Index

Once a year, during the Berlinale film festival, the world of the silver screen focuses its attention on Berlin. And the city’s inhabitants are used to global interest. After all, the people of Berlin have lived in a capital city since 1458. However, there is also a shady side to the city’s history: the rule of the National Socialists and the East German regime, which built a wall right through the heart of the city. Since German unification in 1990, Berlin has once again been the undivided capital city. The Museum Island, the Berlin Philharmonic and more than 50 theaters ensure the city is unique in terms of cultural life. The “academic capital” boasts 39 universities and institutes of higher education, while also being home to businesses such as Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, while ITB, the worlds leading travel trade show, accentuates the slogan “Berlin is worth seeing”.

Capital: Berlin
Population: 3,866,385
Surface area: 892 km2

Brandenburg surrounds the capital city of Berlin and benefits from the latter’s “gin and martini belt”. However, with its numerous lakes and forests it also has several trump cards of its own. With the Hohenzollern castles, and in particular Sanssouci Castle, which is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, the heart of the Kingdom of Prussia possesses jewels of courtly architecture. Indeed Potsdam is considered one of Germany’s most beautiful cities, featuring many architectural highlights. Today the citizens of Brandenburg boast Hollywood productions in the film-producing town of Babelsberg, the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder and more than 300 foreign companies, including the German HQ of Ebay.

Capital: Potsdam
Population: 2,573,135
Surface area: 29,654 km2

Ingenuity and creativity are an important economic factor for Germany as a business location. Art, film, music, fashion, media, books and lifestyle: The contribution of the creative industry to Germany’s overall economic output is comparable with that of the large industries, namely the automobile, mechanical engineering and chemicals sectors.

They are the flagships of the economy and global players with an international footing – the major German corporations. The top brands include Daimler, BMW, SAP, Siemens, Volkswagen and Adidas. Shares in the major German companies are listed in the German share index (DAX) at the Frankfurt stock exchange. 

In 2021, company spending on research and development rose to 75.8 billion Euros. The automotive industry accounts for a large share of these investements.

The German economy is characterized first and foremost by small and medium-sized enterprises as well as the self-employed and the independent professions. Some 99.4 percent of all companies are small and medium-sized enterprises. These are firms with annual sales of below EUR 50 million and a payroll of less than 500. Around 55 percent of all those in employment work in this type of company. Most SMEs are managed by the owners themselves, meaning that the majority shareholder and management of the company are frequently one and the same. Companies are often handed down from one generation to the next. The strengths of SMEs include the swift realization of marketable products, an international focus, a high degree of specialization and the ability to successfully claim niche positions in the market. Precisely these qualities make many German SMEs world market leaders in their field.