Großmarkthalle, Market hall in Ostend, Frankfurt, Germany
Großmarkthalle is a concrete market hall in Frankfurt-Bornheim with a distinctive construction of slender vaults. The roof is carried by fifteen barrel vaults that create an open trading space without interior columns.
Architect Martin Elsaesser designed this building in 1926, and upon completion in 1928 it was the largest structure in Frankfurt. It served for decades as a trading hub for produce before being repurposed in the 1990s.
The name reflects its original purpose as a wholesale market for produce and flowers that served the entire region. Today it stands as a place where visitors encounter the building's complex past through memorial spaces integrated into the structure.
The building now houses offices as part of the European Central Bank headquarters while preserving its original structural elements. Visitors can view the architecture from outside and join guided tours about its history and memorial spaces.
The roof system features exceptionally thin concrete shells, only 7 centimeters thick, yet they span 14 meters each. This engineering achievement made the building a milestone in concrete construction techniques of its era.
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