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In 2011, the Fagus Factory was inscribed on the World Heritage List by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as the original building of the modern era and is currently one of 52 World Heritage Sites in Germany. The Fagus Factory has been in active production for over 100 years.
As the first building in the trend of modern industrial architecture, the Fagus Factory, built in 1911, was the first work of architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius.
Carl Benscheidt, the forward-looking and innovative founder of the company, commissioned the young architect Walter Gropius to build a shoe last factory.
The Fagus factory stands for an architectural concept that was the first to take into account the requirements of light, air and clarity and utilised glass and steel in accordance with a brand new architectural style. The glass and steel structure and the cantilevered glazed corners give the building an informal elegance that was exceptional at the time compared to other factories of the time.
The factory has been a listed building since 1946. The entire factory was completely restored between 1982 and 2002 and is now in better condition than ever before.
The name of the factory is derived from the Latin ‘fagus sylvatica’, which means ‘beech’ or ‘beech wood’. Beech wood is the traditional raw material for the production of shoe lasts.