[2] The building's original design in the modernist New Objectivity style was the subject of a competition which was eventually won by the architect Hans Poelzig.

Farben scientists discovered the first antibiotic,[dubious – discuss] fundamentally reformed medical research and "opened a new era in medicine.

"[5] After World War II, the IG Farben Building served as the headquarters for the Supreme Allied Command and from 1949 to 1952 the High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG).

William L. Shirer called it the "building from where the Americans ruled the western part of Germany" in the aftermath of World War II.

The 1948 Frankfurt Documents, which led to the creation of a West German state allied with the western powers, were signed in the building.

"[8] In 1995, the US Army transferred the IG Farben Building to the German government, and it was purchased by the state of Hesse on behalf of the University of Frankfurt.

[3] Here, Dr Heinrich Hoffman hired Alois Alzheimer to work in the hospital, where they both explored progressive methods of treating the mentally ill.[4] The Grüneburgpark was established in 1880 on the larger western part of the site.

In the 1920s, IG Farben (full German name Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft or 'Dye Industry Interest Group Limited') was the world's largest drug, chemical and dye conglomerate.

[1][3][10] Later in 1930, the Frankfurt director of horticulture Max Bromme and the artists' group Bornimer Kreis developed designs for the 14 hectares of parkland that surrounded the building.

[1] IG Farben was an indispensable part of the German industrial base from its establishment in 1925, and the world's largest chemical and pharmaceutical company.

During World War II, the surrounding neighbourhood was devastated, but the building itself was left largely intact as it was planned to be used by occupying forces.

In March 1945, Allied troops occupied the area and the IG Farben Building became the American headquarters of General Dwight D.

Eisenhower vacated the building in December 1945 but his office was still used for special occasions: the constitution of the state of Hesse was signed there, the West German Ministerpräsident received his commission to compile the Grundgesetz (German constitution) and the administration of the Wirtschaftsrat der Bizone (Economic Council of the Bizone) was also located there.

[9] The renaming did not have full authority in law, because the US was technically leasing the building from the German government and thus was not the rightful owner.

The buildings were refurbished at a cost of 50 Million German Mark (about US$26M or 25M €), by the Copenhagen-based architecture practice Dissing+Weitling[13] and were handed over to the university.

[14] Der Spiegel wrote about the "Smell of Guilt" after its public opening in 1995, but also that the building itself did not deserve the bad reputation.

Meissner's successor, Rudolf Steinberg, upheld the decision to retain the name, but he did not enforce a uniform nomenclature within the university's administration.

The university's senate finally settled the discussions in July 2014 by keeping the official name "I.G.-Farbenhaus" (IG Farben Building).

[3] After 10 years of debate[18] the Senate of the University agreed in 2014 to name a place on the new campus's southern end after the former slave labourer Norbert Wollheim.

[3][22] The façade is clad with 33,000 m2 Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt Travertine marble, punctuated in bands of windows decreasing in height with each storey.

This design approach for large complexes offers an alternative to the "hollow rectangle" schemes of the time, with their typical inner courtyards.

[4] Behind the rotunda is an oblong pool with a Nymphenskulptur (German:Nymph sculpture) at the water's edge created by Fritz Klimsch entitled "Am Wasser".