 After 1952 , the building served as the European centre of the American armed forces and the headquarters of the U.S. V Corps . It later became the headquarters for the Northern Area Command until 1994 . The IG Farben Building was also the headquarters of the CIA in Germany , which led to its sobriquet ' the Pentagon of Europe ' . On April 16 , 1975 , the US Army renamed the building the General Creighton W. Abrams Building . The renaming did not have full authority in law , because the US was technically leasing the building from the German government and thus was not the rightful owner . 
