Synopsis
In 1911, in the small industrial town of Alfeld in Lower Saxony, work begun on the seminal building of modern architecture. The owner was Carl Benscheidt, an adherent of social and ethical ideals of that time, his architect Walter Gropius, who later founded the ‘Bauhaus’.
Their project was the ‘Fagus’ workplace, which produced shoe lasts. True to his motto ‘Build palaces for the workplace’ Gropius designed a building which not only had an ultra modern exterior, but also exemplary working conditions and social arrangements for the staff.
Shoe lasts are still produced here today, which makes the the factory to a living monument in architecture and social and ethical ideals of the early twentieth century.
