0378, 1410 GERMANY (Lower Saxony) - Fagus Factory in Alfeld (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 07.11.2012, and 17.01.2015
Only few structures erected in the 20th century managed to be included on UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and among these is Fagus Factory in Alfeld (Germany), considered "a landmark in the development of modern architecture and industrial design". Commissioned by Carl Benscheidt, who wanted a structure to express the company's break from the past, the factory was designed by Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus School, and Adolf Meyer, also a prominent representative of this school, based on a project by Eduard Werner. Constructed between 1911 and 1913, with additions and interiors completed in 1925, the buildings were influenced by AEG’s Turbine factory, designed by Peter Behrens, but also by some industrial buildings in the USA, presented in Werkbund publication.

The building that is commonly referred as the Fagus building is the main building (in image), constructed in 1911 and expanded in 1913, containing mainly offices. The other two big buildings on the site are the production hall (a one-storey building) and the warehouse (a four-storey building with few openings). The ten buildings of the site give a common image, because the architects used some common elements, as the floor-to-ceiling glass windows on steel frames, and the brick structure (all buildings have a base of black bricks and the rest is built of yellow bricks). The design of the building was oriented to the railroad side, because Benscheidt considered important the point of view of the passengers on the trains.

About the stamps
On the first postcard

The stamp, and also the maxicard depicting Fagus Factory, were issued on October 2, 2014.

On the second postcard 
About the stamp, illustrating St. Peter's Cathedral of Regensburg, I wrote here.

References
Fagus Factory - Wikipedia
Fagus Factory in Alfeld - UNESCO official site

Sender 1: Birgit Pfisterer (direct swap)
Sent from Hockenheim (Baden-Württemberg / Germany), on 06.01.2014 
Photo: www.fagus-grecon.de
Sender 2: Anke Günther (direct swap)
Sent from Garbsen (Lower Saxony / Germany), on 29.09.2012