This Year’s Largest Shows in Germany

Germany’s largest tradeshows are massive undertakings, spanning millions of square feet and attracting many thousands of attendees from all over the world. The five biggest shows to be held in Germany this year are listed here, ranked according to the net exhibit space of the most recent show.

Messe Muenchen’s bauma, the international tradeshow for construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment, will be held April 19-25 at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre in Munich. Industry supporters will include the Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery Assn., the Mining Equipment Assn. in the German Engineering Federation and the Frankfurt/Main Committee for European Construction Equipment. The triennial show, last held in 2007, spanned 396,918 net square meters (4.2 million net square feet).

Deutsche Messe’s annual Hannover Messe in Hannover will be held April 19-23 at the Hannover Fairgrounds. Last year, the show covered 223,987 net sq. m. (2.4 million net sq. ft.). Hannover Messe, established 60 years ago, is a leading international showplace for industrial technologies, materials and products. Through the years, the focus has shifted from stand-alone components to end-to-end solutions, technical innovation and the application of existing knowledge. There were around 210,000 attendees at last year’s event, one in four of them from abroad, and there were 6,150 exhibitors from 61 countries.

Messe Frankfurt’s annual Ambiente show for consumer goods will be held Feb. 12-16 at the Fair & Exhibition Centre in Frankfurt. Last year, the show spanned 183,122 net sq. m. (1.9 million net sq. ft.) and had 4,500 exhibitors and 136,263 attendees. The show features products for the kitchen and dining room, furnishings, gifts, collectibles, toys and housewares.

The German Assn. of the Automotive Industry’s biennial IAA Nutzfahrzeuge commercial vehicle show will be held Sept. 23-30 at the Hannover Fairgrounds. In 2008, it spanned 196,181 net sq. m. (2.2 million net sq. ft.) and attracted a record 300,000 attendees from 110 countries. Of the 2,084 exhibitors (up 34 percent from 2006), 1,188 came from abroad.

Messe Frankfurt’s biennial Automechanika show for the automotive industry, on tap Sept. 14-19 in Frankfurt, covered 172,548 net sq. m. (1.8 million net sq. ft.) when held most recently in 2008, with 4,471 exhibitors and 161,269 attendees. Automechanika offers products from the fields of automotive parts, car washing, workshop and filling-station equipment, information technology products and services, accessories and tuning.