The long-planned wholesale market hall was intended in every respect to represent the claim of “Greater Frankfurt” as the main transshipment point for vegetables and fruit in southwest Germany. Between two eight-storey head buildings with brick facades and external stair towers – the eastern one housed the cold storage facility – ME placed a concrete construction with no columns, 220 m long, 23 m high and 50 m deep. The roof consisted of 15 lightweight semi-cylindrical concrete shells developed using the Torkret process. The hall was illuminated on both sides by large window grids. On the transverse sides, 4-5 storey annexes increased the scale of the hall. Stylistically, the building was somewhere between Expressionism, Futurism and New Objectivity. The complex included rail connections, loading ramps and its own import hall. In 1944 it suffered severe bomb damage, and between 1947 and 1953 ME was involved in the reconstruction. Designs from the estate date from July and August 1950. In 1972, the entire complex was listed as a historical monument. Nevertheless, in 2002, planning began for a conversion into the administrative headquarters of the European Central Bank. After a competition, which was won by the Coop Himmelb(l)au office with a design that envisaged a partial demolition of the hall, the project was realized after a settlement procedure with ME’s descendants, which led to the establishment of the Martin Elsaesser Foundation. The outbuildings were demolished and a wedge-shaped building block was built through the hall. By 2014, a twisted, glass double tower had been added to the building, which had been extensively renovated.
