IG Farben Building

This building, covered in yellow-ish brown Travertine marble, glistens when hit by sunshine. Finished in 1931, it’s known as an architectural masterpiece of architect Hans Poelzig; but the history of the building is heinous. It was once the headquarters of chemical giant IG Farben, which produced the poison gas used by Germany’s Nazis on concentration camp prisoners. Today it’s part of the Goethe University campus, used by the arts and humanities department. During your visit, check out the paternoster elevators inside—those slow, ever-looping, never-stopping lifts without doors. Then look for this building in the city model at the Historisches Museum.