THE FAGUS FACTORY IN ALFELD NOMINATION FOR INSCRIPTION ON THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST SEPTEMBER 2009 Summary SUMMARY I Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List II 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, III 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 V Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List VI Contents CONTENTS VII 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 IX Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List X 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 XI Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List XII 1. Identification of the Property 1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROPERTY 1 Fagus Factory – Nomination for Inscription on the Unesco World Heritage List 1. A Country Federal Republic of Germany Fig. 2: Central Europe with Germany 2 1. Identification of the Property 1. B State, province or region Federal State of Lower Saxony Fig. 3: Germany with Lower Saxony 3 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 4 1. Identification of the Property Fig. 5: Schematic traffic plan Fig. 6: Schematic site plan of Alfeld with parking spaces 5 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 6 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 7 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 8 2. Description 2. DESCRIPTION 9 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) 10 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.