The IG Farben Building was built from 1928–1930 as the corporate
headquarters of the IG Farben conglomerate in Frankfurt am Main,
Germany. A competition was held to design the building and was won
by
the architect Hans Poelzig. On completion, the complex was the
largest
office building in Europe and remained so until the 1950s. The IG
Farben Building's six square wings retain a modern, spare elegance,
despite its mammoth size. It is also notable for its paternoster
elevators. The building was the headquarters for research projects
relating to the development of Nazi wartime synthetic oil and rubber,
and the production administration of magnesium, lubricating oil,
explosives, methanol, and Zyklon B. After WWII, the IG Farben
Building
served as the headquarters for the Supreme Allied Command and became
the principal location for implementing the Marshall Plan, which
largely financed the post-war reconstruction of Europe. The US Army
returned control of the IG Farben Building to the German government
in
1995. It was purchased on behalf of the University of Frankfurt by
the
state of Hesse, which committed €25 million to the restoration.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben_Building
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1485:
The Battle of Bosworth Field decisively ended the Wars of the Roses.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field)
1851:
The yacht America won the first America's Cup near the Isle of Wight,
England.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Cup)
1864:
The Red Cross movement led by Henry Dunant officially began when
twelve European nations signed the First Geneva Convention.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dunant)
1910:
Korea was annexed by Japan with the signing of the Japan-Korea
Annexation Treaty.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea)
1989:
Nolan Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson, becoming the first pitcher in
Major League Baseball to record 5000 strikeouts.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Ryan)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"No lesson seems to be so deeply inculcated by the experience of life
as that you should never trust experts. If you believe doctors,
nothing is wholesome: if you believe the theologians, nothing is
innocent: if you believe the soldiers, nothing is safe. They all
require their strong wine diluted by a very large admixture of
insipid
common sense." -- Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Lord Salisbury
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Gascoyne-Cecil%
2C_3rd_Marquess_of_Salisbury)