With the second industrial revolution, the service sector begins to grow significantly. By the end of the 19th century, the number of employees in banks, trade, industries, and insurance rises. The rationalization of these companies establishes a specialized yet universal space that becomes the operational center of both the private sector and public administration: in the office, machines, furniture, and people come together - form and function unite. The contributions in this volume depict the office as a space of rationalization as well as the imaginary, which to this day is regarded as "the real focus of living space" (Walter Benjamin) and serves as the center of administrative and social life.