16 - MAN Roland machine factory

In 1871, Louis Faber and Adolf Schleicher founded the "Associationsgeschäft zur Produktion von lithographischen Schnellpressen" in Frankfurt. One year later, they moved the company to Sedanstraße (today: Christian-Pleß-Straße) in Offenbach. The first factory building was erected there in 1873. With the development of the first offset sheet-fed rotary press "Roland", the company achieved its commercial breakthrough in 1911. "Roland" was awarded a gold medal at the Turin trade fair. In 1979, Faber and Schleicher merged with MAN to form "MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG Offenbach / Main". The plant was constantly expanded until it finally occupied a large part of the area between Christian-Pleß-, Senefelder-, Gustav-Adolf- and Waldstraße. The factory facilities were largely destroyed during the Second World War. Reconstruction began in 1947 based on designs by Offenbach architect Hans Schroeder. By 1960, a two-storey development had been built along the edge of the block. The complex was long regarded as one of the best examples of post-war industrial buildings, in which a uniform appearance with high design standards was achieved despite several construction phases. Production at the Senefelderstrasse site was discontinued in 2004; the main plant had been located in Mühlheimer Strasse for some time. As part of the urban redevelopment, parts of the vacant factory buildings and the administration building were demolished to create a mixed urban quarter with a park. Unused assembly halls remained, particularly on Senefelderstrasse.