errichtete Jahrhunderthalle ein herausragendes Beispiel. Sie ist – praktisch
zeitgleich mit dem Fagus-Werk – 1911 bis 1913 entstanden und markiert einen
wichtigen Meilenstein in der Entwicklung des Ingenieurbaus, besonders im Hinblick
auf den Einsatz von Stahlbeton und die damit verbundene Möglichkeit, große
Spannweiten zu erreichen. Mit ihrem Durchmesser von 65 Metern und einer Höhe
von 42 Metern war sie zur Bauzeit die größte Kuppel ihrer Art und gilt deswegen als
Pionierleistung des Stahlbetonbaues und als Meilenstein der modernen Architektur.
Durch ihre nüchterne Monumentalität, die Abwendung vom Formenreichtum des
Historismus und die offene Präsentation des Konstruktionssystems im Innern werden

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die typischen Merkmale des Funktionalismus und eine selbstbewusste Modernität

realisiert. Die Gliederung und Schichtung der gewaltigen Baumassen werden jedoch
im Gegensatz zum Hauptbau des Fagus-Werkes mit dem eher konservativen
Gestaltungsrepertoire des Neoklassizismus erreicht: Die gleichmäßige Reihung von
zu Gruppen zusammengefassten Fensteröffnungen und besonders die von
kannelierten Säulen getragene Eingangshalle lässt an Vorbilder wie das römische
Pantheon oder die Hagia Sophia in Konstantinopel denken. Die internationale
architekturhistorische Bedeutung der Jahrhunderthalle in Breslau liegt in der
zukunftsweisenden Verwendung modernster Konstruktionstechnik für eine in jener
Zeit neu entstehende Bauaufgabe: der Errichtung einer multifunktionalen
Versammlungshalle für die breite Öffentlichkeit mit mehr als 6000 Sitzplätzen.

b. Das Bauhaus und seine Stätten in Weimar und Dessau, Deutschland, 1919-1933
von Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, Lyonel Feininger, Paul
Klee u. a. (Abb. 2)

Von den in der Liste des Weltkulturerbes enthaltenen Bauhaus-Stätten sind als
Repräsentanten des Modernen Bauens das Haus am Horn in Weimar von 1923, das
Bauhaus-Hauptgebäude in Dessau von 1925/26 sowie fünf von ehemals sieben
Meisterhäusern in Dessau, die 1926 fertiggestellt wurden, zu nennen. Sowohl das
1923 von Walter March und Georg Muche erbaute Musterhaus in Weimar, als auch
die Meisterhäuser in Dessau sind als Wohnhäuser zwar funktionalistisch modern
strukturiert, der großflächige Einsatz des Baumaterials Glas wird aber vermieden.
Die Modernität drückt sich hier in der kubischen Gestaltung, der ökonomischen
Raumaufteilung und -erschließung, im Wechsel von horizontalen und vertikalen
Fensterbändern sowie in der weißen Außenfarbigkeit aus. Das von Walter Gropius
1926 errichtete Bauhausgebäude selbst zitiert in der Handschrift ein und desselben
Architekten die im Fagus-Werk in einem ersten Versuch, jedoch dort noch nicht voll
ausgereifte „Vorhangfassade“ am Hauptbau. Im Übrigen verweisen wir auf Abschnitt
1 dieser Additional Informations.

c. Rietveld-Schröder-Haus, Niederlande, Utrecht, 1924 von Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

(Abb. 3)

Das von Gerrit Thomas Rietveld 1924 für Frau Schröder-Schräder errichtete kleine
Wohnhaus in Utrecht ist als Ikone des Modernen Bauens in der Welterbeliste
gewürdigt. Rietveld gehörte der niederländischen, 1917 in Leiden gegründeten
Künstlervereinigung De Stijl an. Die Gruppe verfolgte geometrisch-abstrakte
Darstellungsformen in Kunst und Architektur und einen auf Funktionalität
beruhenden puristischen Stil. Hiermit verfolgte sie ähnliche Ziele wie das Bauhaus in
Deutschland, zu dem – besonders über den Bauhauslehrer Wassily Kandinsky –
enge Beziehungen bestanden. Mit der Architektur des Fagus-Werkes verbindet das
Rietveld-Schröder-Haus nur allgemein die revolutionär neue Formensprache. Bei
dem von Rietveld selbst als „Experiment“ bezeichneten Gebäude werden die
einzelnen Bauteile auf ihre ganz eigene Funktion reduziert und in der Art von „Bau-
Steinen“ zu einem funktionierenden Ganzen zusammengesetzt.

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d. Siedlungen der Berliner Moderne, Deutschland, Berlin, 1919-1931 von Bruno

Taut, Otto Bartning, Walter Gropius, Hugo Häring, Hans Scharoun u. a. (Abb. 4)

Die 2008 in die Liste des Weltkulturerbes aufgenommenen Siedlungen der „Berliner
Moderne“ spiegeln einen die reine architektonische Formgebung weit
übersteigenden Aspekt der modernen Architektur: Die nach Wirtschaftskrise und
Inflation, seit dem Beginn der 1920er-Jahre breit angelegte Modernisierung der
deutschen Hauptstadt versammelte in Berlin die Elite der modernen deutschen
Architektur, deren Werke und Schriften auch in den Nachbarländern Aufsehen
erregten: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Hugo Häring, Walter Gropius, Martin Wagner,
Otto Bartning, Erich Mendelsohn, Hans Poelzig, Bruno und Max Taut, Fred Forbat,
Hans und Wassili Luckhardt, P. Rudolf Henning, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Adolf Rading
und Hans Scharoun vereinte eine gemeinsame architektonische Entwurfshaltung,
bei der nicht das Formproblem im Vordergrund stand, sondern die sozialen,
ökonomischen, baulichen und städtebaulichen Dimensionen dieser gewaltigen
Bauaufgabe. Modernität als Entwurfshaltung drückt sich in den Siedlungen der
Berliner Moderne in der demokratischen Reihung gleicher Wohnungstypen mit
Balkonen und Loggien aus, die zu einer seriellen und rhythmischen Gestaltung der
Wohnblöcke führte. Um Baukosten und Mieten zu senken, wurden typisierte
Wohnungsgrundrisse verwirklicht, aber auch mit neuen städtebaulichen Figuren
eigenständige, variantenreiche und auf den jeweiligen Ort bezogene
Siedlungstypologien geschaffen. Viele dieser neuen modernen Formen waren
zugleich künstlerische und rationale Antworten auf ökonomische und funktionale
Probleme. Im Kreise der Architekten der Berliner Siedlungen, die keinen doktrinären
Einheitsstil, sondern formale Vielfalt hervorbrachten, gehörte Walter Gropius zu den
Verfechtern rationalistischer und funktionalistischer Konzepte, die den Fagus-
Entwürfen von 1910 ebenfalls zugrunde liegen, dort aber aufgrund der völlig anderen
Bauaufgabe zu keinen vergleichbaren Bauformen führten.

e. Weiße Stadt Tel-Aviv, Israel, 1930- ca. 1950 von Arieh Sharon, Joseph und Ze’ev
Berlin u. a. (Abb. 5)

Die Weiße Stadt von Tel-Aviv ist mit ihren ca. 4000 Gebäuden im Bauhaus- bzw.
Internationalen Stil ein einzigartiges, stilistisch einheitliches Stadtgebilde der
Architektur der Moderne. Auf der Basis eines von Patrick Geddes seit 1925
entwickelten Masterplanes konnte ab 1930 auf einem bis dahin unbebauten Gelände
ein neues Stadtgebilde entstehen, dessen Einzelbauten von immigrierten Architekten
aus Europa entworfen wurden. Ein großer Teil der dort tätigen Architekten hatte sich
in Deutschland mit den neuesten Architekturströmungen vertraut gemacht, wie etwa
Arieh Sharon, Philipp Huett, Ze’ev Haller, Shlomo Bernstein und Joseph Neufeld, die
nach ihrer Flucht aus dem nationalsozialistischen Deutschland für dieses große
Siedlungsprojekt tätig wurden. Die funktionalistischen Bauhaus-Ideen mit
standardisierten Grundrissen, klaren kubischen Formen mit Flachdächern und
preiswerten Baumaterialien wurden hier großflächig umgesetzt, wenn auch einige
typische Merkmale der Bauhausarchitektur, wie großflächige Verglasungen, wegen
des heißen Klimas hier nicht auftreten, dafür aber aufgeständerte Bauten und lange
schmale Balkone, die eine gute Luftzirkulation gewährleisteten. Rationale und
funktionalistische Entwurfs- und Gestaltungsideen, die Walter Gropius erstmals am
Fagus-Werk hat Gestalt werden lassen und die zu Baubeginn der Weißen Stadt

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bereits zwei Jahrzehnte zurücklagen, kommen in Tel-Aviv in vielfältigen

Ausprägungen und Interpretationen zum Ausdruck.

f. Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, Venezuela, 1940-1960 von Carlos Raúl

Villanueva (Abb. 6)

Die im Jahre 2000 in die Liste des Weltkulturerbes aufgenommene Ciudad

Universitaria de Caracas, zwischen 1940 und 1960 von Carlos Raúl Villanueva
(1900-1975) entworfen und errichtet, ist das erste große Projekt moderner
Architektur auf lateinamerikanischem Boden, das aus der Hand eines einzigen
Architekten stammt und das urbanistische Dimensionen erreicht (Abb. 6). In London
und Paris aufgewachsen, hat Villanueva bis 1929 seine Ausbildung zum Architekten
an der Pariser École des Beaux Arts erhalten, an der zu dieser Zeit noch ein
eklektizistischer Entwurfsstil vermittelt wurde, der auch Villanuevas frühe Bauten in
Venezuela noch bestimmte. Obwohl die avantgardistischen europäischen
Architekturströmungen Villanueva bekannt waren, die neuen Stahlbeton-
Konstruktionstechniken ihm über seinen Mentor August Perret in Paris nahegebracht
wurden, Le Corbusier ihm persönlich bekannt war, der von ihm zeitlebens bewundert
wurde, hat Villanueva in seiner späteren Wahlheimat Venezuela zunächst noch
Bauten in neoklassizistischer Manier entworfen, ehe er ab 1940 den Schritt zu
rational funktionalistischer Architektur wagte. Mit seiner expressiven Betonung der
Konstruktion setzte sich Villanueva jedoch vom Mainstream des International Style
ab und entwickelte eine unverwechselbare persönliche Entwurfshandschrift.

g. Central University City Campus der Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

(UNAM), Mexico-City, 1949-1953 (Abb. 7)

Auf der Grundlage eines Masterplanes des großen Neuerers der mexikanischen
Architektur, José Villagrán García, wurde im Süden von Mexico-Stadt zwischen 1949
und 1953 der gewaltige Komplex der Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
errichtet. Mehr als 60 Architekten und Ingenieure waren mit individuellen Projekten
an der weiträumigen Anlage beteiligt, die sich dennoch zu einem schlüssigen
Gesamtkonzept formte. Neben Bauten, die dem Rationalismus des International
Style verpflichtet sind, wie beispielsweise das Rektoratsgebäude (Abb. 8) und der
Lesesaal der Zentralbibliothek (Abb. 9), erscheinen hier auch Architekturen von
hieratischer Blockhaftigkeit, die mit flächig eingesetzter Bauornamentik auf die
präkolumbianische Architektur des Landes zurückverweisen. 40 Jahre nach dem
Fagus-Werk ist ein unmittelbarer Bezug zu den Ursprungsbauten der Moderne kaum
noch darstellbar.

h. Villa Tugendhat, Brno, Tschechische Republik, 1928-1930 von Ludwig Mies van
der Rohe (Abb. 10)

Die seit 2001 auf der Liste des Weltkulturerbes geführte Villa Tugendhat wurde von
Mies van der Rohe 1928-30 für das Ehepaar Fritz und Grete Tugendhat errichtet. Sie
gilt heute als der wichtigste Wohnhausbau seiner europäischen Schaffenszeit.
Gleichzeitig mit seinem berühmten Pavillon für die Weltausstellung in Barcelona
entstanden, entwarf Mies van der Rohe auch diesen Bau mit rationaler Strenge und

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in kubisch klaren Formen, erreichte aber durch die innen liegenden, verchromten
Stützen und frei stehende, raumteilende Wände eine außerordentliche Offenheit und
Leichtigkeit der Architektur, die am Außenbau durch das lange, um die Ecke geführte
Fensterband zum Ausdruck kommt. Das auch bereits dem Fagus-Bau zugrunde
liegende Prinzip, die den Raum nach außen definierenden Begrenzungen durch
Glas aufzulösen, wird hier durch die Verwendung hochwertiger Baumaterialien in
eine luxuriös-moderne Wohnatmosphäre umgewandelt.

3. A comparison of the beginnings of functionalism and modernism in

architecture extended to other countries than Germany.

Das Fagus-Werk in Beziehung zur Entwicklung einer rationalen, funktionalistischen

Architektur der Moderne außerhalb Deutschlands zu setzen, kann nur an
ausgewählten Beispielen erfolgen. Die Auswahl beschränkt sich auf solche Länder,
in denen die architektonische Moderne rational funktionalistischer Prägung eine
gewisse Kontinuität erlangt hat oder mit besonders prägnanten Beispielen
hervorgetreten ist. Ähnlich wie in Deutschland, wo durch Krieg und
nationalsozialistische Diktatur die Anfänge wieder unterbrochen und unterdrückt
wurden, haben z. B. Spanien und Italien nur ein kurzes Aufleben der Architektur der
frühen Moderne erlebt, ehe auch dort ab Mitte der 30er-Jahre die Architektur von
den Staatsmächten für ihre Zwecke instrumentalisiert wurden. Unbeleuchtet bleiben
auch Sondererscheinungen wie beispielsweise in Shanghai/China, wo das
„International Settlement“ kurzzeitig europäische moderne Architektur hervorbrachte,
ebenso wie die italienischen Kolonialarchitekturen der 30er-Jahre in Asmara/Eritrea,
die auf der Tentativliste dieses Landes gegenüber der UNESCO geführt werden.

Vorab ist festzuhalten, dass weder in Europa noch in sonst einem Land der Erde vor
dem Ersten Weltkrieg Gebäude auszumachen sind, die auch nur annähernd die
Modernität und die hohe künstlerische Qualität des Fagus-Werkes von 1911
erreichen. Das Fagus-Werk war zu seiner Zeit in Stil und Gestaltung einzigartig. Die
vergleichende Übersicht erfolgt ohne Gewichtung in alphabetischer Reihung.

a. Brasilien

Wissenschaftliche Studien über Licht und Sonne im Verhältnis zur Architektur sowie
praktische Beschäftigung mit Bauproblemen, die für Brasilien wichtig waren, wie vor
allem die Schaffung von guten Lichtverhältnissen und gleichzeitigem Schutz vor zu
starker Sonneneinwirkung, erzeugten in der brasilianischen Architektenschaft seit
den frühen 30er-Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts die intellektuelle Bereitschaft neue
Architekturkonzeptionen aufzunehmen. Die jungen Architekten dieser Epoche
entwickelten eine spezifisch brasilianische Variante der modernen, in Europa
vorbereiteten, rational funktionalistischen Architekturauffassung oder auch des
International Style, wie seit der gleichnamigen Publikation von Hitchcock und
Johnson im Jahre 1932 diese moderne Architekturrichtung bezeichnet wird. Eines
der frühesten Beispiele dieser brasilianischen Moderne ist das Ministerium für
Erziehung und Gesundheit in Rio de Janeiro, 1936 begonnen und 1943 fertiggestellt
(Abb. 11). Der auf einer Seite voll verglaste Hochhauskomplex mit innen liegender

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Stahlbetonkonstruktion wurde von Lucio Costa, der zusammen mit Oscar Niemeyer
u. a. eine Arbeitsgemeinschaft bildete, entworfen. 1936 war Le Corbusier für einige
Monate als Berater für diesen Bau hinzugezogen worden. Le Corbusiers Ideen fielen
auf fruchtbaren Boden: Seine freie Formgestaltung entsprach der brasilianischen
Mentalität, seine Sonnenschutzelemente waren in vielen Fällen eine Notwendigkeit
und seine Pilotis eigneten sich besonders gut für das brasilianische Klima. Als einen
nach zwei Seiten offenen Glas-Betonbaukörper gestaltete Oscar Niemeyer auch das
1940 entstandene Gebäude für einen Jachtclub in Belo Horizonte (Abb. 12).

b. Finnland

Nach Stagnation durch den Ersten Weltkrieg und der danach folgenden
wirtschaftlichen Depression erfolgte der Durchbruch der rational-funktionalistischen
Moderne in der finnischen Architektur um 1928. In Finnland wurde die Moderne mehr
als anderswo zum Stil öffentlicher Bauten – die Modernität der jungen Republik
unterstreichend. Die führende Stellung unter den Rationalisten nahm sofort Alvar
Aalto ein, dessen Stadtbibliothek in Viipuri (1927-35) mit gebäudehoher Verglasung
des Treppenhauses, funktionalistisch angeordneten Gebäudekuben und einfachen
Lochfassaden zu den Klassikern der rationalistischen Moderne gehört (Abb. 13). Als
ein weiteres frühes Beispiel für ornamentlose kubische Gestaltung mit großen
Glasflächen als Ausdrucksträger moderner Architektur ist der „Lasipalatsi“ in Helsinki
zu nennen, ein 1935/36 errichtetes Gemeinschaftswerk von Viljo Revell, Niilo Kokko
und Heimo Riihimäki (Abb. 14).

c. Frankreich

In Frankreich erfolgte der Einzug der Moderne vor allem über die neuen,
konstruktiven Möglichkeiten des Stahlbetons und über großräumige urbanistische
Konzepte bei denen vor allem die theoretischen Schriften Le Corbusiers und seine
Nähe zum Kubismus nach seiner 1917 erfolgten Rückkehr nach Paris eine große
Rolle spielten. Der vielgestaltige Aufbruch in die Moderne ist Le Corbusier durch
seine umfangreiche Reisetätigkeit in den Jahren davor vermittelt worden. Die
Architektur des Mittelmeerraumes wurde für ihn dauerhaft inspirierend ebenso wie
Begegnungen mit dem großen Erneuerer der Architektur in Österreich, Josef
Hoffmann (1908), seine Mitarbeit im Büro von August Perret in Paris (1908/09) und
bei Peter Behrens in Berlin (1910/11), von dessen Büro Walter Gropius sich in dieser
Zeit gerade getrennt hatte. Le Corbusier war bekannt mit den führenden Köpfen der
deutschen Reform- und Werkbundbewegung und über Publikationen war er bereits
zu jener Zeit auch mit den Arbeiten von Frank Lloyd Wright vertraut. Von radikaler
Modernität zeugt seine Cité de Refuge, ein für die Heilsarmee als Asyl zwischen
1929 und 1933 errichteter Baukomplex, bei dem er erstmals in einer größeren
Bauaufgabe seine den anderen europäischen Avantgardisten sehr ähnlichen
Entwurfsprinzipien der rationalen Komposition des Bauwerkes aus elementaren
geometrischen Formen bei Vermeidung rein dekorativer Effekte realisieren konnte
(Abb. 15). Die überragende Bedeutung, die das Schaffen Le Corbusiers zwischen
1920 und 1960 für die Architektur der Moderne hat, führte dazu, dass bereits drei
von ihm entworfene Wohnhäuser aus Frankreich, Belgien und Argentinien auf der
Tentativliste für das Weltkulturerbe der UNESCO enthalten sind. Neben Le
Corbusier haben in Frankreich aber auch Architekten wie André Lurcat oder Pierre

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Chareau dem rationalen Funktionalismus baukünstlerischen Ausdruck verliehen.

Pierre Chareau baute 1928-32 in Paris das Maison de Verre, eine in vollendeter
Konsequenz ausformulierte „Maschine zum Wohnen“, wie sie Le Corbusier
postulierte (Abb. 16). Radikal modernes Bauen manifestiert sich auch in der von
André Lurcat errichteten École Karl-Marx in Villejuif bei Paris (1931-33), die er nach
seiner Mitarbeit an der Wiener Werkbundsiedlung als Komposition aus kubischen,
großflächig verglasten Baukörpern entwarf (Abb. 17). Die von Gropius geprägten
Ideen im Umgang mit Stahl und Glas an Gebäudefassaden spielten für die
Entwicklung der modernen Architektur in Frankreich nur eine nachrangige Rolle.

d. Großbritannien

In den Jahren vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg und einige Zeit danach dominierte in der
britischen Architektur ein noch aus dem 18. Jahrhundert übernommener, stark von
der akademischen Lehre in Frankreich beeinflusster Monumentalismus. Der
Neuerer, der ab Ende der 1920er-Jahre in England mit ausgesprochen modernen
Konstruktionen Aufsehen erregte, war Owen Williams, ein Ingenieur, der aus der
Eisenbahn- und Flugzeugindustrie kam und auf dem Gebiet der Architektur zum
Spezialisten für den Stahlbetonbau wurde. Seine 1930-32 errichtete Boots-factory in
Beeston bei Nottingham ist eine durchgehend verglaste Pilzstützenkonstruktion
(Abb. 18). Stahlbeton und Glas sind auch die Konstruktionselemente des Wembley
Empire Pools, heute Wembley Arena von 1933/34 (Abb. 19). 1932 errichtete
Williams zusammen mit Clarke und Atkinson das Verwaltungsgebäude des „Daily
Express“ (Abb. 20), dessen freistehende Fassaden vollständig verglast sind und an
dessen stockwerktrennenden Horizontalbändern Opakglas zum Einsatz kam, ein
Material, das Walter Gropius im Innenbereich des Fagus-Werkes ebenfalls
verwendet hat. Während seines Exils in England arbeitete Walter Gropius von 1934
bis 1937 mit Maxwell Fry zusammen, der mit seinem kubisch in Beton und Glas
entworfenen Sun House in Frogwell/Hampstead 1934/35 (Abb. 21) ähnlich
rationalistisch kühne Formauffassungen vertrat wie Gropius. Das von Fry und
Gropius 1936-40 erbaute Impington Village College (Abb. 22) wurde in seiner
nüchtern sachlichen Bauart als Ensemble aus großflächig verglasten Ziegelbauten
mit Flachdächern zum Prototyp für viele englische Schulbauten nach dem Zweiten
Weltkrieg.

e. Japan

Japan hatte eine lange Überlieferung darin, seine Kultur zu erweitern, indem es
Elemente fremder Kulturen aufnahm und in die eigene Formensprache umwandelte.
Nachdem im 19. Jahrhundert besonders englische Einflüsse die japanische
Architektur mitbestimmten, fand in der Taisho-Ära zwischen 1912 und 1926 eine
Hinwendung zur modernen europäischen Architektur statt. Nach einer kurzen Phase,
während der junge japanische Architekten Gedanken der Wiener Sezession und des
deutschen Expressionismus verarbeiteten, setzte sich auch in Japan die rational-
funktionalistische Moderne durch. Vermittelt wurden die neuen Ideen durch junge
Architekten, die in Europa die revolutionären Neuerungen erlebten, wie zum Beispiel
Kunio Mayakewa und Junzo Sakakura, die bei Le Corbusier in Paris studiert hatten,
sowie Bunzo Yamaguchi, der bei Walter Gropius in Berlin war. Auch Frank Lloyd
Wright wirkte mehrere Jahre in Japan und baute 1915-1922 das heute nur noch

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rudimentär erhaltene Imperial Hotel in Tokio. Bruno Taut lebte von 1933-1936 in
Japan, wo er durch seine Schriften, in denen er den traditionellen japanischen
Holzbau mit dem modernen Stahlbeton-Gerüstbau verglich, großen Einfluss auf die
weitere Etablierung der modernen Architektur in Japan nahm. Die Architektur-
vorstellungen Frank Lloyd Wrights wurden in Japan vornehmlich durch Antonin
Raymond, der mit Wright nach Japan kam und dort über Jahrzehnte lebte, weiter
getragen. Die Aufnahme moderner Architekturvorstellungen wurde in Japan aber
nicht nur durch die freischaffenden Architekten aufgenommen, sondern drücken sich
selbst in herausragenden Bauten des Stadtbauamtes Tokio aus, wie etwa in der
1933 entstandenen Grundschule Yotsuya, einer modern sachlichen Stahlbeton-
konstruktion mit Flachdächern und einem vollverglasten Treppenhausturm (Abb. 23).

f. Mexiko:

Bis weit in das 20. Jahrhundert hinein hielt sich in Mexiko eine historistische
Architekturauffassung, die sowohl an der Architektur des spanischen Mutterlandes
orientiert als auch von der Pariser École des Beaux Arts beeinflusst war. Um 1925
begannen in krassem Gegensatz hierzu mehrere junge Architekten unter der
Führung und Lehre von José Villagrán García ihre Bauten nach den Prinzipien des
Rationalismus zu planen, besonders bei Krankenhäusern und Schulen, aber auch
bei Arbeiterwohnhäusern. Zwischen 1930 und 1950 setzten sich dann die Prinzipien
des Rationalismus auf breiter Basis durch. 1939 berief die mexikanische Regierung
den früheren Leiter des Bauhauses (1928-1930), Hannes Meyer, ins Land; er legte
die Grundlagen für einen neuen mexikanischen Städtebau. Die Anwendung von
Hochhäusern im sozialen Wohnungsbau begann mit der in Mexiko-Stadt gelegenen
Wohneinheit Presidente Alemán mit 13-geschossigen Gebäuden für insgesamt 5000
Bewohner von Mario Pani (1947-50). Entlang dem Paseo de la Reforma in Mexiko-
Stadt entstanden hohe Verwaltungsgebäude, die der internationalen Tendenz
vorgehängter Glasfassaden folgten. Gleiches gilt für den am Altstadtkern gelegenen
Torre Latinoamericano, 1950 errichtet von Augusto Alvarez und Adolfo Zeevaert
(Abb. 24).

g. Niederlande

In den ersten beiden Jahrzehnten des 20. Jahrhunderts wirkten in der Architektur der
Niederlande zwei gegensätzliche Strömungen: eine zwar mit modernen
Konstruktionstechniken arbeitende Gruppe von Architekten, die ihre Bauten jedoch
entgegen den rationalistischen Tendenzen mit üppigem Baudekor versahen, wie
z. B. Johann Melchior van der Mey und Pieter Lodewijk Kramer am
Scheepvaartshuis in Amsterdam (1911-1916). Auf der anderen Seite begannen die
sich auf den Rationalisten Hendrik Petrus Berlage berufenden Architekten, von
denen sich etliche in der 1917 gegründeten Künstlergruppe De Stijl
zusammenschlossen, ausgesprochen progressive Architekturen zu entwerfen, von
denen die meisten zunächst in Rotterdam entstanden. Zu dieser Gruppe zählten
Theo van Doesburg, Johannes J. Pieter Oud, Gerrit Rietveld, aber auch Johannes
Andreas Brinkman und Leendert van der Vlugt, die 1926-30 in Rotterdam die Van
Nelle Fabrik errichteten (Abb. 25). Für diese Architektengruppe war der Fortschritt in
der Architektur mit den neuen Bautechniken verbunden; sie verwendeten mit
Vorliebe Stahl, Beton und Glas für ihre Bauten und sie waren – vergleichbar mit den

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Künstlern des Bauhauses in Deutschland – davon überzeugt, dass ihre funktionale

Architektur zu einer besseren Zukunft beitragen würde. Die ausgesprochen modern
wirkende Van Nelle Fabrik mit ihren aufeinandergestapelten, geschwungenen und
spitzwinklig versetzten Baukörpern ist großflächig verglast und reflektiert mit der
demonstrativen Zurschaustellung von Erschließungssystemen, wie den beiden
verglasten Förderbändern, Einflüsse des russischen Konstruktivismus, zu dessen in
Deutschland ausgebildeten Protagonisten El Lissitzky Verbindungen bestanden. Die
wesentlichen Gestaltungselemente des fünfzehn Jahre früher entstandenen Fagus-
Werkes, wie die auf geometrische Grundformen reduzierten Baukörper, das
zurückliegende Konstruktionsgerüst und die vollverglasten Fassaden, verbinden sich
hier, vermischt mit anderen Einflüssen der europäischen Moderne, zu einem
herausragenden Beispiel des neuzeitlichen Industriebaus. Von ähnlicher Leichtigkeit
und Offenheit der Konstruktion ist der Baukomplex des Sanatoriums Zonnestraal in
Hilversum geprägt, der von Johannes Duiker 1928 errichtet wurde (Abb. 26). Die weit
ausgreifende horizontale Baustruktur dieses Komplexes, lässt an die ebenfalls eher
breit gelagerten Prairie Houses von Frank Lloyd Wright denken. Beide Objekte
befinden sich auf der niederländischen Tentativliste zur Aufnahme in die Liste des
Weltkulturerbes der UNESCO.

h. Russland

Die Moderne in der russischen Architektur wird meist mit dem unscharfen Begriff
Konstruktivismus gleichgesetzt, der nach dem Ende der russischen Revolution 1917
bis zur 1927 beginnenden stalinistischen Diktatur eine kurze Blütezeit erlebte. Wie in
den anderen Kunstzweigen des Konstruktivismus, bei denen die
Gestaltungselemente aus einfachen, geometrisch angeordneten Grundelementen
zusammengesetzt werden, sind auch die Bauwerke des Konstruktivismus von
schlichten, geometrischen Formen geprägt, bei denen die funktionelle Komponente
stark im Vordergrund steht. Durch den betonten Verzicht auf alle Luxus-Elemente
zugunsten von Sachlichkeit und funktioneller Ästhetik wollten die konstruktivistischen
Baumeister, dem gesellschaftlichen Umbruch in Russland während der 1920er-Jahre
entsprechend, die Demokratisierung der Gesellschaft in der Architektur vor allem mit
den öffentlichen Bauten zum Ausdruck bringen. Bekannte Architekten unter den
russischen Konstruktivisten waren Konstantin Melnikow, Moissei Ginsburg, Noi
Trozki und Boris Iofan. Charakteristisch für ihre Bauwerke und die des
Konstruktivismus im Allgemeinen, war die russische Besonderheit, dass es sich
oftmals um neuartige Bauaufgaben handelte. Typische Beispiele hierfür sind so
genannte Arbeiterklubs, Kulturhäuser oder auch Fabrikküchen, die der neuen
postrevolutionären Vorstellung vom öffentlichen Leben der Arbeiterklasse
entsprechen sollten. Anders als beim Fagus-Werk und den sich daraus in
Westeuropa entwickelnden leichten Stahlbeton-Glaskonstruktionen, entstanden in
Russland eher blockhafte, oft ineinandergeschobene Baukörper, wie etwa das
Arbeiterklubhaus Rusakow in Moskau, das Konstantin Melnikow 1927/28 errichtete
(Abb. 27). Glas als Ausdrucksträger der Architektur wird nur zurückhaltend
eingesetzt, wie etwa in konstruktivistisch aus dem Baukörper hervortretenden
Treppenhäusern oder – in eher untypischer Weise – in der dynamisch expressiven
Fassadengestaltung eines ebenfalls von Melnikow entworfenen Parkhauses in
Moskau aus dem Jahre 1933 (Abb. 28).

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i. USA

Um die Wende vom 19. zum 20. Jahrhundert herrschten in der Architektur der USA
unter europäischem Einfluss historisierende Stile vor, die über Neoromanik,
Neoklassizismus bis hin zur amerikanischen Version des Gothik Revival eine
facettenreiche Formenwelt hervorbrachten. Eine Ausnahme bildeten die Bauten der
Chicago-School, die in ihrer klaren Formensprache vor allem auf Louis Sullivan
wirkte, der mit seinem Bekenntnis zur Funktionalität in der Architektur („form follows
function”) nicht nur einer der Väter des Hochhauses, sondern auch ein Wegbereiter
des Rationalismus in der amerikanischen Architektur wurde (Abb. 29). Diese frühen
Ansätze auf dem Weg zur Moderne verfolgte aber zunächst nur Frank Lloyd Wright
weiter, der mit seinen zwischen 1894 und 1909 revolutionär konzipierten Prairie
Houses die rationale Disziplin seines Lehrers Sullivan lebendig hielt (Abb. 30). 1910
in Deutschland von Wasmuth publizierte Lithographien von Zeichnungen dieser
Häuser wurden rasch in Europa bekannt und beeinflussten vornehmlich die
holländische Stijl-Gruppe. In den Vereinigten Staaten selbst wurde Wright, nicht
anders als der späte Sullivan, zunächst nur wenig beachtet und bis weit in die 20er-
Jahre hinein herrschten die beiden großen Strömungen des Neoklassizismus und
der Neoromanik vor. Abseits von der konventionellen Architekturpraxis lag der
Beitrag von Albert Kahn, dessen Firma sich rasch auf umfangreiche Industriebauten
im Gebiet um Detroit spezialisierte. Kahn nahm mit seinen pragmatisch entworfenen
Bauten schon früh die präzise und feingliedrige kubische Form der 50er- und 60er-
Jahre vorweg. Zu den hervorragenden Beispielen eines funktionalistischen
Zweckbaues, dessen architektonische Sprache nüchtern den industriellen
Erfordernissen angepasst ist, zählt der Glass Plant in der Rouge Plant der Ford
Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan von 1924 (Abb. 31), besonders aber die
weitgespannte, mit feingliedrigen curtain walls umhüllte Chrysler-Dodge-factory in
Warren, Michigan von 1938 (Abb. 32). Albert Kahns ganz aus der Zweckmäßigkeit
heraus entworfene Industriebauten reihen sich als paralleler Entwicklungsstrang in
die aufkeimende amerikanische Moderne ein, die in den 1920er-Jahren jedoch noch
auf sich warten ließ. Der bedeutendste internationale Wettbewerb dieser Periode,
jener für den Chicago Tribune Tower im Jahr 1922, wurde noch nicht von einem der
modernistischen Entwürfe aus Europa gewonnen, sondern von dem reduziert
neogotischen Vorschlag von Raymond Hood und John Mead Howells. Walter
Gropius erhielt für sein ornamentloses Stahlbeton-Glas-Projekt keinen Preis
(Abb. 33). Neben dem geglätteten Historismus, der sich in den 20er-Jahren noch
eine ganze Weile hielt, brachte aber auch die sachlich nüchterne Ästhetik des
Rationalismus an der amerikanischen Ostküste gegen Ende des Jahrzehnts erste
Blüten hervor: Der ungeheure Einfluss, den europäische und vornehmlich deutsche
Immigranten auf die Entwicklung der amerikanischen Architektur seit der Zeit um
1930 nahmen und dem International Style endgültig zum Durchbruch verhalfen, zeigt
sich erstmals mit dem Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building von George Howe
und William Lescaze aus dem Jahre 1929 (Abb. 34). Der in der Schweiz geborene
Lescaze hatte sein Studium an der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule in
Zürich 1919 abgeschlossen. Er war mit den neuesten europäischen
Architekturtendenzen vertraut und nahm diese Anregungen mit, als er sich 1925 in
New York niederließ. 1937 kamen Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe und Marcel
Breuer in die USA, 1938 Martin Wagner, drei Jahre später Erich Mendelsohn.
Gropius setzte die Lehrtätigkeit, die er am Bauhaus ausgeübt hatte, an der Harvard
University in Cambridge, Massachusetts fort, wohin ihm Wagner und Breuer folgten.
Mies van der Rohe übernahm eine analoge Rolle am Armour Institute of Technology

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in Chicago. Ihr Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der Architektur vor allem an der
amerikanischen Ostküste war entscheidend und kulturell geradezu beherrschend.
Die kühle, perfekte, in sich ruhende Stereometrie der Bauten von Walter Gropius,
von Mies van der Rohe aber auch von Le Corbusier wurde zum Vorbild der neueren
amerikanischen Architektur. Neben etlichen Einfamilienhäusern, die Gropius seit
Ende der 30er-Jahre in der Umgebung von Boston errichtete, atmet vor allem das
1949/50 von ihm errichtete Harvard Graduate Center (Abb. 35) mit seiner klaren,
funktionalen Strenge, den ununterbrochenen Fensterbändern und klassisch
harmonischen Proportionen den Geist des Fagus-Werkes von 1911. Seit den
1950er-Jahren arbeitete Gropius wieder häufiger in Europa und sein Einfluss auf die
Entwicklung der amerikanischen Architektur pflanzte sich vornehmlich durch seine
Lehrtätigkeit fort. Der inzwischen fest installierte International Style wurde in den
kristallinen Bauten Mies van der Rohes (860-880 Lake Shore Drive Appartments,
Detroit, 1949-51, (Abb. 36) und Seagram Building, New York, 1958, (Abb. 37)
weitergetragen, bis seine reduzierte und limitierte Sprache wegen ihrer rationell
herstell- und imitierbaren Konstruktionsart bereits seit der Mitte der 50er-Jahre
immer mehr trivialisiert wurde. Einen der letzten Höhepunkte setzte aber noch
einmal Walter Gropius mit seinem PanAm-Wolkenkratzer (heute MetLife) in New
York, den er zusammen mit Pietro Belluschi 1960 errichtete (Abb. 38). Der auf
oktogonalem Grundriss über der Central Station aufragende, die Park Avenue
beherrschende Bau belegt mit seiner dreifachen Horizontalgliederung, den zwingend
klaren Proportionen und dem feinen Fassadennetzwerk aus Glas, Stahl und Beton
ein weiteres Mal seine fünfzig Jahre vorher am Fagus-Werk zugrunde gelegten
Prinzipien der Architektur der Moderne.

4. The main examples of the direct influence the Fagus Factory exerted in the
field of architecture

Der direkte Einfluss des Fagus-Werkes auf die Entwicklung der modernen
Architektur zeigte sich nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg in den bereits im Abschnitt 3
behandelten Beispielen. In seinem vollen Umfang wird er auf breiter Ebene erst nach
den Entwicklungszäsuren durch die beiden Weltkriege von 1914-1918 und 1939-
1945 sichtbar. Die nach 1945 mit dem wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung in Europa
entstehenden funktionalistischen und nach rational ökonomischen Gesichtspunkten
entstehenden Bauten der Industrie und Verwaltung, Geschäftsbauten sowie Schul-
und Kulturbauten sind zahllos und verlieren in den 1960er- und 1970er-Jahren mit
ihrem massenhaften Auftreten auch häufig an gestalterischer Qualität.

Das seit dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges – als ein Konstruktions- und
Gestaltungsmerkmal des International Style – Länder und Kontinente übergreifende
und in großer Zahl reproduzierte Motiv der voll verglasten, kubisch und ornamentlos
entworfenen Stahlbetonkonstruktion, manifestiert sich jedoch auch weiterhin in so
prominenten und hervorragenden Bauten wie dem UN-Hauptquartier in New York
(1949-50), für dessen Entwurf sich die beiden großen Neuerer Le Corbusier und
Oscar Niemeyer im Rahmen eines weltweit ausgelobten Wettbewerbs durchsetzten
(Abb. 39). Auch Arne Jacobsen errichtete 1955 in Kopenhagen mit dem Bürohaus
Jespersen einen elegant proportionierten Bau mit fein ziselierter Vorhangfassade,
die sehr an das Fagus-Werk erinnert (Abb. 40).

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Verfolgt man den Entwicklungsstrang dieser architektonischen Formgebung in der

Geschichte des modernen Bauens zurück, so trifft man in den 30er- und 20er-Jahren
bereits in vielen Ländern der Welt auf Verästelungen der neuen Architekturideen,
von denen in Abschnitt 3 einige Beispiele dargestellt sind (vgl. u. a. Brasilien,
Frankreich, Niederlande, USA). Zu den wichtigsten Transporteuren seiner
Architekturauffassung gehörte in der Weimarer Republik Walter Gropius selbst, der
schon frühzeitig in Amerika Fuß zu fassen suchte. Das bezeugt beispielsweise sein
Entwurf von 1922 für das Hochhaus des Chicago Tribune, das er als revolutionär-
moderne Stahlbeton-Glas-Konstruktion konzipierte.

Mit einem Entwurf für ein Hochhaus aus Glas auf frei geschwungenem Grundriss
reihte sich Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – nach anfänglich noch neoklassizistischen
Arbeiten – 1922 in die Riege der Funktionalisten der Moderne ein (Abb. 41). Derartig
kühne Entwürfe qualifizierten ihn für die Direktion des Bauhauses in Dessau, das er
nach dem Ausscheiden von Walter Gropius und Hannes Meyer von 1930 bis 1932
leitete, ehe es von den Nationalsozialisten geschlossen wurde. Selbstverständlich
war es gerade diese Institution, von der die internationale Breitenwirkung des
modernen Bauens in hohem Maß befördert wurde. Ebenso selbstverständlich ist es
aber auch, dass nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg viele junge Architekten aus anderen
Ländern das Neue Bauen zu ihrem Leitbild formten und damit ebenso als Vermittler
und Ideenträger eine den Wandel hervorrufende Breitenwirkung entfalteten.

Von unwiderlegter Bedeutung bleibt indessen: Vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg war es
Walter Gropius, der mit dem Alfelder Fagus-Werk und der großflächig verglasten,
nicht erhaltenen Musterfabrik auf der Kölner Werkbundausstellung (Abb. 42) zwei
Ikonen der Architektur schuf, die als Kunstwerke einen neuen Stil, eben jenen der
Moderne begründeten.

5. Augment the chapter on Integrity-Authenticity included in the nomination

dossier which mainly focuses on the industrial function of the property which
is still in use today

Wie im Vergleich des Alfelder Fagus-Werkes mit dem Dessauer Bauhaus bereits
dargelegt, kommt dem Fagus-Werk aus architekturgeschichtlicher Sicht die
außergewöhnliche Funktion eines Gründungsbaus zu, der erstmals in absolut
konsequenter Handhabung seiner Gestaltungsmittel den Stilwandel vom
Historismus, Neoklassizismus und Jugenstil zur modernen Architektur schlüssig und
nachvollziehbar veranschaulicht. Kein anderes Bauwerk der Welt kann zur gleichen
Entstehungszeit ein dem Fagus-Werk adäquates Innovationspotential aufweisen.
Und kein anderes Bauwerk kann die Abkehr von den Gestaltungsmotiven der
vorangegangenen Epoche klarer bezeugen. Insofern ist das Fagus-Werk von Walter
Gropius der wichtigste Schlüsselbau für die Entwicklung der modernen Architektur
des 20. Jahrhunderts.

Insbesondere im Vergleich mit den funktionalistischen und reformorientierten Bauten

der Zeit um 1910 stellt sich heraus, dass kein anderer Architekt es zu dieser Zeit
vermochte, die traditionellen oder damals aktuellen Stilelemente vollständig über

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Bord zu werfen und mit seinem Entwurf zugleich ein außergewöhnliches Kunstwerk
zu schaffen, das in stilistischer Hinsicht ausschließlich neue Form-, Gestaltungs- und
Konstruktionselemente inszeniert. Man kann ohne Weiteres feststellen, dass alle
Zeitgenossen im Spielfeld der Architektur sich entweder noch den genannten
herkömmlichen Stilelementen in irgendeiner Weise verpflichtet fühlten oder aber mit
neuen Materialien und Techniken experimentierten, ohne dabei das Resultat
Kunstwerk im Blick zu haben.

Es entspricht keiner Übertreibung, wenn sowohl der Formenschatz als auch die
Gestaltung des Fagus-Werkes, die bis auf den heutigen Tag dem Bauensemble
ablesbar sind, in höchstem Maß als authentisch angesehen werden. Unter
Berücksichtigung des Alters von nahezu einhundert Jahren und unter Anrechnung
der Abnutzung, der ein Industrieensemble unterliegt, ist auch die Bausubstanz des
Fagus-Werkes in weiten Teilen als authentisch zu bewerten. Eine Unversehrtheit wie
an einem Neubau kann es an einem einhundertjährigen Gebäude indessen nicht
geben. Insofern sind Reparaturen und Restaurierungen sowie ersetzte Teile, die
während der letzten 25 Instandsetzungsjahre die Wunden des Bauensembles geheilt
haben, achtenswerte Bestandteile der denkmalwerten Bausubstanz geworden. Die
Denkmalpflege hat sich mit vielen anderen Beteiligten dem Sanierungsgeschehen
mit größtmöglichem Sachverstand gewidmet und alle notwendigen Behandlungen
erfolgreich begleitet. Aus diesem Grund werden die Anforderungen an die durch die
Instandsetzung tangierte Integrität des Fagus-Werkes als ausgezeichnet erfüllt
beurteilt. Aufgrund der bau-, planungs- und denkmalrechtlichen Schutz-
instrumentarien sind die Perspektiven für eine zukünftige Unversehrtheit des Fagus-
Werkes am authentischen Ort garantiert.

Wie im Antrag dargelegt, entspricht die Nutzung des Fagus-Werkes im

überwiegenden Teil der Bauten den ursprünglichen Produktionsabläufen der
Schuhleistenfabrikation. Für die Bauteile, in denen neue Arbeitsstätten bzw.
öffentlich zugängliche Ausstellungsflächen entstanden sind, hat der Bauherr
adäquate Nutzungsanforderungen entwickelt, die der außergewöhnlichen Bedeutung
der Architektur keinen Schaden zufügen, sondern, ganz im Gegenteil, die
architektonische Aussagefähigkeit sogar noch verstärken. Das zeigt sich
beispielsweise im Maschinenhaus und im Lagerhaus, Bauteilen des Ensembles, in
denen die Erlebbarkeit der Innenräume durch die Umnutzung einen enormen
Gewinn verbuchen kann.

Im Hinblick auf die technische Integrität des Fagus-Werkes ist das Hauptaugenmerk
besonders auf die „Vorhangfassadenelemente“ des Verwaltungsbaus zu richten.
Besonders aufseiten der Denkmalpflege, aber auch aufseiten aller anderen
Beteiligten, war zu lernen, mit einer Erfindung umzugehen, die zwar optisch, aber
nicht in Material und Konstruktion perfekt gelungen war und der es an Nachhaltigkeit
und Lebensdauer mangelte. In der heutigen Kombination der ertüchtigten und der
erneuerten Fassadenelemente wird der konsensual vertretene Anspruch auf einen
besonders behutsamen Umgang mit diesen empfindlichen Bauteilen deutlich, der
sich in die Köpfe aller Beteiligten eingeprägt hat. Zu den ersten Aufgaben im
Umgang mit dem Fagus-Werk gehört es demnach, das Hauptaugenmerk auf diese
Fassadenelemente zu richten, um jeden weiteren Verlust so lange wie möglich
aufzuschieben. Denn es sind gerade diese Stahl-Glas-Elemente, denen das Fagus-
Werk seine außergewöhnliche Wertschätzung verdankt.

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Zusammenfassend ist festzuhalten, dass für das Fagus-Werk die Anforderungen an

die Authentizität und die Integrität, die die Welterberichtlinien benennen, als erfüllt
anzusehen sind.

6. Provide additional information on the extensive restoration work that was

undertaken between 1985 and 1999,

and

7. Complete the chapter on "state of conservation" with a detailed architectural

analysis of the different restored parts of the property with special attention to
the concepts of integrity and authenticity

Seit den 1920er-Jahren wurden an fast allen Teilbauten des Fagus-Werkes immer
wieder kleinere Reparaturen zur Instandhaltung durchgeführt, die keine
Veränderungen an der Architektur hervorriefen. 1982 gab es schließlich zur
Kernanlage erste Erkenntnisse, dass die aufgetretenen Baumängel nicht mehr mit
kleineren Reparaturen zu beseitigen waren. Insbesondere an den Fassaden
mussten größere Maßnahmen in Angriff genommen werden. Schäden waren vor
allem in der Dachzone, an Türen und Fensterflächen, durch Rissbildung im
aufgehenden Mauerwerk, bei der Dachentwässerung, an der gesamten Installations-
und Heizungstechnik, der Elektroinstallation und an den Schornsteinen festzustellen.
Der Wärmeschutz sämtlicher Gebäude war, zumindest in den Bürotrakten, völlig
unzureichend und sollte im Zusammenhang mit der Schadensbehebung verbessert
werden. Ebenfalls notwendig waren vorschriftsmäßige Brandschutzmaßnahmen mit
der Bildung entsprechender Brandabschnitte.

Insgesamt hatte sich ein Sanierungsstau gebildet, der nunmehr unabdingbar

notwendige Instandsetzungsmaßnahmen begründete. Ein vom Land Niedersachsen
gefordertes Gutachten zum Schadensumfang war Voraussetzung für eine
entsprechende Maßnahme, in die auch erhebliche öffentliche Mittel des Landes und
des Bundes als Förderung fließen sollten. Ein erstes Gutachten des Hildesheimer
Ingenieurbüros Hoff, Heuer und Partner aus den Jahren 1982/83 wies nach, dass
die im Gebäudekomplex aufgetretenen Risse offensichtlich auf schlechten Baugrund
zurückzuführen waren. Zudem wurde eine unzureichende Fundamentierung,
fehlende Gebäudefugen und eine unzulängliche statische Lastverteilung ursächlich
für die Schäden erkannt. Zugleich brachte das Gutachten aber auch Sicherheit
darüber, dass die Rissbildungen im Wesentlichen zur Ruhe gekommen waren und
somit keine Boden- oder Gründungsverbesserungen vorgenommen werden
mussten, die ohne Frage stärkere Eingriffe in die Fundamente mit sich gebracht
hätten.

1984 bis 1986 wurden erhebliche Landes- und Bundesmittel für einen ersten
Maßnahmeabschnitt zur Verfügung gestellt. So konnte in Absprache mit dem
Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (seinerzeit Institut für Denkmalpflege) Anfang 1985
der hannoversche Architekt Jörn Behnsen beauftragt werden, ein Gesamtkonzept zu
erarbeiten, das über Art, Umfang und Kosten sämtlicher notwendiger
Erhaltungsmaßnahmen Auskunft geben und zum anderen eine erste Teilmaßnahme

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für den besonders geschädigten Bereich des Daches und der Stahl-Glas-Fassade
des dreigeschossigen Bürotraktes beinhalten sollte. Diese 1985 beginnenden ersten
größeren Maßnahmen und die danach folgenden werden entsprechend der
Darstellung im Hauptantrag den einzelnen Bauten des Fagus-Werkes zugeordnet
und so beschrieben, dass die einzelnen, bis 2002 (nicht nur bis 1999) erfolgten
Maßnahmen an den jeweiligen Bauten detailliert nachvollzogen werden können.

a. Hauptgebäude

Auf Wunsch des Unternehmens, das bis heute der Herstellung von Schuhleisten
nachkommt, sollte die bestehende Nutzung des Hauptgebäudes mit Büros,
Produktion und Erschließung ohne größere Veränderungen beibehalten werden. Im
Inneren waren, da keinerlei große Schäden aufgetreten waren, lediglich einfache
Instandhaltungs- und Restaurierungsarbeiten erforderlich, sodass die gesamte
Konstruktion einschließlich der wandfesten Ausstattung keinerlei Eingriffe erforderte.
Im Bereich des Daches waren jedoch wegen schadhafter Abdichtungen große
Schäden erkennbar. Insbesondere aber an den Stahl-Glas-Fassaden wurden die
unterschiedlichen Ausformungen der Schädigung augenscheinlich.

Als erste größere Maßnahme begann 1985 die Sanierung des Daches. Hier wurde
im Wesentlichen die Dachhaut erneuert, sodass die gesamte Flachdachkonstruktion
in der ursprünglichen Form erhalten werden konnte. Ergänzend zur bisherigen
Situation wurde eine Dämmschicht auf das Dach aufgebracht, auf die wiederum die
entsprechenden Dichtungsbahnen gelegt wurden. Die Schäden im Attikabereich
(Auswölbungen) wurden mit der vorhandenen Substanz behoben und in den
ursprünglichen Zustand versetzt. Der Attikaanschluss der Dachhaut wurde in der
bestehenden Form wiederhergestellt. Mit den Reparaturen konnte man das
ursprüngliche Erscheinungsbild vollständig beibehalten. Seither bedurfte es keiner
weiteren Instandsetzung des Daches und der Attika.

Problematischer war schließlich die Instandsetzung der Stahl-Glas-Elemente an dem

zur Erbauungszeit innovativen Fassadensystem, da insbesondere an den
Profilstößen und hinter den Kittfälzen umfangreiche Korrosionsschäden bis hin zum
materiellen Totalverlust festzustellen waren. Die Verglasung hatte in den
vergangenen Jahrzehnten jährlich 20-30 Schäden durch Glasbruch aufzuweisen, da
die Verkittung der starr eingespannten Fassade, die thermisch bedingte Verformung
und der nicht ausreichend aufzufangende Winddruck die Scheiben häufig
zerbrechen ließ. Außerdem schlossen die einfälzigen und dichtungslosen Flügel
nicht mehr richtig, Getriebe und Beschläge waren vielfach defekt. Die
Einfachverglasung und die Undichtigkeit der Fensterbahnen führten zu hohen
Klimaschwankungen und immensen Heizkosten in den dahinter liegenden Räumen.
Ebenfalls starke Beeinträchtigungen entstanden von der direkt im Nordosten
vorbeiführenden Bahnlinie Hannover-Göttingen durch die Geräuschbelästigung des
Zugverkehrs. In der Auseinandersetzung um die Frage der Mängelbehebung an
diesen Bauteilen bewegte sich der Bauherr über längere Zeit an der ‚Grenze des
wirtschaftlich Zumutbaren’. Diese in Deutschland nach den gesetzlichen Regeln des
Denkmalrechts gegebene Möglichkeit für den Eigentümer, den Denkmalschutz
aufheben zu lassen, konnte durch die finanzielle Förderung des Landes
Niedersachsen und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland abgewendet werden.

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Denkmalpflegerisch erwies sich die Instandsetzung der Stahl-Glas-Elemente als

besonders problematisch und insgesamt erheblich planungsaufwendiger als
erwartet. War man am Anfang der Untersuchungen noch davon ausgegangen, die
Instandsetzung der Fassadenelemente unter weitgehender Erhaltung der
Originalsubstanz vornehmen zu können, so musste nach genauerer
Inaugenscheinnahme der Schadensbilder konstatiert werden, dass weite Teile der
Eisenrahmen für die Fassadenverglasung so stark korrodiert waren, dass sie nicht
mehr reparierbar und deshalb abgängig waren. Angesichts dieser Feststellung
musste die unter Nutzungs- und Wirtschaftlichkeitsgesichtspunkten verständliche
Forderung des Eigentümers Berücksichtigung finden, zum einen die Arbeitsplätze
hinter der Fassade qualitativ zu verbessern und zum anderen die Wärmeverluste
durch die Fassade erheblich zu reduzieren. Dazu wurden nach weitgreifenden
Erörterungen mit allen Beteiligten sowie einer kontroversen Expertenanhörung
folgende Vorgaben als bindend formuliert:

1. Als Material des Sprossenwerkes sollte wieder Stahl verwendet werden.

2. Für die thermisch bedingten Spannungen sollte unter Beibehaltung der
unterschiedlichen Konstruktionsweisen der zwei Fassadenbauabschnitte,
ausreichender Spielraum geschaffen werden – Gropius hatte bei der Erweiterung
der Ursprungsfassade bereits voneinander abweichende Profile verwendet.
3. Innen und außen sollte erkennbar bleiben, dass den beiden Bauabschnitten auch
zwei unterschiedliche Fassadenlösungen zugrunde lagen.
4. Entsprechend dem Original sollten Anzahl, Anordnung und Funktionsweise der
Fensterflügel beibehalten werden.
5. Das zu verwendende Glas sollte hinsichtlich Lichtdurchlass und Reflektion –
soweit technisch herstellbar – die gleichen Werte aufweisen wie das originale
Einfachglas. Die Verwendung handelsüblicher grünlich gefärbter Gläser wurde
ausgeschlossen.
6. Der Anstrich der Stahlprofile sollte originalgetreu in Bleiglanz auf Mennige
erfolgen.
7. Der äußere Sonnenschutz an der Fassade sollte auf die sechs Felder im ersten
Obergeschoss des zweiten Bauabschnittes beschränkt werden, die schon seit
1925 mit Schrägmarkisen ausgestattet waren.

Alle genannten Vorgaben konnten erfüllt werden. Die Erörterung während des
Expertenkolloquiums im September 1985 führte schließlich zu einem allseits
akzeptierten Konsens, der zusätzlich Folgendes vorsah: Die fünf Verglasungsfelder
des Treppenhauses am Haupteingang sowie die vollverglasten stützenfreien Ecken
im Südwesten und im Südosten mit jeweils einem weiteren angrenzenden Feld
sollten aufgrund ihrer geringeren Schädigungen als Originale instand gesetzt
werden. Somit war es möglich geworden, in diesen Bereichen jeweils mehrere
vollflächig dreigeschossige Fassadenfelder beider Bauabschnitte komplett
beizubehalten. Damit wurde neben dem zum Haupteingang gehörenden gesamten
Treppenhausbereich des zweiten Bauabschnittes auch der ursprünglich komplette
südliche Giebel des ersten Bauabschnittes in drei Feldern einschließlich eines
weiteren Feldes der Ostseite in der ursprünglichen Form und Konstruktion erhalten.
Die Verwendung der originalen Stahl-Glas-Elemente in diesen Teilbereichen führte
allerdings dazu, dass entgegen den ursprünglichen Planungen des Eigentümers
Büros nur in den isolierverglasten Fassadenbereichen wieder eingerichtet wurden,
während man hinter den original verbliebenen Fassadenelementen Nebennutzungen
oder Infrastrukturbereiche des Fagus-Werkes ansiedelte.

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Ausgetauscht wurden dementsprechend auf der östlichen Seite des ersten

Bauabschnittes sechs Fassadenfelder, ebenso sechs Fassadenfelder auf der
südlichen Seite des zweiten Bauabschnitts (zwischen erstem Bauabschnitt und
Haupttreppenhaus). Konstruktive Alternativen zum Austausch der Stahl-Glas-
Elemente wie beispielsweise eine zweite, dem Kastenfensterprinzip entsprechende
Fensterebene im Inneren, mussten vor allem aus optischen Gründen verworfen
werden, da diese sich während der Bemusterung von außen als stark
ansichtsverändernd darstellten. Mit der viel diskutierten zweiten Fensterebene hätte
man darüber hinaus die Schadensproblematik der alten, zu starren Konstruktion
nicht lösen und die gravierenden Materialschwächen des ursprünglichen Stahls nicht
befriedigend und dauerhaft beheben können.

Der mit der Restaurierung befasste Architekt Jörn Behnsen hatte zur
Fassadenerneuerung umfangreiche Detailaufmaße der bisherigen Profile von
Gropius durchgeführt und diese in entsprechende, äußerlich gleich aussehende
Sonderanfertigungen für isolierverglaste Scheiben umgesetzt. Trotz der Abweichung
in der Tiefe sollten die neuen Verbundglasscheiben in der optischen Erscheinung ein
dem Original identisches Bild erzeugen. Aus denkmalpflegerischer Sicht ist dieses
Ziel mit einer geringfügigen Einschränkung erreicht worden: Die Scheiben-
oberflächen sind entsprechend den industriellen Herstellungsmethoden plan.
Möglichkeiten der Herstellung von leicht unebenen Glasoberflächen mit
Lufteinschlüssen, wie sie um 1910 hergestellt wurden, existierten zum damaligen
Zeitpunkt nicht. Die gelegentlich geäußerte Kritik, die neuen Scheibenoberflächen
würden stärker spiegeln als die alten, trifft nicht zu. In ihrer Wirkung geht die
Spiegelung auf die regelmäßige Reinigung der Fenster zurück. Wären die
Fensterbahnen wie in früheren Zeiten stärker verstaubt, ließe auch der
Spiegelungseffekt nach. Da das Spiegelungsproblem schon in der Vorplanung der
Instandsetzungsmaßnahme als solches erkannt worden war, hatte man
verschiedene neue Gläser mit den originalen Glasscheiben ausgiebig verglichen und
bemustert, bevor eines der Produkte für die Maßnahme mit dem heute bestehenden
Ergebnis ausgewählt wurde.

Die Gesamtsanierungsmaßnahme für den Hauptbau wurde in mehreren Abschnitten

zwischen 1986 und 1990 durchgeführt. Im Zusammenhang mit der Instandsetzung
bzw. Erneuerung der Stahl-Glas-Elemente in den Fassaden wurden auch die damit
in Verbindung stehenden Rampen bzw. Eingangstreppen und Türen behandelt,
jedoch ohne Austausch von originaler Bausubstanz. Ebenso wurden das Mauerwerk
und die gesamte Verfugung instand gesetzt. Im Jahr 1996 folgte die Restaurierung
des Eingangsbereichs und des Haupttreppenhauses, in dem unter anderem die
Wandoberflächen in ihren originalen Zustand zurückversetzt wurden. Die verlorene,
ehemals dort angebrachte Kastenleuchte konnte man nach einer Zeichnung von
Walter Gropius bzw. Adolf Meyer rekonstruieren. Schließlich besserte man auch die
in die Wände eingelassenen schwarzen Opak-Glasbänder aus. Damit war die
Grundinstandsetzung des Hauptgebäudes vollständig abgeschlossen.

Abschließend bleibt festzuhalten, dass der Gesamtbau bis auf die beschriebenen
Auswechslungen der Fassadenelemente in seiner übrigen ursprünglichen
Originalsubstanz vollständig erhalten blieb. Optisch ist er mit dem ursprünglichen
Erscheinungsbild identisch. Dabei gehörte es Mitte der 80er-Jahre des 20.
Jahrhunderts zum konzeptionellen Ziel des Maßnahmeabschnitts, dass die

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erneuerten Fassadenelemente nur für den Fachmann erkennbar sein sollten. Für
den interessierten Laien dagegen ist bis heute die Erneuerung so gut wie gar nicht
wahrnehmbar. Die wieder aufgearbeiteten Elemente der Stahlglasfassade, die ca.
40 % des originalen Bestands ausmachen, sind ausreichende Belege für die
ursprüngliche Konstruktion, deren Lebensdauer dort, wo thermische und hygrische
Kräfte substanzzerstörend wirken, leider begrenzt sein werden. Vonseiten der
niedersächsischen Denkmalpflege und vonseiten des Eigentümers wird indessen
alles getan, um diese Lebensdauer so lange wie möglich zu gewährleisten.

b. Arbeitssaal

Der in zwei Phasen entstandene Arbeitssaal wird vom Hauptgebäude L-förmig im

Süden und im Osten umfasst. Er schließt unmittelbar südlich an das
Trockengebäude an. Seit der 1914 erfolgten Erweiterung besteht der Arbeitssaal bis
heute nahezu unverändert in seiner ursprünglichen Form. Die originale hölzerne
Dachbinderkonstruktion ruht auf den ursprünglichen gusseisernen Rundstützen.
Auch die zur Hannoverschen Straße ausgerichtete Stahl-Glas-Fassade blieb
substantiell vollständig erhalten. Rost- und mechanische Schäden konnten repariert
und instand gesetzt werden. Die alte Einfachverglasung konnte nach der
Aufarbeitung der Eisenprofile behutsam wieder eingesetzt bzw. ergänzt werden.
Lediglich in der an das Verwaltungsgebäude angrenzenden Achse musste ein Stahl-
Glas-Element erneuert werden, nachdem das alte schon vor 1982 nicht mehr
existierte.

Erneuert werden mussten in Teilen die Sheddachkonstruktionen, da erhebliche

Schäden im Bereich der Ziegeldachflächen und der Sheds selbst entstanden waren.
Die ersetzten Sheddachelemente sowie die neue Dacheindeckung entspricht im
Erscheinungsbild jedoch dem Vorzustand. Der als zu stark empfundene
Sonneneinfall durch die nach Südwesten ausgerichteten Sheds wurde durch eine
geänderte Verglasung abgemildert, die seither eine diffuse Einstrahlung erzeugt. Als
abschließende Maßnahme erfolgte 1994 noch eine Mauerwerks- und
Fugenreparatur im Bereich der Brüstungselemente. Auch hier fanden keine
großflächigen Austauschmaßnahmen, sondern lediglich Reparaturen und kleinere
Ergänzungen statt.

Insgesamt ist auch im Bereich des Arbeitssaales die originale Bausubstanz

weitgehend erhalten, wobei lediglich bei den Sheds Veränderungen gegenüber dem
Original festzustellen sind. Auch hier war neben der irreparablen Schädigung ein
zweiter Grund für die Veränderung, die Arbeitssituation der Mitarbeiter in diesem
großen Saal zu verbessern.

c. Schornstein

Der markante Fabrikschornstein mit dem Fagus-Logo auf dem Wasserbehälter

wurde 1915 in Verbindung mit dem Kesselhaus errichtet. Der ursprünglich etwa
50 Meter hohe Schornstein war in den Nachkriegsjahren in Verbindung mit dem
Einbau einer neuen Heizungsanlage gekürzt worden. Im Zusammenhang mit der
1987/88 erfolgten Instandsetzung des Schornsteins wurde auch die ursprüngliche
Höhe annähernd wieder errichtet, sodass heute das historische Erscheinungsbild als

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wiederhergestellt angesehen werden kann. Das Fagus-Logo auf dem

Wasserbehälter besteht als Werbeträger erst seit 1975.

d. Maschinen- und Kesselhaus

Das heutige Maschinen- und Kesselhaus wurde im Zuge der Werkserweiterung

zwischen 1914 und 1916 errichtet. Das an gleicher Stelle bereits bestehende ältere
und kleinere Maschinenhaus mit einer Lokomobile wurde durch den Neubau
zunächst umbaut, später jedoch abgebrochen. Auch an diesem Bauteil war Gropius
bei seiner Formensprache geblieben, die er am Hauptgebäude und an der
Arbeitssaal-Fassade angewandt hatte, einer Stahl-Glas-Konstruktion mit rahmendem
gelbem Klinkersockel und einer ebensolchen Attika. Zur Energieerzeugung war
zunächst eine Dampfmaschine der Firma Sulzer aus Ludwigshafen in das
Maschinenhaus eingebaut worden, deren Dampfkessel mit Kohle befeuert wurde.
Schon lange vor der Generalinstandsetzung war die Dampfmaschine des Gebäudes
durch eine Ölfeuerung ersetzt worden.

Die Sanierung erfolgte zwischen 1994 und 1997. Zugleich richtete man das
Gebäude als Kantine und Pausenaufenthaltsraum für die Werksangehörigen her,
heute eine Möglichkeit, auch größere Besuchergruppen zu bewirten. Dabei wurde
zunächst die inzwischen veraltete Ölheizungsanlage mit den großen Kesseln
entfernt. Es folgte die Sanierung des äußeren Mauerwerks sowie eine Restaurierung
des noch vorhandenen originalen schwarz-weißen Fliesenfußbodens mit Ergänzung
der Fehlstellen. Mit größter Behutsamkeit wurde die Stahl-Glas-Fassade unter
Beibehaltung der Einfachverglasung repariert. Defekte Glasscheiben wurden
ausgetauscht. Abschließend richtete man den Außenbereich mit der Eingangstür
und den Aufgang mit den schlichten Geländern wieder her. Das Bild einer
ursprünglichen Maschinenhalle ist bis heute durch die noch vorhandene Kranbahn
besonders gut nachvollziehbar.

Konzeptioneller Grundgedanke bei der Behandlung des Maschinen- und

Kesselhauses war der weitestmögliche Erhalt der Gebäudesubstanz, obwohl Teile
der technischen Ausstattung entfernt werden mussten, die einer sinnvollen Nutzung
im Wege standen. Aus Sicht der Denkmalpflege konnten jedoch die entfernten
Heizungsanlagen keinen Denkmalwert für sich beanspruchen. Dabei ist davon
auszugehen, dass eine andere Lösung angestrebt worden wäre, wenn sich die
ursprüngliche Dampfmaschine noch im Gebäude befunden hätte.

e. Späne- und Kohlenbunker

Der bereits 1911 errichtete und 1923/24 erweiterte, massiv erbaute Späne- und
Kohlenbunker mit gelben Klinkerwänden und auskragenden Stahlbeton-
Flachdächern wurde freistehend an der Bahnanlage mit eigenem Gleisanschluss
errichtet. Als vorläufige Sanierungsmaßnahme wurde 1997 eine
Betoninstandsetzung am Dach und an dessen Stützen durchgeführt. Ansonsten
blieb das Gebäude in seiner ursprünglichen Fassung vollständig erhalten. Es wird
heute als Lager sowie zu Werkstattzwecken genutzt und soll 2011-12 unter
Beibehaltung aller originalen Bestandteile saniert werden.

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f. Gleiswaage

Benachbart zum Späne- und Kohlenbunker steht das kleine Gebäude der
Gleiswaage, ebenfalls als freistehender Massivbau in den werkstypischen gelben
Verblendklinkern errichtet, zur Gleisseite geöffnet durch eine Stahl-Glas-
Fensterkonstruktion und abgeschlossen durch ein Flachdach. Das 1921 errichtete
Gebäude war bereits zu Beginn der großen Instandsetzungsarbeiten Mitte der 80er-
Jahre außer Funktion. Dennoch wurde es in den Jahren 1991/92 einer
Instandsetzung des Mauerwerks, der Stahl-Glas-Fenster und des Daches mit
substanzerhaltenden Ausbesserungsarbeiten unterzogen und ist somit im
Originalzustand überliefert.

g. Stanzmesserabteilung und Schmiede

Schon in der ursprünglichen Werkskonzeption durch den Gropiusvorgänger Eduard

Werner war die Errichtung der Schmiede und Stanzmesserabteilung für die
Lederherstellung südlich des Hauptgebäudes geplant. Gropius hatte ab 1911 eine
Überarbeitung der Fassaden mit gelben Verblendklinkern vorgenommen, ohne
allerdings die bereits festgelegten verhältnismäßig strengen, dem Klassizismus
verhafteten Elemente wie Pilastergliederung, Drillingsfenster und die vortretenden
Gesimse eliminieren zu können. Die zu verwendenden Eisensprossenfenster passte
er jedoch in der bekannten Form der übrigen Anlage an. Zur ehemaligen Schmiede
gehört der funktionslose, aber dennoch instand gesetzte und bis heute bewahrte, ca.
20 Meter hohe Schornstein an der Süd-Ost-Ecke des doppelgiebligen Gebäudes.

Mit Aufgabe der Produktion von Stanzmessern im Jahre 1974 wurde das Gebäude
für Ausstellungsflächen und Konferenzräume umgenutzt. Die dafür notwendigen
Umbauten im Inneren berücksichtigen indessen die ursprüngliche
Grundrisskonzeption und die konstruktiven Elemente der ursprünglichen
Raumaufteilung. Erforderlich wurde eine Dachsanierung, die entsprechend der
Maßnahme des Arbeitssaales durchgeführt wurde. Die alte Dachhaut wurde
abgenommen, intakte Ziegel gesichert und wieder verwendet. Material wie
beispielsweise Sparren, Pfetten o. ä. wurden nur ausgewechselt, wenn eine
irreparable Zerstörung vorlag. Sonst wurden materialgerechte Reparaturen
durchgeführt. In Ergänzung zur bestehenden Konstruktion wurde eine Dämmung
eingebaut. Die Dachdeckung führte man unter Wiederverwendung der geborgenen
Ziegel wie zuvor in Hohlpfannen aus. Die ebenfalls wiederverwendbaren
Dachfensterprofile wurden ausgebaut, gestrahlt, neu lackiert und wieder genutzt. Bei
der Verglasung wurde entsprechend dem Vorgehen beim Arbeitssaal mit einer
Isolierverglasung aus Drahtglas und einer dazwischen liegenden Kapillarplatte
gearbeitet, die diffuses Licht in die Räume leitet. Wie an den anderen
Werksgebäuden erfuhr das massive Mauerwerk von Schmiede und freistehendem
Schornstein eine Fugenausbesserung.

Die bauliche Behandlung orientierte sich an den strengen Maßstäben

konservatorischer Denkmalpflege, die Substanzerhalt so weitgehend wie möglich
anstrebt, einen Substanzaustausch nur bei zerstörten Materialien vornimmt. Dabei
sind die Veränderungen gegenüber dem Original nur in Bezug auf die veränderte

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Nutzung erkennbar. Insbesondere das äußere Erscheinungsbild ist in der

ursprünglichen Form unverändert erhalten geblieben.

h. Pförtnerhaus mit Werkstor und Mauer

Das Pförtnerhaus mit dem Werkstor und der heute noch vorhandenen Grenzmauer
zur Hannoverschen Straße wurde 1925 als letzter Bau von Gropius auf dem
Gelände des Fagus-Werkes errichtet. Sowohl die werkstypische Materialwahl des
gelben Klinkers als auch die moderne Gestaltungssprache des Architekten prägen
den Werkseingang. Der Dachüberstand wurde ursprünglich von einer senkrechten
Wandscheibe aus Beton getragen, die vermutlich kurz nach 1950 durch die heutigen
Stützpfeiler ersetzt wurde, um aus der Pförtnerloge die Werksstraße überblicken zu
können. Im Zuge der Gesamtmaßnahme mussten am Pförtnerhaus und der
Einfriedungsmauer Instandsetzungsarbeiten durchgeführt werden, so u. a. eine
Sanierung des durchlässigen Betondaches sowie die Entrostung der Stahl-Glas-
Fensterelemente und der Tür. Die Mauerfugen wurden entsprechend der übrigen
Gebäude ausgebessert. Ebenso wie im Vestibül des Treppenaufgangs installierte
man im Pförtnerhaus eine nach einem Bauhausentwurf rekonstruierte
Kastenleuchte. Insgesamt ist das ursprüngliche Erscheinungsbild der Zufahrt bis auf
den nach dem Kriege erfolgten Austausch der Mauerscheibe gegen die Pfeiler als
Tragelemente des Betondaches vollständig erhalten.

i. Trockengebäude

Das 1911 im Bau begonnene und 1913 fertiggestellte Trockenhaus, das dem
Arbeitssaal unmittelbar vorgelagert ist, diente der maschinellen Trocknung der im
Lagerhaus bereits vorgetrockneten hölzernen Werkstücke zur
Schuhleistenproduktion. Das Gebäude war mit seinen hohen Trockenkammern
eingeschossig angelegt, wirkt jedoch nach außen aufgrund entsprechender
Fensteraufteilungen, die auf den Vorgänger von Gropius zurückgehen,
zweigeschossig. Das Trockenhaus ist mit einem Flachdach gedeckt, aus dem die
Abluftschächte der Trockenkammern herausragten. Mit der Umstellung auf die
Kunststoffproduktion wurden 1974 bereits Teile der Trockenkammern entfernt.

Im Zusammenhang mit der großen Werkssanierung wurden 1997 auch am

Trockengebäude insbesondere am Dach und an den Fassaden
Instandsetzungsmaßnahmen durchgeführt, wobei die Dachdichtung vollständig
erneuert werden musste und mit einer Dämmlage versehen wurde. Die
Mauerwerksabdeckungen aus Zinkblech wurden originalgetreu wiederhergestellt und
lassen nach außen keine Veränderung des Erscheinungsbildes erkennen. Ebenso
wurde mit der Regenentwässerung, den Einlaufkästen und Fallrohren verfahren. Aus
optischen Gründen wurden auch einige der Abluftschächte auf dem Dach erhalten,
obwohl ihre Funktion entfallen war. Die Sanierung der Mauerwerksoberflächen und
der Stahlfenster erfolgte als Reparaturmaßnahme entsprechend den bisher
aufgeführten Arbeiten an den übrigen Gebäuden. 2007 fügte man in den
großvolumigen Innenraum eine unabhängige Holzkonstruktion ohne Eingriff in die
historische Bausubstanz ein, mit der man zusätzliche Arbeitsräume für Ingenieure
schuf. Zur besseren Belichtung baute man zusätzlich die liegenden Fenster zu dem
schmalen Hofraum gegenüber der Lagerhauswand ein.

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Insofern ist auch für das ehemalige Trockenhaus festzuhalten, dass sowohl das
äußere Erscheinungsbild als auch die innere Bausubstanz durch die Maßnahmen
weitgehend gewahrt blieb.

k. Sägerei

Das Sägereigebäude hinter dem großen Lagerhaus stellt den nordwestlichen

Abschluss der Werksanlage dar und gehört im Kern zu den Bauten der Bauphase
von 1911. In den Folgejahren wurde es mehrfach verändert und erweitert, erstmals
1921 noch unter Gropius, 1938 durch Ernst Neufert und später nochmals um 1950
durch die werkseigene Bauabteilung. Das eingeschossige Gebäude zeigt nach
außen die Gestaltungssprache der übrigen Werksanlage, bestimmt durch die gelbe
Klinkerverwendung und die Eisensprossenfenster. Durch drei sehr flach geneigte
parallel liegende Walmdächer geschlossen, wirkt das Gebäude vom
Fußgängerniveau aus, als wäre ein Flachdachabschluss vorhanden.

Nachdem bereits in den 1960er-Jahren durch die Umstellung von Holz- auf
Kunststoffbearbeitung in der Schuhleistenproduktion das Gebäude seine
ursprüngliche Funktion verloren hatte, wurde es durch einen Brand im Jahre 1985
bis auf das äußere Mauerwerk weitgehend zerstört. Mit dem Wiederaufbau im
ursprünglichen Erscheinungsbild wurde es ab 1991 für ein Ingenieurzentrum
umgenutzt. Aus den ursprünglich drei nebeneinanderliegenden Sälen wurde ein
Großraum geschaffen. Die optisch angelegte Dreischiffigkeit blieb jedoch sowohl im
Äußeren als auch im Inneren nachvollziehbar vorhanden. Naturgemäß wurden bei
dem Brand alle Fenster zerstört, sodass dafür mit der Umnutzung zeitgemäßer
Ersatz Verwendung fand.

l. Lagerhaus

Das Lagerhaus, in zwei Bauabschnitten 1911 und 1914 errichtet, geht in seiner
Konzeption auf den Architekten Eduard Werner, den Vorgänger von Walter Gropius,
zurück. Das Unter- und Erdgeschoss mit gemauerten Außenwänden bildet den
Sockel für die aufgehende Fachwerkkonstruktion. Sämtliche Holzbalkendecken sind
in den darüberliegenden Lagerbereichen als Spaltböden ausgebildet. Drei
Obergeschosse in traditioneller Fachwerkkonstruktion mit ausgemauerten
Fachwerkaußenwänden und einer davor aufgetragenen vier Zentimeter starken sog.
„Waschbetonputzschicht“, bilden den Kern dieses mächtigen Industriegebäudes.
Das vierte Obergeschoss ist optisch durch ein hölzernes Gurtgesims in der
Deckenebene über dem dritten Obergeschoss geringfügig zurückgesetzt und
erscheint als aufgesetztes, mit Sandsteinplatten verkleidetes Staffelgeschoss. Den
Abschluss bildet die allseitig zurückgesetzte, über die gesamte Länge des Gebäudes
gezogene Lüftungslaterne mit den offenen Seitenfronten, die ebenfalls in
Holzfachwerk konstruiert sind. Das Lagerhaus als ein markantes und das
Gesamtensemble wesentlich mitbestimmendes Gebäude wurde als letztes Objekt
der großen Sanierungsmaßnahme erst gegen Ende der 90er-Jahre instand gesetzt.

An dem über mehr als drei Jahrzehnte leer stehenden Gebäude wurde vor der
Maßnahme keinerlei Wartung und Werterhaltung vorgenommen. Die

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Gebäudealterung schritt dadurch unkontrolliert voran und es stellten sich verstärkt

Bauschäden sowie Probleme in der statischen Sicherheit ein. Die schadhafte
Dachdichtung, die abgängige Regenentwässerung sowie Fassadenschäden
belasteten die Holzkonstruktion schließlich in hohem Maß. Frost in den
durchfeuchteten Wänden verursachte Risse und schalenförmige Abplatzungen des
Fassadenputzes. Eindringendes Wasser schuf Moderfäule und Hausschwamm in
den konstruktiven Hölzern sowie tierischen Befall an der gesamten Konstruktion.

Ab 1995 entstanden erste Überlegungen, das Lagerhaus als externes Expo-Projekt

„Technologiezentrum“ in das Weltausstellungskonzept des Jahres 2000 in Hannover
aufzunehmen. Mit einem verformungsgerechten Aufmaß und einer ersten
Kostenschätzung wurde 1995/96 die Grundlage für die Sanierung gelegt. Weitere
Bestandsaufnahmen des Lagerhauses mit Schadenskartierungen schlossen sich bis
1997 an. Denkmalpflegerisch war auch am Lagerhaus das Ziel, möglichst viel von
der historischen Bausubstanz und außen wie innen von ihrem Erscheinungsbild zu
bewahren, obwohl bereits augenscheinlich war, dass ein Großteil der außenseitigen
Fachwerkkonstruktion und des Putzes aus Gründen zu starker Schädigungen –
insgesamt ca. 75 % des Außenbaus – nicht erhalten werden konnte. Schließlich kam
man zu der Überzeugung, dass allerdings eine Erhaltung der inneren
Fachwerkkonstruktion und der Spaltböden als Kernsubstanz des Gebäudes trotz der
eingetretenen statischen Probleme zu 100 % möglich erschien. So einigte man sich
auf die Substanzerhaltung im Inneren des Hauses und auf eine originalgetreue
Fassadenausführung, die zwischen 1998 und 2002 erfolgte. Angesichts der auf
Dauer geplanten Umnutzung zu einem Ausstellungsgebäude erhielt die
Fassadenrekonstruktion eine gedämmte, aus Sperrholzplatten bestehende
Vorsatzschale unter der erneuerten Putzschicht. Nach innen stellt sich das sichtbare,
aus Gewichtsgründen nicht mehr mit Backstein gefüllte Fachwerkgerüst in gleicher
Form wie die vorher abgängige Konstruktion dar. Das vorhandene, mittig gelegene
Treppenhaus konnte ebenfalls instand gesetzt werden. Ein zusätzliches, innen
liegendes Treppenhaus fügte man zur statischen Sicherung des Gebäudes sowie
aufgrund der brandschutz- und baurechtlichen Anforderungen in Stahlbeton hinzu.

Im Zuge der unumgänglich gewordenen statischen Stabilisierung des inneren

Fachwerkgerüstes und der Fassaden baute man Querversteifungen aus sichtbaren
Stahlelementen in den unteren drei Geschossen ein. Auch die kraftschlüssige
Anbindung der Deckenbalken an die Fachwerkknotenverbindungen wurde sichtbar in
Stahl ausgeführt. Konzeptionell war man sich zwischen Planern, Statikern,
Denkmalpflegern und Eigentümern einig, dass man nach der Abwendung der
Einsturzgefahr die statische Sicherung als bauliche Zutat im Inneren deutlich
sichtbar belassen und in die Werksausstellung integrieren wollte, während das
äußere Erscheinungsbild dem ursprünglichen Original möglichst nahekommen sollte.
Von außen verraten lediglich die neuen Fenster, welche die ursprünglichen
Lüftungsklappen in gleicher Größe ersetzen, dass das Lagerhaus des Fagus-Werkes
eine Sanierung und vor allem eine Umnutzung erfahren hat.

Insgesamt darf festgehalten werden, dass die Bewahrung des Holzlagerhauses im

Fagus-Werk nur durch den Impuls aus der Expo 2000 gelingen konnte. Auf der
Grundlage des Expo-Projektes entstanden bis 2005 weitere ständige Ausstellungen
zu den Themen „Walter Gropius als Architekt des Faguswerkes“,
„Bauhausarchitektur“, „Schuhleisten und Mode“ sowie „Holz und Technik“, die dem

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 - 28 -

Fagus-Werk und der Stadt Alfeld jährlich zu einem ansehnlichen Besucherstrom

verhelfen.

8. Could there be development pressures in the buffer zone and in the wider
surroundings of the factory which could impact on the landscape?

Mit den bestehenden Rechtsinstrumentarien aus Bau- und Denkmalschutzrecht des

Landes Niedersachsen (Denkmalschutzgesetz und Bauordnung) sowie aus dem
Planungsrecht der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Baugesetzbuch) können alle
Entwicklungen, von denen ein Druck auf das Alfelder Fagus-Werk ausgehen könnte,
gesteuert werden (s. Kap. 5D und 5E IV-V). Folgende konkrete Detailinformationen
hinsichtlich der planungsrechtlichen Absicherung zum Schutz des Fagus-Werkes
lassen sich ergänzen:

Der rechtswirksame Flächennutzungsplan der Stadt Alfeld von 1976 stellt das
Grundstück und die weitere Umgebung des Fagus-Werkes als gewerbliche
Bauflächen dar, sodass die künftige gewerbliche Entwicklung dieses Stadtgebietes
gesichert ist. Der aus diesem Flächennutzungsplan entwickelte Bebauungsplan (Nr.
42.2, „Neue Wiese/Limmerburg“) von 2010, der nordwestlich an das nominierte
Welterbe anschließt, hat zum Ziel, gewerbliche Bauflächen „für nicht erheblich
belästigende Gewerbebetriebe aus Produktion, Handwerk und Dienstleistung“ zu
ermöglichen.

Sowohl die Fläche des Bebauungsplans, als auch alle übrigen Flächen in optischer
Reichweite des Fagus-Werkes unterliegen dem § 34 des Baugesetzbuches, nach
dem die Zulässigkeit möglicher Nachbarbebauungen in der näheren und weiteren
Umgebung zu reglementieren sind. Jede zusätzliche Bebauung hat sich in die
Eigenart der vorhandenen Umgebung einzufügen. Zugleich darf das Ortsbild, das
insbesondere durch die außergewöhnliche Bedeutung des Fagus-Werkes geprägt
ist, nicht beeinträchtigt werden. Die Anforderungen an gesunde Wohn- und
Arbeitsverhältnisse müssen gewahrt bleiben.

Aus diesen planungsrechtlichen Bindungen wird es immer möglich sein, zu

großvolumig oder zu hoch geplante Baukörper, die das Fagus-Werk beinträchtigen
könnten, auf ein angemessenes Maß zu reduzieren. Im Fall zukünftiger unmittelbarer
Nachbarschaftsbauten ist eine Rücksichtnahme auf das Fagus-Werk ein zu
beachtendes und durchsetzbares Planungsziel. Eine unangemessene optische
Konkurrenz zum Fagus-Werk kann insofern mit großer Sicherheit ausgeschlossen
werden. Für städtebaulich wünschenswerte Ergänzungen in der näheren und
weiteren Umgebung des Fagus-Werkes sind mit diesem Rechtsinstrumentarium alle
Möglichkeiten geschaffen.

Als Grundlage für weitere künftige Bauleitplanungen hat die Stadt Alfeld 1996 einen
Landschaftsplan für die weitere Umgebung des Fagus-Werkes über den
Besiedlungsrand hinaus erarbeiten lassen. Optische Störungen von der
südwestlichen Hügelseite können mithilfe des Bau- und Planungsrechts so gesteuert
werden, dass sich keine negativen Auswirkungen auf das Fagus-Werk und die
Altstadt von Alfeld ergeben. Insbesondere die Sichtbeziehung zwischen dem

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 - 29 -

Wahrberg und dem Fagus-Werk ist in der Verbindung von §§ 34 und 35

Baugesetzbuch und den Zielsetzungen des Landschaftsplanes regelbar.

Zu weiteren raumrelevanten Planungen, die das Fagus-Werk tangieren könnten, ist

Folgendes anzufügen: Zurzeit wird ein Raumordnungsverfahren zur Errichtung einer
380-KV-Leitung zwischen dem Umspannwerk Wahle in Niedersachsen und dem
Umspannwerk Mecklar in Hessen durchgeführt. Im Rahmen der Antragskonferenz ist
das zuständige Stromversorgungsunternehmen darüber in Kenntnis gesetzt worden,
dass vom Land Niedersachsen bzw. der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2009 für das
Alfelder Fagus-Werk ein Welterbeantrag bei der UNESCO eingereicht wurde. Damit
verbietet sich eine Stromtrassenführung in optischer Reichweite des Fagus-Werkes.
Alternative Trassenführungen sind vorhanden.

Weitere räumlich relevante Planungen, die in irgendeiner Weise das Fagus-Werk

tangieren könnten, sind nicht bekannt. Insbesondere für Windkraftanlagen gibt es
weder angemeldete Investoreninteressen noch eingeleitete Planungsverfahren. Mit
dem zusätzlichen Instrument von Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfungen ließe sich das
Fagus-Werk über die beschriebenen Rechtsinstrumentarien hinaus ebenfalls
wirksam schützen.

Zur Pufferzone sind folgende Erläuterungen zu geben: Nach Nordwesten hin ist den
Gropius-Bauten durch die betriebserweiternde Maschinenbauhalle der Firma Fagus-
GreCon von 1974 (heute GreCon-Dimter, s. Antrag Kapitel 2.B, S. 33) mit
ausreichendem Abstand und angemessener Höhe ein baulich schützender Riegel
vorgeschoben, der die gestalterischen Qualitäten des Kulturdenkmals unterstützt
und eine verlängerte Pufferzone in dieser Richtung überflüssig macht. Da die
Grundstücke in südwestlicher Richtung zwischen der Hannoverschen Straße und der
Bahnlinie schmaler werden, ist die Pufferzone in diese Richtung länger angelegt, um
ein starkes Instrument bei der Höhenbegrenzung eventueller Neubauten zu haben.
Stadtauswärts nach Südwesten und stadteinwärts nach Nordosten gelten
uneingeschränkt die Bindungen des Bau-, Planungs- und Denkmalrechts (s. auch
Antrag Kapitel 5.B/7.B). Insofern sind optische Beeinträchtigungen für das Fagus-
Werk von diesen Seiten her nicht zu befürchten.

Mit der gewählten Pufferzonenausweisung ist zugleich ein Konsens zwischen den
Welterbe-Antragstellern und der kommunalen Planungsverwaltung erzielt, der die
städtebauliche Entwicklung in der Umgebung des Fagus-Werkes unter den
mittelfristig zu erwartenden wirtschaftlichen Bedingungen steuerbar macht. Dieser
Konsens wird sowohl den strengen Anforderungen des Denkmalschutzes als auch
den notwendigen Planungsperspektiven der Stadt Alfeld gerecht.

Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege 30175 Hannover Scharnhorststraße 1 Telefax 0511/ 925 5402
 I

1 Centennial Hall, Wroclaw, Poland, 1911-1913 by Max Berg

2 Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar

and Dessau, Germany, 1919-1939 by
Walter Gropius et al
 II

3 Rietveld Schröder House, Utrecht, Netherlands, 1924 by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

4 Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, Berlin, Germany, 1919-1931 by Bruno Taut, Otto Bartning, Hans Scharoun, Walter
Gropius et al
 III

5 White City of Tel-Aviv - Modern

Movement, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 1930-
1950 by Arieh Sharon, Joseph and
Ze’ev Berlin et al

6 Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela, 1940-1960 by Carlos Raúl Villanueva

 IV

7 Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico-City, Mexico,
1949-1953 by José Villagrán Garcia et al

8 UNAM, Rectorate building 9 UNAM, central library

 V

10 Tugendhat Villa in Brno, Czech Republic, 1928-1930 by Mies van der Rohe

11 Ministry of Health and Education, Rio de Janeiro, 12 Yacht-Club in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia,
Brasilia, 1936-1943 by Lucio Costa 1940 by Oscar Niemeyer
 VI

13 City library of Viipuri, Viipuri, Finland,

1927-1935 by Alvar Aalto

14 “Lasipalatsi“, Helsinki, Finland, 1935/36 by Viljo Revell et al

 VII

15 Cité de Refuge, Paris, France, 1929-1933 by Le Corbusier

16 Maison de Verre, Paris, France, 1928-1932 by Pierre Chareau

 VIII

18 Boots factory, Beeston, Great Britain, 1930-1932 by Owen Williams

17 École Karl-Marx, Villejuif, France,

1931-1933 by André Lurcat

19 Empire Pools, London, Great Britain, 1933-1934 by Owen Williams

 IX

20 Daily Express building, London, Great Britain, 1932 by Williams/Clarke/Atkinson

21 Sun House, Frogwell/Hampstead, Great Britain, 1934-1935 by Maxwell Fry

 X

22 Impington Village College, Impington, Great Britain, 1936-1940 by Maxwell Fry and Walter Gropius

23 Elementary school of
Yotsuya, Tokyo, Japan, 1933 by
building authorities of Tokyo
 XI

24 Torre Latinoamericano, Mexico City,

Mexico, 1950 by Augusto Alvarez and
Adolfo Zeevaert

25 Van Nelle factory, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1926-1930 by Leendert van der Vlugt and Andreas Brinkman
 XII

26 Sanatorium Zonnestral, Hilversum, Netherlands, 1928 by Johannes Duiker

27 Club House Rusakow, Moscow, Russia, 1927-1928

by Konstantin Melnikow
 XIII

28 Multi-storey car park, Moscow, Russia, 1933 by Konstantin Melnikow

29 Guaranty Building, Buffalo, USA,

1894-1895 by Louis Sullivan
 XIV

31 Glass Plant, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, 1924 by Albert Kahn

30 Ward W. Willits House, Highland Park,

Illinois, USA, designed 1901 by
Frank Lloyd Wright

32 Chrysler Dodge Factory, Warren, 33 Chicago Tribune Tower (draft), 1922 by Walter Gropius
Michigan, USA, 1938 by Albert Kahn
 XV

34 Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building, Philadelphia,

USA, 1929 by George Howe and William Lescaze

35 Harvard Graduate Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1949-1950 by Walter Gropius

 XVI

36 Lake Shore Drive Appartments, Detroit, USA, 37 Seagram Building, New York, USA,
1949-1951 by Mies van der Rohe 1958 by Mies van der Rohe

38 PanAm Building, New York, USA, 39 United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA,
1960 by Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi 1949-1950 by Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer
 XVII

40 Office Building Jespersen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 41 Skyscraper (draft),

1955 by Arne Jacobsen 1922 by Mies van der Rohe

42 Model factory, Werkbund exhibition, Cologne, 1914 by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer
2
3
4
- A/10.2 -

Certified extract

from the minutes of the closed meeting of the administration committee of the city
of Alfeld (Leine) on 08.02.2011

PP.

3. Nomination of the Fagus factory as World Heritage -

Protection of the buffer zone; submission no. 682/XVI
Decision of the administrative board of the city of Alfeld (Leine):

The city of Alfeld (Leine) explicitly endorses the nomination of the Fagus factory as a
World Heritage Site. It supports the objective of the so called buffer zone within the
scope of the planning authority of the municipality. In this regard, the city of Alfeld
(Leine) is obligated to revise its urban development plan (land development plan,
layout plans) accordingly, so that there are no hindrances to this exquisite, highly
regarded ensemble of art and architectural significance.

- unanimously -

PP.

It is herewith certified that the above is a true extract. At the same time it is certified
that the invitations to the meeting were given in time and due form with the
communication of the agenda. The quorum is constituted.

Alfeld (Leine), 17.02.2011 The city of Alfeld (Leine)

The mayor
pp.
[Signature: Runge]
(Runge)
[Stamp: city of Alfeld (Leine)]
 Major repairs and restorations were carried out from 1985 to 2001. They were
carried out with great respect for the property with regard to its outstanding
testimony to 20th century industrial architecture, which has contributed to the
preservation of the conditions of authenticity both as regards architecture and
decoration.

Protection and management requirements

The property has been listed as a historic monument since 1946, which is a
very early date for an industrial complex. The 1978 Act of the Regional State of
Lower Saxony on Historic Monuments and Buildings redefined the terms of its
legal protection. The property is managed under the responsibility of its owner,
Fagus-Grecon Greten GmbH & Co. KG. The owner acts in concert with the
regional and local historic monument conservation authorities, via the property’s
Steering Committee, which exercises authority with regard to project control and
coordination between the various partners involved. The management system
consists of a set of maintenance and conservation measures which is regularly
updated by the Steering Committee. If major works are required, joint funding is
set up between the private sector owner and the regional and national public
authorities.

4. Recommends that the State Party give consideration to the following:

a) Consider one or more possible scenarios which could be implemented in the

event of a change of owner and/or a change in use of the buildings,

b) Set out a medium-term conservation programme, including the participation

of professionals specialising in the conservation of 20th century architecture,

c) Consider establishing more precise technical indicators for the monitoring

of the state of conservation.

Surface and coordinates of the property inscribed on the World Heritage List by the 35th
session of the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO, 2011) in accordance with the
Operational Guidelines.

Etat partie ID N Bien Zone tampon Coordonnées du point central

Allemagne Usine Fagus à Alfeld 1368 1.88 ha 18.89 ha N51 59 01 E09 48 40