UNESCO World Heritage Site FAGUS plant near Alfeld • Pfotenpiloten

The shoe last factory near Alfeld is a World Heritage Site AND a production site, a living monument. That in itself is a special feature. Assistance dog Masha’s worried look gives away the fact that visitors with assistance dogs face special, monument-related challenges here. Okay, it was also starting to drizzle and Masha, like many Labradors who love to bathe, hates water from above. Let’s not even talk about the thunderstorm air.

At the bottom of the picture you can see a light-colored Labrador with an assistance dog tag.
In the background is the Fagus tower with the old Fagus lettering.
To the left is a glass façade, today's canteen.
Storm clouds are gathering. — The storm clouds gather over the Faguswerk

The factory once marked a turning point in industrial architecture, an external change that also made a new, more appreciative view of the worker visible. Bauhaus fans will absolutely get their money’s worth here. Walter Gropius himself was commissioned by company owner Carl Benscheidt to plan and build the shoe last factory in 1911.

Assistance dog Mascha sat in front of a glass and steel front of the Fagus factory. — With an assistance dog at the Fagus plant…..Mascha ponders….not an easy undertaking.

Light, air, glass, lightness and transparency replaced the monumental industrial architecture. The seemingly floating glass corners of buildings are no longer a rare sight for our eyes. Back then, that was brave and strange. But we don’t want to give too much away. This World Heritage Site is definitely worth a visit. We are delighted that, thanks to “Aktion Mensch”, we are able to open up this interesting object for human-assistance dog teams.

We discussed the topic of assistance dogs with our charming companion Hanna Wirth. We learned about the difficulties of the office dog project and sensed that the “dog” issue is a bit loaded. It was good that we were able to calmly explain what assistance dogs are and also that there is a legal basis for carrying them.

We were met in a very friendly manner everywhere on the site. The Fagus plant is still in production. During the lunch break, we met some employees. We were also welcome guests in the cafeteria with the assistance dogs.

In the museum, we went up with Ms. Wirth in an original elevator to see what she had already identified as a difficulty. The building had wooden floors with large gaps. This served to ventilate the beech wood during the drying process. Some dog paws fit completely into the irregular gaps. The interactive museum is therefore only recommended to a very limited extent with an assistance dog and only for sighted people. Even a normal wheelchair has to be exchanged for one with thick tires, which is provided. So if you use an active wheelchair with a drive, you also have a barrier. He needs an accompanying person to push him. One solution for assistance dogs could be a small trolley, but maneuvering it between the exhibits should be approached calmly.

Assistance dog Mascha stands in front of an exhibit.
You can see the cracks in the floor to her left and right. — The interactive exhibition is highly interesting. Unfortunately, the exhibits are not safely accessible for assistance dogs due to the cracks in the monument.

Assistance dog Mascha lies in front of a wooden floor with clear cracks. — The gaps were used for ventilation. For assistance dogs, they are a not insignificant problem.

Our recommendation: Get the audio guide at the museum (deaf people with assistance dogs need an interpreter). It is well done and leads across the grounds and partly into the building. Families could go to the museum if someone waits with the assistance dog in the middle of the floor without large gaps. The exhibition is really great for children. We would not put down alert and warning dogs. If an emergency situation arises and the assistance dog comes to the rescue, it could step into a crevice.

We also found a claw-killer staircase on the site. Walk carefully, then you can safely enter the exhibition rooms.

Perforated grid as a staircase. — We sometimes call these grids claw killers and always tread carefully.

On the inside wall of a factory building is written in large letters: "Creating good jobs, valuing the employee, being the best in products and services - these were the goals of my great-grandfather Carl Benscheidt.
They became our good traditions to which we are committed.
We have a tradition of innovation!
Ernst Green, 2015" — The outer shell also follows an inner image of work and people.

On the wall of an old factory building is the text: "My aim was to build as simply as possible, but precisely and accurately, in order to indicate through the exterior of the plant that everything here is tailored to precision.
As is generally acknowledged, I have achieved this goal.
Carl Benscheidt, 1911"

In the foreground, an assistance dog lies on a meadow.
In the background you can see the shoe lasts with the typical building elements: Clear forms, lightness through glass and steel constructions and open corners, i.e. the corners of the building were not solidly constructed in stone, but contribute to the lightness and transparency of the glass construction.

The sentence on assistance dogs is still missing from the World Heritage Site’s accessibility page, but we are confident that it will be added soon.

The “Assistance dog-friendly municipality” campaign was made possible by funding from Aktion Mensch.