Exhibition Building: general view

The Exhibition Building planned by Josef Maria Olbrich was erected on the highest point of the Mathildenh�he above the former water reservoir built in 1880. Together with the Wedding Tower, which was also built for the “Hessian State Exhibition of Fine and Applied Arts”, it forms an ensemble that characterises the cityscape.

This horizontally aligned exhibition building, built of reinforced concrete and clad with a light grey roughcast, is a dynamic contrast to the tower building with its emphasis on material. Its asymmetrically designed architecture, with an entrance building with a pavilion roof to the side and the southern staircase pavilion, is a counterbalance to the massive appearance of the towering clinker structure in the north.

Since its completion in 1908, the building has been used for exhibitions, public events and cultural conferences.