A factory built like a temple to industry: Behrens gave the machine age one of its first monuments.
At a glance
The Turbine Factory in the Moabit district of Berlin was built in 1908–1909 for the electrical giant AEG. Peter Behrens, the company’s design consultant, gave the turbine assembly hall a steel frame, vast glazed walls and a great gable, treating a workshop with the seriousness once reserved for civic buildings. It is a founding monument of modern industrial architecture.
Key facts
- Location: Huttenstraße, Moabit, Berlin
- Architect: Peter Behrens
- Built: 1908–1909
- Style: early modern industrial
- Function: turbine factory, still in industrial use
History
AEG hired Behrens to design not just buildings but the whole look of the company, from lamps to logos, an early case of corporate identity. The turbine hall was his boldest statement.
He shaped the long shed like a great hall: steel ribs carrying the roof, walls of glass between them, and a wide gable end faced in concrete that reads almost like a pediment. Generations of architects, among them his young assistants, took lessons from it.
What you see
The end gable is the famous view: a broad sweep of glass and steel under a faceted concrete top, with the company name across it. Down the long sides, the glazed walls lean slightly inward between exposed steel supports. There is no historical ornament, only the frame doing its work, made monumental.
Practical information
- Open: a working factory; exterior viewable from the street
- Cost: free to view from outside
- Best for: the glazed gable end on Berlichingenstraße
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes
Getting there
The hall is in Moabit, north-west of central Berlin. U-Bahn Turmstraße (U9) and several bus lines are within walking distance; it is a short ride from the centre.
Nearby
- Moabit — the working district around the AEG works
- Schloss Charlottenburg — the baroque palace, to the south-west
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica / Wikipedia — AEG turbine factory
- Landesdenkmalamt Berlin — monument record
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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