Based on turnover and growth, Messe Berlin is among the world’s ten leading trade fair companies operating their own exhibition grounds. The company’s wide-ranging portfolio includes five global brands: the International Green Week Berlin, ITB Berlin, IFA, InnoTrans and Fruit Logistica. Messe Berlin’s 2014 trade fair calendar lists all the leading events. The International Green Week Berlin, FRUIT LOGISTICA and ITB Berlin have already come to a close and achieved outstanding results. IFA (5 to 10 Sept. 2014) and InnoTrans (23 to 26 Sept. 2014) will follow. Berlin ExpoCenter City also hosts hundreds of conferences, meetings and workshops, part of the supporting programme of trade fairs, and in particular large-scale medical congresses. The CityCube Berlin, an ultra-modern and functional extension to the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, will shortly be opening its doors to exhibitors and visitors from around the world.

On 5 May 2014 Berlin’s Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit will open the CityCube Berlin in a ceremony attended by celebrities representing politics, industry and the media. After taking only 22 months to complete the building is now ready to host congresses, trade fairs and conferences of all types and sizes. The ultra-modern congress venue will take over the role of the ICC Berlin, ensuring Berlin continues to play host to conference events. Dr. Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin: “With the CityCube we are well equipped to meet the challenges of the future. This will enable us to compete successfully with other major cities around the world and their trade fair and congress venues. The City Cube represents an important investment in the future of Berlin.”

The CityCube Berlin can stage events with attendances of up to 11,000. A particularly eye-catching feature is the facade with its large illuminated letters mounted beneath light-coloured textile cladding. Code Unique, a Dresden-based architectural practice which won the competition to design the building, chose the design because it “creates an atmosphere of transparency and from the outside makes it look self-contained.” Two main floors, flexible partitioning, numerous conference rooms and a neighbouring display hall (no. 7) provide the perfect setting for all types of congresses and fairs. In the years ahead other outstanding international events will be taking place. Bookings have already been taken for 2021.

Besides ExpoCenter City, the venue on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, Messe Berlin also successfully operates Berlin ExpoCenter Airport. The high point of events at this venue next door to the capital’s future airport BER is the Berlin Air Show, which will be taking place from 20 to 25 May 2014.

In addition to holding other outstanding events such as conhIT (6 to 8 May 2014), YOU Berlin (27 to 29 June 2014), Bazaar Berlin (formerly the Import Shop, 12 to 16 Nov. 2014) and HIPPOLOGICA Berlin (11 to 14 Dec. 2014), Messe Berlin will also be launching tools, a new trade fair format (7 and 8 May 2014), whose focus is on web-based solutions. The attention of this event is on users rather than developers.

Every year 30,000 media representatives from Germany and abroad report on events in Berlin. In terms of the media coverage it attracts Messe Berlin is one of the capital’s most important ambassadors. During the past financial year (2013) Messe Berlin’s 58 in-house and guest events attracted around 26,000 exhibitors from more than 180 countries, who rented 1.22 million square metres of hall space. Around 20,000 exhibitors took part in in-house events. In 2013 there were around 1.5 million visitors from Germany and abroad. More than 550,000 were trade visitors, of whom around 60 per cent came from abroad.