Trade fairs in Germany

Germany is an industrial country of sixteen states, and its trade fair business is spread across regional centers, each with its own fairground, from electronics and automation to building and automotive supply.

The German economy rests on machinery, vehicles, chemicals, electrical engineering and a broad base of mid-sized exporting companies. Because the country is organized into sixteen states, its fair business is regional too. North Rhine-Westphalia concentrates heavy industry and logistics, while Bavaria pairs manufacturing with electronics and software. For exhibitors, this means that industry and manufacturing fairs are found in many cities rather than in one place.

Munich is the Bavarian capital and the home of Messe München. Its fair electronica presents the electronics industry as a whole and runs every two years, while Munich also hosts events on clean energy and technology careers. Nuremberg, further north in Bavaria, is the base of NürnbergMesse. SPS there covers smart industrial automation, and it-sa Expo&Congress is devoted to IT security. More events are listed under Nuremberg.

In the north, Hamburg is built around one of Europe's major ports, and its fairground hosts GET NORD, which brings electrical, sanitary, heating and air-conditioning technology together in a single event. Events in Hamburg are listed in its hub. Berlin, the federal capital, hosts Bazaar Berlin, a gift and world products fair where visitors buy directly from exhibitors.

Other cities add their own focus. Wolfsburg, home of a major carmaker, hosts the supplier exchange IZB for the automotive industry. Cologne and Düsseldorf on the Rhine have fairgrounds of their own, Cologne with an international art fair, and Leipzig hosts the conservation and renovation fair denkmal. Essen and Bad Salzuflen, both in North Rhine-Westphalia, add the Essen Motor Show for car enthusiasts and the mechanical engineering fair FMB. Frankfurt and Munich are the main air hubs.