Education and citizenshipm
An architectural tour for Frankfurt residents and visitors who are interested in the history and buildings of the Westend and the Westend Campus.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Westend has been the residence of the wealthy Frankfurt middle class, which financed education and culture in the city. After the war, the villas were to give way to office towers. For the preservation of this upper middle-class heritage students fought in the 1960s. Well, not as demonstrative, they study on Campus Westend.
During the architectural walk you can still see some magnificent villas and hear exciting stories about many famous residents, as well as about the nationwide known protests of the 1960s.
The author of 'Struwwelpeter', the psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffmann, initiated the construction of a modern psychiatric hospital north of Westend in the second half of the 19th century. After the clinic was relocated in the 1920s, the IG Farben headquarters moved to the site. The plans for this largest office building in Europe were drawn up by the architect Hans Poelzig. Shortly afterwards, however, the greatest crimes were also initiated here: the production of concentration camp annihilation gas and the employment of many forced laborers. This is now remembered at various points on the site and, of course, during the architectural tour of the campus.
From 1945 until the 1990s, the building was used as the headquarters of the American armed forces in Germany, last hermetically sealed off. Open and accessible, it is now the main building of the Westend campus of Goethe University.
Instead of facades with slogans and posters, as on the former university campus, the Westend campus is a mixture of discipline and relaxed serenity. On our architectural tour, we explain the modern and compact institute buildings, which represent a concentrated learning atmosphere with classic limestone facades, while the two wide green strips with large trees, shady lawns and many café terraces offer opportunities for relaxation.
project selection
Westend
- Triton (Nägele, Hofmann and Tiedemann, last renovation Claus & Kaan and Tectonics)
- 'Hochhaus am Park' (high-rise building on the park) (ABB, KSP Jürgen Engel)
- Palm House (Fritz Keyser, Ernst May, David Chipperfield)
Campus Westend
- Master Plan (Ferdinand Heide Architects)
- Main building (Hans Poelzig, conversion to the university building Dissing & Weitling)
- Central lecture hall building, seminar building (Ferdinand Heide Architekten)
- House of Finance (Kleihues Kleihues Architects)
- Law and Economics, PEG - Psychology, Educational and Social Sciences and Presidential Board (Müller Reimann Architekten)
- Max Planck Institute for European Legal History (Volker Staab Architekten)





