‘Perhaps it is the ones that get away that prove the most interesting’ I thought to myself as my train trundled passed this magnificent 100 year old modernist shoe last factory, I think that was just a feeble attempt to console myself for the error that meant I missed a proper visit to this site.

I had been looking forward to visiting this site in Alfeld (30 minutes south of Hannover) for a little while; alas I contrived to miss it by catching the wrong train a few hours earlier. As such I was only able to admire the impressive glass curtain walls and iconic chimney stack from behind the locked gates leading into the compound. This is one to add to ‘almost visited sites’ as I was not able to get up close and have a closer look. Oh well, gives me a good reason to return I suppose!

The factory was the work of Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer a few years before they took up prominent roles at the Bauhaus. Its pioneering use of glass walls set out design features that are still very influential; although they are now much refined as their implementation here at the Faguswerks and a decade later at the Bauhaus building was beset by problems of speedy corrosion and poor heat insulation. Even with these problems the building is still regarded as an early masterpiece in international modernism.

Germany has done very well in getting its modernist heritage onto the world heritage list. This is something that is often ignored by other countries, but it perhaps reflects on how Germany wants to portray itself to the outside world, especially providing a balance to its more infamous 20th century legacies. For me I think this is great; I am a big fan of modernist architecture and would very much welcome the addition of the Farguswerks to the World Heritage list. I am not sure if everyone would view this in the same way, this could well be the fifth modernist structure Germany has inscribed [Bauhaus, Zolverein & Berlin Housing-estates, with the Le Corbusier buildings in Stuttgart surely to arrive soon, please!], perhaps some would view this as overkill. But for me this is something to really be encouraged and it will hopefully make other countries look at their 20th & 21st century heritage in a more favourable light.

[Site N/A : Experince 2, but I was locked outside, alone in the dark on New Years eve]