One of the most impressive industrial monuments in the Finowtal Valley is the Märkische Elektricitätswerk (MEW) built in 1909. Its facilities can still be admired today from the outside, though the best spot to take pictures is from the other side of the canal! The ‘power station’ that provided electricity to vast swathes of the northern province of Brandenburg was long considered a model for a range of power stations in Germany and abroad. The MEW was a very modern building from an artistic perspective, too. The sober facades veneered with red bricks – designed by architect Werner Issel – and the brightly lit interior rooms make the power station an excellent example of the reform efforts in architecture at the start of the 20th century. The representative ornate facade faces the canal. The arrangement of the individual components – on the right the boiler house once topped with several chimneys, in the middle the machine hall equipped with steam turbines, and on the left the control centre – reflects the functional processes inside.
