The Linz Tobacco Factory was designed by Peter Behrens and the Austrian architect Alexander Popp and built between 1929 to 1935. The factory belonged to the Austrian tobacco monopoly which was privatised in a step-by-step process which started in 1997. At the time the factory was built, the architect Peter Behrens was already very well-known for his industrial architecture and the works he realized for AEG.
When he planned the factory in Linz together with Alexander Popp he was very careful to integrate the special requirements of a tobacco plant which includes good lighting and favourable climatic conditions.
The elegant 230 meter long curved frontal facade avoids any kind of interruption while the window bands which structure it provide for the best daylight conditions and help to avoid cracks. The facade's thermal insulation with hollow bricks and cork was an innovation at the time. The structure which is made of reinforced concrete was - on such a scale - a novelty in Austria.
The factory was part of a privatization process which started in 1997 and which transferred the Austrian tobacco industry into private ownership. The factory was closed in 2007. However the building was declared a historic landmark and its future use is currently debated.