Munich Means Business

Transcription

Munich Means Business
Leveraging growth
The Department of Labour and
Economic Development ten years on
Christian Ude,
Mayor of the City of Munich
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Munich at the dawn of the new millennium
The Department of Labour and Economic
Development ten years on
Dr. Reinhard Wieczorek,
Councilor
Head of Department of Labour and
Economic Development, City of Munich
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Go global – go Munich
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Facing challenges, crafting change
– Siemens sets sail for the 21st century
Dr. Heinrich v. Pierer,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Siemens AG
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Munich Re –
a global player at home in Munich
Dr. Hans-Jürgen Schinzler,
Chairman of the Board of Management
of Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft, Munich
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HypoVereinsbank – a bank, its markets, and its
home financial center
Dr. Albrecht Schmidt,
Management Spokesman,
Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG
BMW – the joy of Munich
Prof. Joachim Milberg,
President and Chief Executive Officer, BMW AG
Knowledge – the stuff of the future
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Munich – melting pot for the IT industry
Prof. Georg Nemetschek,
Founder and Member of the Managing Board,
Nemetschek AG
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Into a new communication age
with the Internet and UMTS
Dr. Eberhard Beck,
Head of the Munich office of
Deutsche Telekom AG
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“Munich Network” – the new technologies
promotion group – a “one-stop shop”
for fast-growing high-tech firms
Eberhard Färber,
former Managing Director,
Munich Network
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Munich as a biotechnology region
Prof. Horst Domdey,
Member of the Managing Board, BioM AG
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Munich – a world-class media location
Dr. Hubert Burda,
Chief Executive Officer,
Hubert Burda Media Holding
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The Technical University of Munich –
a synonym for technological progress
Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann,
Principal of the Technical University of Munich
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The Max Planck Society –
foundational research to serve the public good
Prof. Hubert Markl,
President of the Max Planck Society
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The Fraunhofer Society –
innovation that shapes the future
Prof. Hans-Jürgen Warnecke,
President of the Fraunhofer Society
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To Munich with love –
insights into the life of a local entrepreneur
Gabriele Lechner,
Member of the Managing Board, Camgaroo AG
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Munich – the venture capital hub
Falk F. Strascheg,
General Partner, Extorel Management- und
Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH
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From idea to startup –
the Munich Business Plan Competition
Werner Arndt,
Managing Director, MBPW GmbH
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The “Literature House” –
old medium, new partnership
Dr. Ulrich Wechsler,
President of the Stiftung Buch-, Medien- und
Literaturhaus, Munich
The media hub – Media Works Munich (MWM)
Otto Link,
Head of the Munich office of
IVG Immobilien GmbH
Strong on soft location factors
Munich’s booming property market
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Theresienhöhe –
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a choice cut in the heart of Munich
Dr. Lutz Mellinger,
Member of the Board, Corporate and Investment
Banking Division, Deutsche Bank AG
Moving ahead with a modern mix of industries
The Ludwig-Maximilians University –
creative minds, new synergies
Prof. Andreas Heldrich,
Principal of the Ludwig-Maximilians University,
Munich
Starting a business in Munich
Business and technology centers –
successful models in Munich
Karlheinz Reiber,
Managing Director, MGH-Münchner Gewerbehof und Technologiezentrumsgesellschaft mbH,
Head of Business Promotion at the Department
of Labour and Economic Development
A new face in Schwabing
Dr. Helmut Röschinger,
Managing Partner, ARGENTA Internationale
Anlagegesellschaft mbH
Made-to-measure infrastructure
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The opera cult
Sir Peter Jonas,
Director of the Bavarian State Opera
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Welcome to “Museumsville”!
Prof. Helmut Friedel,
Director of the Municipal Art Gallery in the
Lenbachhaus
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Kunstpark Ost, Kunstpark Nord –
the really cool places to be in Munich
Franz Kotteder,
Editor-in-chief, Munich Culture/SZ Extra
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The Munich Olympic Park –
the gift of the century has a future in the
new millennium
Wilfrid Spronk,
Managing Director,
Olympiapark München GmbH
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From Munich to Shanghai –
trade show strategies in the 21st century
Manfred Wutzlhofer,
Executive Director, Messe München GmbH
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Munich’s global hub
Willi Hermsen,
Managing Director, Flughafen München GmbH
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Infrastructure – nothing but the best for Munich
Dr. Kurt Mühlhäuser,
Managing Director, SWM GmbH
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Empowering change
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Employment and the structural transition
in Munich
Helmut Schmid,
DGB District Chairman, Munich
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The Munich Employment and
Qualification Program
Jürgen Lohmüller,
Managing Director, Anderwerk GmbH
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Reconciling ecology and the economy –
Ökoprofit® shows the way
Dr. Karl Niederl,
Director, Environment Department, Municipal
Corporation, Graz, Austria
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Photographic sources
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Leveraging growth
Christian Ude,
Mayor of the City of Munich
It is now ten years since Munich launched its Department of Labour and Economic
Development, as the Social Democrats (SPD) had promised prior to the local elections. Georg
Kronawitter, the mayor at the time, managed both to push through the new department
and to have it headed by Dr. Reinhard Wieczorek, his number one choice.
All this happened at a time when signs that the local economy was overheating were
matched by fears that German reunification and the resurgence of Berlin might drive Bavaria
into the wilderness. The first thing that changed, however, was the overall mood: intensive
dialogue took the place of public controversy; cooperation became the hallmark of many
committees; new joint projects began to crop up. It did not take long before the various
chambers recognized the benefits of the new department: one permanent point of contact
that consistently provided reliable support.
For a decade now, the department has been assisting countless companies on location and
relocation issues and expansion plans. It has an extremely successfully track record –
a fact substantiated by the large number of high-tech firms, media companies and financial
service providers that have moved to Munich, although public support is admittedly by no
means the only reason for this trend. Dr. Wieczorek and his department position themselves
and act as a catalyst to growth, and can rightly claim some of the merit for the city’s outstanding economic performance to date: the lowest unemployment rate of all German cities;
the most vacancies for the past three decades in a row; and the best opportunities in
competition with other leading European regions.
Projects such as the Media Works Munich competence center, the high-tech business park
in Messestadt-Riem, life sciences parks in the west of Munich, and an impressive presence at
international trade shows have all sharpened Munich’s profile as a venue for innovative,
high-growth industries.
The fact that Munich also attracted record numbers of visitors last year is likewise attributable
to intelligent tourist promotion campaigns that have successfully added elements of science
and culture to enrich Munich’s existing image as a venue for congresses and urban tourism.
Despite the impressive employment figures, the department has never forgotten that is first
and foremost a “Department of Labour” – i.e. that it also needs to look after those who, even
in the years of plenty, find themselves excluded from the labor market. On this score, the
Munich Employment and Qualification Program has provided an attractive range of training,
development and occupational programs to help reintegrate the long-term unemployed in
today’s labor market.
Nor should one forget that the department is responsible for managing the city’s own investments. This means participating in the dynamic development of the exhibition grounds and
the airport; but it also – and above all – involves actively managing the municipal utilities, which
have been organized as private enterprises for the last three years.
Much remains to be done to maintain Munich’s leading position. The need for advice to new
business startups is growing. Competition between cities is hotting up. Business promotion at
local level is being faced by ever greater demands. Municipal utilities are having to fight ever
harder to survive. In the tourist industry, too, the competition never sleeps … All of which
makes the Department of Labour and Economic Development more important than ever before. The department should take it as a compliment that, ten years on, no-one would dream
of questioning what, at the time, was a close-run majority decision to give it a go.
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Munich at the dawn of a new millennium
Dr. Reinhard Wieczorek,
Councilor
Head of Department of Labour and
Economic Development, City of Munich
Back on April 1, 1991, when the fledgling Department of Labour and Economic Development
created by the red-green majority in the city council first opened for business, Riem was
still the venue for flights to and from Munich. Visitors to and exhibitors at trade shows caused
regular congestion in the Westend. The exhibition grounds, an awkward, unsightly lump
behind the city’s famous Bavaria statue, were effectively off-limits to the locals. For two years,
not a square meter of extra commercial space had been allotted. There was no congress
center. And the decision to make Berlin the republic’s “new-old” capital seemed like another
nail in Munich’s coffin lid. The economy collapsed; and the downfall of the Bavarian capital was
trumpeted as a foregone conclusion – especially by the political opponents of the new
majority in the city hall.
Ten years on, virtually every survey one cares to consult puts Munich up among the frontrunners – if not in pole position – in terms of economic prowess, prospects for the future,
and attractiveness to and popularity among both employers and employees. The airport
opened near Erding in 1992 is booming: a second terminal is currently being built at a cost of
DM 2.3 billion. Almost immediately after its inauguration in 1997 at the former airport site, the
new exhibition center needed to erect another two 10,000 m2 halls in short order. Munich’s
International Congress Center is bursting at the seams; parts of it are booked solid through
to 2006. On the site of the old trade show grounds on the Theresienhöhe, what will be one
of the city’s most attractive downtown districts is taking shape. Munich’s reputation as a
European center for information and communication, as a desirable media and (above all)
multimedia location, is known far and wide. The city offers new space to life sciences firms,
for instance, which – like startups and young companies in other disciplines – seem unable to
resist Munich’s magnetic pull and are springing up left, right and center. At the same time, this
sustained boom is being built on a solid foundation laid by craftsmen, traditional production
companies and service providers.
Unlike other cities, Munich has thus been spared the worst ravages of unemployment. For the
last decade, Munich has responded to structural change with a proactive employment policy,
mirroring the ongoing transition at annual conferences on employment – and has remained the
German city with the lowest unemployment rate, the highest per-capita investment rate and
the highest per-capita purchasing power. By the same token, the city’s impressive array of
universities and academies, its science companies, the research departments operated here
by true global players, its patent offices and Max Planck Institutes all make Munich uniquely
important as a center of knowledge – the stuff of which the future is made.
In spite of such go-ahead dynamism, however, in spite of the strong focus on preparing and
building for the future, Munich’s traditional values remain intact. As soon as the sun starts to
warm the city, a bevy of beer gardens and street cafés lure locals and visitors alike to bask
in the beauty of the Bavarian capital: the ochre yellow of the Theatinerkirche casts a golden
glow over the splendor of the Munich Residenz; a warm wind from the Alps makes for clear
blue skies; the dazzling white of the Siemens head office, built by Richard Meier, is offset
perfectly by Stefan Braunfels’ Modernist Pinakothek which, together with the Lenbachhaus,
at last gives the modernist era too a home in Munich.
It would be presumptuous to claim that the merit for such advances lies only with local government, or with the Department of Labour and Economic Development alone. The fact that so
many companies are today proud to be based in Munich – and that so many more want to
follow their example – is the fruit of the combined efforts of the city council and the mayor, the
various municipal departments, the decentralized involvement of the district committees and,
by no means least, the people of Munich themselves. Witness the eager willingness of so
many to contribute to this small tribute to the first ten years of the Department of Labour and
Economic Development. My colleagues and I would like to thank all those who have made
this possible. A favorite saying of Dr. Dieter Soltmann, Honorary President of the Chambers
of Industry and Commerce in Munich and Upper Bavaria, most definitely applies in some
measure for Munich too: “The economy isn’t everything: but nothing else works without it.”
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Facing challenges, crafting change –
Siemens sets sail for the 21st century
Munich Re – a global player at home in Munich
HypoVereinsbank –
a bank, its markets, and its home financial center
Illuminated stairwell
at the SiemensForum
on the Oskar-vonMiller-Ring;
Architect: Richard Meier
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Go global – go Munich
Munich’s global strength is rooted in a healthy mix of
global players and SMEs, large corporations and one-man
businesses. And in a dynamic blend of high-growth industries. Craftsmen’s firms and the manufacturing industry
rub shoulders with modern service providers and growth
industries such as finance and biotechnology in a breathtaking but balanced business portfolio. Innumerable
international companies have come to appreciate both the
economic prowess and the quality of life offered by this
location. A highly qualified local population is yet another
key to Munich’s magnetic attraction for the business
community.
With such a wealth of talent, Munich can confidently
rise to the challenges of globalization and the knowledge
society.
Bavarian Minister-President Edmund Stoiber recently put
it in a nutshell: scarcely any company is as tightly bound
up in Bavaria’s emergence as a modern high-tech business locations as Siemens. And nowhere is this fact
more apparent than in Munich. Siemens’ presence in the
Bavarian capital goes back more than a century. Today,
Munich and Berlin serve as the group’s joint headquarters. Wherever you look – at the street lights, the power
supply, the telephone network, the subway trains, or
the world’s biggest array of solar panels on the roof of the
New Exhibition Center in Munich-Riem – Siemens has
been in on developing the city’s infrastructure from the
very beginning. Over the years, a partnership of fruitful
dialogue and constructive collaboration has grown up
between Munich and its biggest corporate citizen.
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The SiemensForum
built by architect Richard
Meier on the Oskar-vonMiller-Ring
Today, at the dawn of the 21st century, both our company
and the Bavarian capital are squaring up to face challenges of tremendous significance. A look back at the
1990s shows that Siemens is now in the third phase of a
comprehensive transformation process. The first was the
need to cope with the dramatic price declines that swept
over large swathes of our markets in the wake of
deregulation. In what we called the Top program, we
accelerated our processes and applied ourselves to
higher productivity and customer-oriented innovation, to
growth and the transformation of our corporate culture.
Then we were hit by the full force of globalization, to
which we responded in the form of a ten-point program.
We are optimizing the entire group’s business portfolio
to position all our lines of business as market leaders. We
have developed new management systems that reward
performance and increase the value of the company. And
we have made our financial reporting practices more
transparent to satisfy the demands of the capital market.
So we now find ourselves in the third phase of transformation. The key task here is to electronically network
the entire corporate value chain, effectively pooling our
traditional industrial skills with all the benefits of “electronic business”. Having watched parts of the so-called
new economy fall by the wayside for lack of substance,
we can now step in and prove that companies such as
Siemens are ideally placed to reap the lasting benefits of
the Internet. New economy, yes – but backed by the
substance of the old economy.
The road to “Siemens as an e-business company”
is marked out by five milestones:
–
–
–
–
–
The first is the electronic networking of our business
relationships with customers. We already generate
10 percent of our sales online. We want to quickly
boost this figure to 25 percent and – in our consumermarket business, such as with computers and mobile
phones – to as much as 50 percent.
The second is the electronic networking of our
business relationships with suppliers. Here again, 10
percent of our annual procurement volume of 35
billion Euro is currently handled electronically. This
figure should shortly rise to at least 50 percent.
The third is the electronic networking of all internal
links in the value chain: from research and development through production to delivery logistics.
The fourth is the electronic networking of our know
ledge resources in a system of “knowledge management”. All projects, the people who work on them
and the solutions they produce are archived in a
database. Thanks to our global corporate network, all
our employees worldwide will in future have fast and
easy access to this entire body of knowledge.
The fifth is the marketing of our e-business expertise
to external customers. We want to take the experience of electronic networking within the company
and put it to sound commercial use.
The age of electronic business has only just begun. It
offers tremendous opportunities not only to companies,
but also to entire locations and regions – provided, of
course, that they commit themselves to making the most
of what the dawning age has to offer.
On this score, the Munich region is extremely well
placed. It is already the leading information and communication technology cluster in Germany and, indeed, in
the whole of Continental Europe. Literally “bit by bit”,
the Bavarian capital has asserted itself as an I&C capital
too. Two of the predominant aspects of I&C in the region
are microelectronics and software – both key technologies which, together, account for some 8000 firms in the
Munich metropolitan area. Nearly a third of the 25 biggest software companies in Germany are located here.
By no means the least reason for the emergence of this
I&C cluster in Munich is the confluence of favorable
conditions at this south German location. The region’s
research and higher education landscape, for instance, is
second to none. Around 85,000 students are registered
at Munich’s ten universities and colleges of higher education, almost 30 percent of whom are studying technical
and/or scientific disciplines. A whole series of high-caliber special research areas are based here, prime examples being in information processing and semiconductor
technology. The Fraunhofer and Max Planck Institutes,
too, both provide fruitful channels for the transfer of
knowledge and technology between the research and
business communities.
Other advantages of the location include the growing
availability of venture capital; Munich’s position as the
venue of the European Patent Office; the large number of
international technology shows held here; and, last but
not least, the region’s genuine high-tech labor market.
Sixteen percent of the local active population are classified as highly qualified – a higher proportion than in any
other major German city. Every tenth person who works
in the German IT/electronics industry is employed in
or around Munich.
All in all, the city could not be better positioned to establish itself as one of Europe’s leading business
locations in the competitive arena of today’s new economy. That is why Munich will remain one of Siemens’
most important centers of innovation on into the 21st
century.
Facing challenges, crafting changes –
Siemens sets sail for the 21st century
Dr. Heinrich von Pierer,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens AG
In the event of a short
circuit, superconductive
current limiters act as
reclosing fuses; the
business potential is
vast
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“Walking Man” by
Jonathan Borofsky (1995),
outside Munich Re’s administrative building on
the Leopoldstrasse
Having crossed the threshold into the new millennium,
we are currently in a phase of frenetic market development. E-business, startups and biotechnology are just a
few of the buzzwords that will help shape economic
and social developments in the years that lie ahead.
The opportunities are vast: but the risks, too, are many
and varied. As a result, professional risk management will
be needed in future more than ever before. This is one
challenge which the insurance industry in particular is
having to confront.
Munich is a location both ideally suited and well equipped
to rise to the future challenge of risk management. Here,
the dynamic tension between new challenges and new
opportunities meets the long and illustrious tradition
of Munich’s insurance industry. The cornerstone was laid
a good 120 years ago by Munich Re, followed in short
order by the Allianz. Today, no fewer than 80 insurers
have made their home in the Bavarian capital. In so doing,
they have made this one of the world’s leading insurance
hubs.
Given such a pedigree, Munich is sure to be the cradle
of many an innovative development in risk management
in the future, too. Munich Re has spent the last decade
positioning itself carefully to face what the future holds.
The creation of the ERGO insurance group, Germany’s
second-largest primary insurer, has, for example, taken
Munich Re beyond its traditional reinsurance activities
and positioned it as a mainstream insurer covering the
entire spectrum of insurance services.
Munich Re –
a global player at home in Munich
Dr. Hans-Jürgen Schinzler,
Chairman of the Board of Management of
Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft, Munich
Munich Re’s head office
on the Königinstrasse,
built in 1913 by the
architects Oswald Eduard
Bieber and Wilhelm
Hollweck
Last year added the finishing touches to the group’s
forward-looking policy: a newly formulated set of
corporate principles; and the vision of becoming one of
the world’s leading risk insurers and financial service
providers. These moves gave the whole of the Munich
Re group a clear strategic orientation for the years
that lie ahead – years in which we have set ourselves
ambitious goals.
Munich Re intends to consolidate its position as the
global leading reinsurer. Represented by ERGO, we also
aim to rank among the leading primary insurers in the
retail segment. We further aim to grow our new subsidiary, MEAG, also based in Munich, into one of the very
best asset management companies.
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Strategic considerations notwithstanding, the company
is and remains a Munich “local boy”. We take our responsibility as a corporate citizen very seriously.
Responsible dialogue will remain the hallmark of our
relationship with our home city. Munich Re trusts the City
of Munich as a provider of key stimulus, a guarantor of
a favorable business climate. Accordingly, Munich will
continue to be more than just an important hub of information and knowledge for the insurance industry: it will
also provide fertile soil in which to cultivate the innovative
ideas that the future demands.
Munich Re looks forward to many more decades of
close and constructive cooperation that will serve both
its interests and those of the city.
Even in an age when everything is global and digital,
simply having a mailbox – virtual or otherwise – is not
enough in the finance market. Like so many other
branches of industry, financial service providers need to
be physically close to each other. They draw on a
common pool of market resources, including the labor
market, and look to the “producers of knowledge” at
universities and in the scientific community. Competition
is their lifeblood. In return, financial service providers
give their place of residence the benefit of their standing
and expertise, as well as the concrete advantages
of division of labor across the levels of transaction,
production and distribution.
Munich is undisputedly the second most important
financial center in Germany. It has three core strengths:
a phalanx of top-flight insurers; one of the country’s most
active venture capital markets; and a battery of powerful
banks. The HVB group is proud to be headquartered in
this financial center and does much to benefit everyone
concerned.
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HypoVereinsbank – a bank, its markets,
and its home financial center
1. Carefully planned strategic expansion has helped the
HVB group to become Europe’s third-largest banking
group, with 65,000 employees, total assets of 680 billion
euros, and 17.3 billion euros in equity capital. Size and
cost-cutting moves are, however, less important than
the impact of combining market strength with a clear
strategic focus. In adopting this stance, the HVB group
positively affirms its intention to be a part of shaping the
future of Europe’s banking landscape – and still to be a
key player once the dust has settled. The process of
consolidation is only just beginning: the globalization of
the financial markets, European monetary union, the
Internet, and the decline in margins in traditional banking
business will all lend further momentum.
A financial center is not an anonymous technological
platform: it is a complex web of relationships between
companies, competitors and partners, between customers, proprietors and employees, between the business
and political communities and the public at large. This
web has to grow, and requires intensive nurturing.
Politics must have a hand in ensuring that financial business can be conducted for the good of all. And the public
mood, too, must be open to the needs of the financial
sector. All conditions that can be found in ample measure
in Munich. Because Munich understands that the finance
industry is both a crucial economic factor and a catalyst
of growth and employment.
2. The HVB group has carved out a keener profile in
retail banking. It now serves some 8 million customers in
the retail and corporate customer segments – mostly
small and medium-sized enterprises in the latter case. Its
core competences include property financing, asset
management, structured financing, integrated corporate
finance in particular, and a powerful portal to the international financial markets, all of which adds up to a
well-rounded, attractive portfolio. This portfolio also
reflects the general orientation of Munich as a financial
center, with its traditional focus on mortgage bonds (the
true heavyweight on the asset management market), its
enviable strength in public and private placements, and
its deep roots in custom-tailored investment banking.
Munich thus contrasts with and complements Frankfurt
and London, for instance, both of which focus primarily
on trading and global investment banking.
3. As a bank to the regions, HypoVereinsbank concentrates on Europe’s growth markets. Its merger with Bank
Austria made it not only the market leader in the tightly
integrated economic region of South Germany and
Austria, but also the number one in Central and Eastern
Europe. This, too, has brought change to Munich as a
financial center, broadening its scope to include
Germany’s neighbors to the east. These countries are
home to 110 million people, will lead the growth tables in
the next few years, have a comparative dearth of banks,
are lagging behind in cashless payment transactions,
and evidence low market capitalization in the corporate
sector. Taken together, these factors imply enormous
pent-up demand for financial services. And the openness
of the local populations to modern forms of banking is a
clear sign that these countries intend to catch up sooner
rather than later. Furthermore, one consequence of a
pension system that is fully funded by capital (as opposed to a pay-as-you-go system) is that the capital market
in Central and Eastern European is expected to evolve
very rapidly.
Dr. Albrecht Schmidt,
Management Spokesman,
Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG (the HVB group)
HypoVereinsbank’s
new offices at the
Arabellapark; the deep,
glass-roofed atrium
stands next to the skyscraper
The striking “Hypo-Haus”
at the Arabellapark;
both of these spectacular
buildings – the new offices
and the skyscraper –
are the work of Munichbased architects Bea and
Dr. Walther Betz
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The BMW group is rightly regarded as one of the preeminent global players in the automotive industry. The
group has a presence in virtually every market the world
over. You have to go a very long way indeed to find a
country where you would look in vain for a BMW. And
that is not all: from individual components to entire
vehicles – such as the Z3 roadster – the BMW group
today manufactures at locations around the globe.
Mexico, the UK, Austria, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia,
the USA, South Africa, Egypt, Russia and the Philippines
are just some of its production venues outside Germany.
Today, the BMW group is at home all over the planet.
For the first time, well over 800,000 BMWs – as many
cars as you will find in Munich in a year! – were shipped
to customers around the world in fiscal 2000.
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Being a global player does not mean forgetting or –
worse still – denying one’s roots, however. A future
always needs a past. In this sense, BMW remains what it
has always been – the “Bavarian Motor Works” with
its headquarters in Munich. Our “four-cylinder” office
block, right next door to the Olympic Center, is one of the
city’s best-known landmarks. This is the nerve center of
our global business – the focal point from which we
manage the 100,000 or so people who work for us worldwide. Munich is our center of gravity, the hub from which
we systematically work outward. As we see it, globalization has nothing to do with negating the traditional ties
that have proven so valuable over so many years. On the
contrary: it is out of our strong roots in Munich that we
have been able to grow to global stature and penetrate
new markets. Taking the same image a step further
only makes the point all the more clearly: no tree that
does not have deep roots can ever grow strong and tall.
Munich has everything a global player of the caliber of
the BMW group needs. Outstanding educational facilities
and the resultant highly skilled workforce are just one
example. A technology leader such as BMW depends on
being able to employ the best people there are. Collaboration with universities and research institutions is
another area from which we draw strength. Experience
has shown that cross-fertilization between business and
science spurs both on to scale ever greater heights.
There are still more benefits to be enjoyed in Munich. An
excellent infrastructure is one; and proximity to key
component suppliers and partners is definitely another.
Yet there is something more subtle that plays an equally
crucial role: Munich is a dynamic, innovative city, a city
that is open to the world. Where better could a worldclass enterprise such as the BMW group choose to make
its home?
The “four-cylinder”
tower – the BMW
group’s headquarters in Munich;
Architect:
Prof. Karl Schwanzer
The BMW group’s tradition in Munich goes back a long
way. It is also one of the city’s biggest employers: over
29,000 people are on our local payroll – about a quarter of
our global workforce. These Munich-based employees
alone had a combined net purchasing power of around
DM 1.8 billion in 2000. As well as being a big seller,
the group is also a major buyer in Munich, procuring
considerable volumes of goods and services every year.
Yet the company’s ties to the city cannot be fully expressed in numbers alone. BMW also partners a wide
range of projects and events in the realms of art, culture
and sport.
“Munich and BMW” is more than just a traditional
relationship: it is a partnership that is lived out day in, day
out. We value Munich as a business location. We like it
here.
Prof. Joachim Milberg,
President and Chief Executive Officer, BMW AG
Always on the cutting
edge – production at
BMW
17
The Max Planck Society –
foundational research to serve the public good
The Fraunhofer Society –
innovation that shapes the future
Molecular farming at the
Fraunhofer Institute for
Environmental Chemistry
and Ecological Toxicology:
proteins used as the basis
for pharmaceuticals are
“manufactured” in plants
A comparison with German and international cities puts
Munich up among the leading knowledge centers. Eleven
institutes of higher learning, numerous professional
academies and vocational colleges, and a range of private
development and training facilities inject a constant stream
of highly qualified people into the local labor market.
Leading non-university research establishments such as
the Max Planck and Fraunhofer Societies, the DLR
(German aerospace research institute), the GSF (environment and healthcare society), and the Ifo Institute for
Business Research further enrich the city’s impressive
research landscape. Both the European and German
patent offices and a number of patent service providers
help translate all this knowledge into concrete products
and services.
Knowledge – the stuff of the future
19
“The economy of the 21st century will be a knowledge
and information economy”: already, this statement has
become something of a cliché. Increasingly, individuals
and businesses can only stay competitive if they possess
analytical skills and have access to relevant knowledge.
More than ever, the importance of a “business location”
is inseparably intertwined with its quality as a center
of knowledge and science. Munich is a scientific center
of outstanding caliber. Only Berlin has more registered
students. Munich, meanwhile, is home to scientific
organizations of the stature of the Max Planck and
Fraunhofer Societies. Nearly a dozen institutes of higher
learning are flanked by no less than three universities
in the Munich metropolitan area.
20
As valuable as such a concentration of institutions and
resources can be, this alone is not enough to meet the
challenges of a knowledge society. The question is: how
can quantum leaps in technical knowledge be put to
good use? This question concerns both the direction of
university research and the way it is organized. But it also
directly concerns the skills that future members of the
knowledge society must acquire if they are to survive –
and indeed thrive – in the face of constant change and
ever greater complexity.
Prof. Andreas Heldrich,
Principal of the Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich
Main building of the
Ludwig-Maximilians
University on the Geschwister-Scholl-Platz;
Architect: Friedrich
von Gärtner
The Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) formulated
its response to the question in a set of principles that
are anchored in its development plan for the years 2000
through 2004. This whole body of principles can be
summed up in the root meaning of the term universitas:
as the economic significance of knowledge continues
to grow, we see no reason to abandon the commitment
of a genuine university to cover a comprehensive range
of disciplines. Rather than limit ourselves to applied
knowledge, which is fleeting at best, we therefore see
it as our mission to promote an interdisciplinary,
networked approach to knowledge.
The LMU’s universal orientation draws strength from
its acknowledged achievements in many individual
disciplines. The leading position we occupy in attracting
DFG research funding testifies to our superlative quality
in specialized areas. Such a breadth and quality of
research and education makes the LMU better suited to
this interdisciplinary philosophy than most universities.
Our response to the challenges of the knowledge society
is thus to continuously network and recombine the entire
diverse array of disciplines. At the same time, our ability
to shift paradigms in this way is the methodological
ramework that enables us to survive as applied knowledge relentlessly changes and evolves.
There is no end of examples of how the LMU helps
Munich stay competitive as a business location: there is
its singularly international flavor (some 13 percent of
its students come from abroad); its attraction for foreign
scientists (witness, for instance, the highest number of
Alexander-von-Humboldt scholarships for young scientists from abroad); the support provided to business startups, unique in the whole of Germany and exemplified by
the startup office on the LMU’s high-tech campus; and
the development of contact database to speed up knowledge transfer to the business community.
Munich as a business location needs Munich to be a center of knowledge and science. The LMU can best serve
both goals if it remains what it is: a venue for scientific
diversity in both study and research – a universitas in the
classical sense.
We intend to demonstrate just how “modern” such
integrated diversity – the root meaning of universitas –
can be in our plans to focus on the area of “communication and media sciences”. The LMU aims to bring
together expertise from a wide range of disciplines in this
new field of study and research. The courses that result
will combine technical aspects with elements of design,
philology, economics, law and social studies. This mix
will serve the needs of the communication and media
industries better than the isolated disciplines that have
prevailed in the past. And there can be no better venue
for such courses of study than Munich, a fast-growing
media and Internet location in its own right.
The Ludwig-Maximilians
University’s genetic
engineering center in
Grosshadern
21
22
The Technical University (TU) of Munich is the only technical university in Bavaria that, since its inception in 1868,
has played a pivotal role in the free state’s development
from an agrarian culture to one of the world’s leading
high-tech regions. The TU has repeatedly made major
contributions in the fields of science and technology.
Under various names and at various times, the university
has brought forth an impressive list of ground-breaking
inventions: Carl von Linde’s liquefication of air (1896); the
synthesis of hemoglobin by Hans Fischer (Nobel prize,
1930); Mössbauer absorption, named after its inventor
Rudolf Mössbauer (Nobel prize, 1961); the founding of
the discipline of organometallic chemistry by Ernst-Otto
Fischer (Nobel prize, 1973); the determination of the
three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction
center by Robert Huber (Nobel prize, 1988); and so the
list could go on. Bavarian engineers such as Oskar von
Miller, Rudolf Diesel, Theodor Ganzenmüller, Karl Max
von Bauernfeind, Wilhelm Nusselt, Willy Messerschmitt
and Hans Piloty all attained to worldwide acclaim early
in their careers. And TU alumni today occupy leading
positions in many of Bavaria’s industrial companies,
especially in the German automotive industry. From the
university’s earliest days, its professors and staff have
had a significant impact on the development and growth
of Bavarian industry.
The clamor for “innovative products” – from intelligent
services to new medicines for export – grows all the
louder in times of economic weakness. The TU Munich
forms a crucible in which knowledge and research meet
to spawn innovative ideas for new products: products
that originate in the pioneering spirit of scientists and
engineers and are fashioned and molded by business and
industry. Both society and the government will need to
set greater store by scientists’ and engineers’ potential
for creative ideas if suitable alternatives to the scarcity of
natural raw materials are to be found in the future.
Research, therefore, is very definitely the order of the
day.
Break time on the steps
of the new Audimax at
the TU Munich
The TU Munich has set itself some very ambitious
development goals in areas from life sciences through
medical engineering to material sciences and high
technology. The local presence of high-tech firms from a
variety of industries helps keep basic research in touch
with reality, as well as boosting research work in applied
disciplines. At the same time, the university also collaborates with a number of small and medium-sized niche
companies in the component supplier industry, and with
youthful startups in the booming biotech and IT segments. The volume of external funding, without which
research would be inconceivable today, is a telling indicator of just how fruitful such cooperation is. In 1999, the
TU Munich attracted external funding worth over DM 200
million – a telling gauge of the quality of its research
work.
The 13 faculties that make up the TU Munich seek to
pass on their substantial knowledge base to the 19,000
or so students currently registered. The fact that many
of the university’s chairs are held by professors with
hands-on experience of business and industry also helps
ensure that the up-and-coming generation of scientists
gets a real-world focus in their training. The TU Munich
sees it as part of its mission to educate tomorrow’s
engineers, scientists, architects, doctors and teachers in
applied aspects of their disciplines, communicating
methodological expertise that is (preferably) right on the
cutting edge of scientific progress. Innovative new
courses of study are designed to respond to rapidly
changing market demands: examples include graduate
courses in technical, financial and business mathematics,
materials engineering, molecular biotechnology, biochemistry and bioinformatics, plus master’s courses in
medical, communication and microwave engineering.
New business startups from within the university fold are
also playing an increasingly important role in the area of
knowledge and technology transfer. Knowledge transfer
is no longer being left to chance. Instead, state-backed
business plan competitions and the development of
startup centers both provide crucial stimulus. Numerous
young scientists from the ranks of the TU Munich have
already developed innovative products and/or processes
which they are now marketing successfully. The TU
Munich is also careful to give its students the commercial grounding they will need for their future careers.
Potential entrepreneurs find fertile soil awaiting them in
Munich’s dynamic startup scene. Starting in the winter
semester 2001/2002, a completely new course in
“technical business studies” will be added to the curriculum – to instill an astute business mindset in those with
a love of technology.
Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann,
Principal of the Technical University of Munich
Entrance to the new
Audimax on the TU’s main
campus, Arcisstrasse;
Architect:
Prof. Rudolf Wienands
24
The Max Planck Society – foundational research
to serve the public good
Prof. Hubert Markl,
President of the Max Planck Society
There can be little doubt that knowledge and skills will
be the crucial elements in the new economic order. The
exact form this new order will take still remains unclear.
One thing is for sure, however: tightly meshed, open,
worldwide networking will play a pivotal role. It follows
that research organizations such as the Max Planck
Society – which focuses on basic research, is open to
applications and works closely together with the world’s
top research centers to push back the boundaries of
human knowledge – are not a luxury to which countries
that have grown accustomed to success treat themselves. They are an indispensable part of the bedrock of
a society that is increasingly coming to depend on the
knowledge and skills of the many, not of the few.
Bavaria’s evolution from an agrarian culture to a knowledge-based industrial society is evidenced not only by its
impressive number of successful and world-famous
global high-tech players: its plethora of new and traditional universities, institutes of higher learning and nonuniversity research establishments all tell the same story.
The numerous Max Planck Institutes are an integral part
of this elaborate landscape.
Since the end of the Second World War, a total of twelve
of these institutes have set up shop in Bavaria – all of
them in and around Munich, taking in the adjacent communities of Martinsried and Garching. Over 2400 staff,
of whom 700 are scientists, are committed to gaining
new insights into material sciences, energy research,
particle physics and astrophysics, biochemistry and the
neural sciences, as well as focusing on disciplines such
as psychiatry, psychology and the important field of the
legal sciences. The last entry in this list will surprise only
those who have failed to grasp the ongoing need for new
regulation that is spawned by a high-tech society in which
knowledge and intellectual property rights are constantly
and rapidly being renewed – and this in the context of
European integration and, indeed, globalization. The applied business knowledge alone that has emerged from
the Max Planck stable is witnessed by the nearly 180
patents filed and 45 license agreements signed in the last
decade by nine Max Planck Institutes in the Munich
metropolitan area. In addition, no less than 13 new
companies have been spun off from Max Planck
Institutes in Bavaria alone. These companies are already
creating very highly skilled jobs; more such startups are
in the pipeline.
DNA fragments rendered
visible under UV light
are examined by a scientist at the Max Planck
Institute for Biochemistry
For over 30 years, the Max Planck Society has entrusted
technology transfer to Garching Innovation GmbH, its
Munich-based subsidiary which applies for patents,
negotiates licenses, and advises and supports spin-off
companies on behalf of the entire Society. Also, the
350-strong staff of the Society’s general administrative
headquarters have been based in Munich since 1962, and
had the privilege of moving into widely acclaimed new
premises on the Hofgarten in 1999.
Cell experiments in a biochemical laboratory today can
produce a new vaccine tomorrow. Methods used to
analyze astrophysics data can be adopted in early cancerscreening tests. The results of long-term psychological
studies can influence the structure of schools and curricula. Advances in patent law can speed up the commercial application of new knowledge. The foundational
research in which the Max Planck Society engages today,
with the backing of the federal and state governments,
might tomorrow find its way into the global research
community as a key that opens up far-reaching new
insights into the real world – and also opens the door to
prosperity and sustainable development for very many
people. Bavaria in general, and Munich in particular, excel
at this kind of research.
A patch-clamp measuring
station at the Max Planck
Institute for Brain Research; the patch clamp
is used to discover causeand-effect relationships
at cell level
25
26
Managing innovation:
advances in biotechnology and environmental
analysis – the picture
shows toxicological and
aerosol research at the
Fraunhofer Institute –
generally lead to greater
efficiency, lower costs
and tangible market
benefits
Innovation is the driving force in the history of civilization.
Innovation is born of man’s innate instinct to do things
better, more easily, more cheaply. Technology and
business both subscribe to the same principle: to achieve
results with as little input as possible. Or, to turn the equation around, to maximize the utility of a given measure
of input.
Today we are in the throes of a structural transition of
similar proportions. And today technology has, if anything, become even more important to production and
employment throughout the whole economy – more so
in Germany than, say, in Japan or the USA. For some
years, youthful, technology-oriented companies have
been the only ones to create new jobs.
Goethe wrote “What cure thou knowest, apply!”
Another saying – “Research turns money into knowledge;
innovation turns knowledge into money” – succinctly
captures the importance of innovation for Germany’s
future as a business location. Hugo Geiger, Bavaria’s
secretary of state for the economy fifty years ago, was
quick to perceive how crucial research would be to the
nation’s economic rebirth in the wake of war and devastation. Accordingly, the Fraunhofer Society was
launched in 1949 as an organization to promote applied
research. The choice of Munich as its location was no
coincidence.
Economies tend to follow innovation cycles, each new
cycle ushering in a prolonged economic upswing. The
steam engine, the railroad, electricity and the automobile
have been some of the key innovations in bygone eras.
After an extended downturn in many areas of the old
economy, information and communication technologies
are now asserting themselves as the catalysts of today’s
structural transition. Innovative technologies are permeating every segment of economic activity and sparking
off a new era of business beginnings. Even now, genetic
engineering and biotechnology are already heralding
the start of the next cycle.
The Fraunhofer Society – innovation that shapes the future
Prof. Hans-Jürgen Warnecke,
President of the Fraunhofer Society
The transition to a knowledge society has dramatically
increases the pace of innovation: knowledge is now
available worldwide. Yet only the first movers – those
who first succeed in translating global knowledge into
practical innovations – reap the benefits of prosperity and
employment. The store of public knowledge to which
companies have access is created by both foundational
and applied research. Each makes its own contribution.
The one tends toward fundamentally new strategies
and in-depth theoretical research; the other concentrates
on specialized knowledge that can be applied in practice
by using standardized, efficient processes, examining
aspects such as shelf-life and security, and then minimizing costs and getting products to market fast. The
Fraunhofer Society sees itself as a driver of the innovative process, bringing business and science together,
bridging gaps, and accelerating the overall process.
Largely thanks to past investments, Germany still occupies a strong position. Yet the gaps are widening in many
areas of technology. Losing its overall leadership position
would not be such a bad thing if new technologies were
emerging to move into the breach. One major cause
for concern, however, is that Germany as a whole is
falling behind in the most significant areas of future economic growth: information technology and biotechnology. Seen in this light, the Munich region’s achievement in
carving out a leading position in precisely these key technologies – a fact acknowledged by the global business
community – is all the more remarkable. The Fraunhofer
Society, too, plans to redouble its activities in these areas
over the next few years. Munich has recognized its
window of opportunity and moved quickly to lay a secure
foundation for continued prosperity and employment.
This electronic label was
developed at the
Fraunhofer Institute
for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) in
Munich; the thin, flexible
but very robust chip
brings electronics to the
routine tasks of daily life
27
Starting a business in Munich
28
Everything it takes to launch and grow a successful
startup is available in Munich in an abundance and diversity
unrivaled anywhere else in the country: excellent business
ideas devised by highly qualified and equally highly motivated specialists, leading research institutes and businesses;
a network of professional service providers and knowledge
resources, such as the Munich Business Plan Competition,
the Munich Network (FNT) and the Munich Business
Startup Office (MEB); more than 30 venture capital companies; a large number of business angels; 20 incubators and
accelertors; and 12 technology and startup centers.
Young startups need
a creative environment –
such as the one at the
new center for information technology, planning
and construction built
for Nemetschek AG on
the Konrad-Zuse-Platz in
Messestadt Riem;
Architect: Ulrike Lauber
Business centers and technology centers –
I really don’t know what had gotten into me that day in
1986 when I left home, husband and the romantic village
in the picturesque Allgäu region behind me and set off
for Munich with my two sons (aged three and four at the
time), an old 2 CV, and DM 500 in my pocket. After the
boys and I had spent the first couple of weeks in a
basement room in Munich’s Moosach district, I was soon
able to afford an apartment of my own. Working as a
freelance trainer in the computer industry and, later, as an
author at the Sybex publishing house, I had no trouble
providing for the family.
Coming to Munich from a rural setting, the sheer diversity and pulsating rhythm of the city was the most fascinating thing at first. The openness of the locals soon made
me forget my home-sickness; and there seemed to be no
end of things I could do for my career and in my leisure
time.
Once I had had my first technical books published I
decided to start my own publishing house in 1987. A colleague and friend had written a great tutorial manuscript.
My lector at the time claimed to be interested in publishing the book, but first wanted to wait and see how the
market developed. Things were moving too slowly for
me, so I applied for a trading license from the City of
Munich and published the book on my own.
30
Unlike today, it wasn’t fashionable to be self-employed
back then – especially not for women in the media
industry. There was no venture capital, no advice for
startups, and no business plan competition. So, having
invested all my hard-earned money in this first book, I
was out on a limb: either it sold well or I could shut up
shop again right away. I was fortunate: the whole thing
ran like clockwork. We succeeded in placing a few good
articles in trade journals; and advertisements quickly
attracted a lot of orders. People in England and America
even expressed an interest. With the help of a friend,
who later took over marketing in England and America,
the book was trans-lated into English a short time later.
That was the first book. The first of many.
Gabriele Lechner,
Memerof the Managing Board, Camgaroo AG
Over the years, my work and leisure activities brought
me into contact with lots of interesting people. At one
cultural event, I even bumped into the mayor, Christian
Ude, who showed a considerable interest and asked a lot
of questions about the Internet, which was still in its
early days at the time. He spontaneously agreed to give
his political backing to the IRC, one of the first public,
international Internet conferences, and to make himself
available to the growing Internet community for a question-and-answer session. The event, which we initiated
and organized, was held in spring 1995 in the Pasinger
Fabrik and caused quite a stir in the media. The mayor
answered all the questions personally and by hand,
typing his comments (laced with his characteristic dry
humor) into the computer at an impressive speed,
despite the fact that we had placed a secretary at his
disposal.
Since then, the Lechner publishing house has been
transformed into a new media agency. For “new” media
(Internet, CD-ROM, video, animation) and “old” media
(brochures, ads etc.) alike, we handle everything from
conception through design to programming. We serve a
number of big-name customers and have made a name
for ourselves as a creative and reliable partner.
I had been toying with the idea of setting up an Internet
portal for some years. I wanted something that would
offer information and products to the whole spectrum of
video users. Many years’ experience had shown me that
there was more than just an information gap here: it is
also difficult for users to actually buy the software and
hardware they need. The idea wouldn’t go away, so I
spoke to some associates and to other members of the
board of directors at the Federal Association of Young
Entrepreneurs (Bundesverband Junger Unternehmer),
to which I had been elected in 1998.
The idea was a big hit. Some of them spontaneously
expressed an interest both in providing financial backing
and in rolling up their sleeves and working on the project.
That was when I decided to found a stock corporation.
The time was ripe. Startup fever had broken out. Kids
who were still at school were suddenly becoming CEOs
and didn’t know what to do with all the millions they
were making. We soon had a handful of friends together
who would invest their money on a private level; one of
them was an “old” friend from the publishing industry,
Florian Langenscheidt. So we soon fought our way
through the first round. After a few teething troubles and
a lot of organizational work, we finally knocked Camgaroo
AG into shape, complete with Executive Board, Supervisory Board, Articles of Association – the full works.
I cautiously looked around for a few venture capitalists.
Having spoken at length to one of them (he didn’t want
to get on board until shortly before the IPO), I decided
to do what I could with the money we already had for the
time being. I wanted to stay independent for as long
as possible. Since then we have launched a magazine for
digital film fans – the Camgaroo magazine. The online
community was opened at www.camgaroo.com right on
cue for the Munich “Media Days” (Medientage) and is
currently undergoing further development. Early next
year, the Camgaroo Internet shop will be opening its
virtual doors for business. And we will also set about
producing digital videos for business, advertising and
training purposes. Maybe we will make use of some
venture capital next year, when we start moving toward
flotation. There are still millions lying around waiting to be
invested.
It is amazing what has happened in Munich in just a
few short years. Programs, services, training courses
and competitions have been launched that company
founders could only have dreamed of ten years ago. The
Munich Business Plan Competition (Münchener Business Plan Wettbewerb, or MBPW), for example, for
which I do volunteer “jury service”, gets a large number
of startups up and running every year.
Bring dedication, a willingness to take risks, creativity
and a logical mindset to Munich and you can “move
mountains” – even if you speak a different local dialect
and happen to be a woman. Munich has become my
second home. When I think back over the last 14 years,
my life sometimes seems like what you see at the
movies.
I wish Mr. Wieczorek and the Department of Labour
and Economic Development all the very best on their
tenth birthday. Keep up the good work! Just one thing:
lower the trade tax when you get a chance …
31
32
Times have changed – Munich, an internationally
respected startup region
Falk F. Strascheg,
General Partner, Extorel Management- und
Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH
The days when entrepreneurs and politicians in Munich
and Bavaria used to gaze in open-mouthed awe at economic developments “across the pond” are long gone.
One thing we have learned in recent years is that economic growth is fueled by innovation. To put it more provocatively: growth is the offspring of annoyance. Young
people – and those who are still young at heart – want to
do something about the things that annoy them. The
want to find a way to stop cell death; invent a new lubricant-free bearing; discover faster algorithms for Internet
applications; make more efficient carbon filters for diesel
engines; find non-invasive ways to measure blood-sugar.
All these ideas stem from scientists, inventors, thinkers
and tinkerers who have taken part in the Munich
Business Plan Competition (Münchener Business Plan
Wettbe-werb, or MBPW) and who wanted to change
something – on their own initiative. The ideas bred in the
life sciences and I&C technology segments are as fresh
and “state-of-the-art” as anything coming out of America;
those in the field of mobile communications even have
a slight edge.
Technology, business ideas and sound management
are undoubtedly central to the success of innovative
companies. Two other important ingredients are often
for-gotten, however. The first is the structure of the
location: what resources does it have to support a given
industry, and what specialized service providers are
available? The second is the whole matter of finance.
Venture capital combines both of these components.
Venture capital companies are perceived by the public
as financial service providers that supply equity capital to
innovative young businesses. Few people are aware,
however, that the venture capital industry does more
than just “throw money” at companies: it also provides
essential support in the form of expert advice on business development, and by making its own networks
available. It is no coincidence that Munich has both the
highest density of venture capital firms in Germany
and the largest number of business startups.
Saying that a city is a venture capital hub is ambiguous:
it could mean that the city is either a major source or a
major recipient of VC support. In the case of Munich,
both are true. A recent study of how Internet and e-commerce startups in Germany are financed found that
32 percent of all projects are financed by VC backers
from Munich. (By comparison, Berlin, Hamburg and
Frankfurt each accounted for 11 to 13 percent; no other
city made it above 5 percent.) The same study, conducted by the Oestrich Winkel European Business School,
also noted that 25 percent of all the firms funded by
venture capital are based in Munich (compared to 13 and
12 percent in Berlin and Hamburg respectively, with all
other cities again below 5 percent).
The German venture capital industry dates back to the
early 1980s. From the very beginning, Techno Venture
Management (TVM) in Munich established itself as
the country’s market leader. Although almost all the VC
companies that were active back then have since thrown
in the towel, TVM still ranks among the leading venture
capital investors in the biotechnology and IT segments
to this day.
Technologieholding, a company launched in Munich in
1987, did particularly well, growing in just a few years
to become Germany’s biggest and (financially) most
successful VC company, with satellite offices scattered
around Germany. In February 2000, Technologieholding
was sold to British-owned 3i, the world’s biggest private
equity group. Further new venture capitalists set up
shop in Munich in the 1990s, two of which – UCA and
Knorr – are now publicly traded. Of the many Munichbased firms in this sector, Wellington and Earlybird are
enjoying exceptionally dynamic growth. By no means
least, one must not forget the numerous corporate
ventures in the Munich area, five of which are operated
by Siemens alone.
Without such a highly developed venture capital industry,
the intensity with which Munich has brought forth innovative new companies would have been inconceivable.
By the same token, the city’s VC industry itself could
never have grown so strong if it were not for the feisty
entrepreneurial spirit of local company founders,the city’s
excellent infrastructure, and the all-round attractiveness
of Munich as a location.
Developments in recent years – backed by Bavarian
government programs such as the “High-Tech Offensive”
and other innovation-promoting agendas, and spurred on
by the City of Munich’s own relocation and startup
agendas – bear witness that Munich has recognized the
signs of the times. International congresses on growth
issues and a massive local base of venture capital have
supported these advances. We in the Munich region
have learned to apply such innovative ideas profitably
within our network of knowledge and capital resources.
McKinsey & Company, the Munich Network (FNT), the
region’s universities and research establishments and its
major corporate players have joined forces to set up a
network designed to give backing and support to company founders and entrepreneurs. Its name: the Munich
Business Plan Competition (MPBW).
The role of the MBPW – from idea to success
If they are ever to mature into business models from
which their progenitors can live, innovative ideas must be
formulated in a way that capital backers can understand.
What is so sensational about the MPBW is that capital
is freed up merely on the strength of an elucidated idea:
a business plan. No more plundering your granny’s
savings account! Instead, the personal qualities and expertise of an innovative can-do team can open the door to
capital backing – worth millions in some cases – for their
plan. Most candidates need help in putting together a
business plan. This assistance is provided free of charge
at over 50 MPBW events. These events put them in
touch with the people who have the know-how they lack:
more than 300 coaches, mentors and jurors, and over
50 business angels are on hand to answer questions and
provide useful hints to the would-be entrepreneurs.
To put candidates under a degree of pressure in formulating their business ideas, certain hurdles have to be surmounted within a fixed time-frame. To help people
overcome these obstacles, and to transfer knowledge
about starting a business, the MPBW lays on an extensive program of presentations, crash courses and workshops. As an added incentive, prizes totaling DM 155,000
are awarded for the best submissions.
The success story – integration in an international
network
The four Munich Business Plan Competitions held to
date have spawned over 110 new companies which today employ nearly 800 people – and will have more than
3000 people on their payrolls by the end of 2001, if all
goes according to plan. A gratifying result that has met
with international acclaim. Cooperation with other, similar
competitions in the USA and Europe gives participants
in Munich the ideal opportunity to present a global business model. Capital investors in the USA in particular
keep a very careful eye on developments in the Munich
region.
The sponsors, backers, supporters and everyone involved in the MPBW’s projects have all had a hand in
writing this success story. Together, they all contribute to
sustaining the Munich region’s position as a model business location.
Werner Arndt,
Managing Director, MBPW GmbH
33
34
Business and technology centers –
Karlheinz Reiber,
Managing Director, MGH- Münchner Gewerbehof- und
Technologiezentrumsgesellschaft mbH,
Head of Business Promotion at the Department of
Labour and Economic Development
Business centers were not invented in Munich: multistory commercial buildings were set up to accommodate
small and medium-sized businesses in newly industrialized Berlin as far back as the end of the 19 th century. Yet
the idea’s renaissance did begin in the Bavarian capital.
Their forerunner was the craftsmen’s park set up on the
Friedenstrasse in 1964 by the Chamber of Handicrafts for
Munich and Upper Bavaria. Yet business centers only
really began to catch on in the early 1980s, when the City
of Munich, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and
the Chamber of Handicrafts teamed up to launch MGH
(Munich’s business center company) and establish the
first series of parks. One milestone was the conversion
of the former Metzeler tire factory into the Westend
business center, which began in 1982 and today spans
some 27,500 m2 of rented space and provides an attractive home to more than 100 firms. As part of the city
council’s busi-ness park program, whose aim is to build a
comprehensive network of such parks, five have now
been completed with a total of some 55,000 m2 of rental
space. The Ostbahnhof site is currently in its third phase
of development, which will add a further 13,000 m2.
And plans for another new business center in Giesing are
currently being drawn up. In large cities, space is always
in short supply. Business centers use it more efficiently,
and also reduce traffic. They serve as a tool to support
small and medium-sized enterprises; they contribute to a
healthy functional mix and hence to the vibrancy of urban
district centers; and they provide business startups with
the small rented premises that are otherwise often
difficult to come by. It is thus no wonder that Munich’s
business center model has become a hot export: many
other cities in Germany – especially in the eastern
German states – and around Europe are busily following
suit.
In the first half of the 1980s, the idea behind business
centers – gatherings of small businesses under one roof
and on attractive terms, to make it easier for companies
to work together and share communal facilities – also
gave rise to the notion of technology centers. Technology
centers have proved a resounding success especially at
locations where an appropriate “knowledge environment” exists. The chances of startup and survival for
relatively high-risk, innovative new businesses have
improved dramatically in these centers. At the same
time, technology centers stimulate innovative activity
among SMEs in the area of forward-looking technologies,
and accelerate the concrete implementation of R&D
results furnished by higher education and research
establishments. For some years, those centers that have
focused on particular industries and niche areas and
have “docked” onto knowledge centers (such as universities and the Max Planck and Fraunhofer Institutes) have
been especially successful. Even large corporations,
venture capital companies and management consultants
have now started to set up “business incubators” to
enable them to cultivate promising startups directly
and benefit from their technological potential and value
creation.
The Munich Technology Center (Münchner Technologie-zentrum, or MTZ), founded in 1984, was one of
Germany’s pioneers in this sector. Today, 10,800 m2 of
space on the city’s Frankfurter Ring is available to startup
research, development and production firms. A strong
focus on information and communication technologies,
medical engineering and biotechnology has emerged.
The number of people employed by the companies that
use the center grows at an average rate of 44 percent
every year. The fact that some 40 percent of the total
space was re-let in 2000 is a tribute to the dynamic nature of this incubator. It is so successful that the City of
Munich has now initialized plans for a completely new
technology center as the hub of a new technology park.
Another project that has made the world sit up and take
notice is the Biotechnology Innovation and Startup
Center (Innovations- und Gründerzentrum Biotechnologie, or IZB) in Martinsried, which is funded by the
Free State of Bavaria and has already been expanded
several times over. Proximity to the university hospital in
Grosshadern and to the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry and Neurobiology is undoubtedly a key factor
in the success of this enterprise. To provide attractive
premises to rapidly expanding biotech firms, Munich is
now planning to develop a life sciences park offering a
varied assortment of premises at Freiham, west of
Martinsried. Right now, the range of higher education
and research facilities is also being enlarged and a
start-up center for “green” biotechnology set up in
Weihenstephan/Freising. As part of Bavaria’s Software
Offensive, a further startup center is being set up right
next to the computer sciences, mathematics and
mechanical engineering faculties for new companies
operating in related sectors. The software campus on
the Hanauer Strasse has already been helping young
entrepreneurs in the IT industry to get their businesses
started since summer 2000. Additional technology
centers and numerous incubators in and around Munich
add the final touches – and all help to ensure that
Munich remains one of Europe’s top locations for technology companies and startups.
35
Moving ahead
with a modern mix of industries
37
View of the Theatinerkirche from the lobby on
the third floor of the
“Literature House” on
Munich’s Salvatorplatz
Into a new communication age with
the Internet und UMTS
“Munich Network“ –
the new technologies promotion group –
a “one-stop shop” for fast-growing high-tech firms
The “Literature House” –
old medium, new partnership
Studies by respected management consultants, business research institutes and journals provide regular
confirmation: Munich is the beating heart of Germany’s
high-tech industry and one of Europe’s leading regions
in other forward-looking growth industries. In both information and communication technologies (I&C) and the life
sciences, Munich ranks second in Europe, after London
and Cambridge respectively. The Bavarian capital is also
the country’s top media location.
For over 30 years, Nemetschek AG, Munich, has been
delivering standard software, information technology
and consulting services to control the integrated process
of planning, constructing and using buildings and real
estate. More than 160,000 customers the world over
work with IT systems from the Nemetschek group.
Founded as an engineering consultancy in Munich in
1963, Nemetschek today has 13 international subsidiaries, 41 regional offices and over 400 sales partners
in more than 80 countries. The group is present on every
continent and was listed on the Neuer Markt of the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1999.
38
A long-standing company based in the Bavarian capital
since its inception 37 years ago, Nemetschek AG has
carved out a solid niche as one of the region’s innovative
enterprises and most attractive employers: the company
posts annual sales of DM 245 million and employs more
than 1000 people, 400 of them in Munich. In many
ways, Munich is the ideal location for an international
player of the likes of Nemetschek. With the rolling
foothills of the Bavarian Alps on its doorstep, a stunning
array of leisure and cultural facilities and a generally high
quality of life, there is no question about the city’s strong
attraction for entrepreneurs and employees alike. Yet if
that was all, it would not be enough. When I was looking
to launch the business, it was the “hard” location factors
that convinced me. And the countless IT startups today
prove that Munich has lost none of the magnetic pull
it exerts on the enterprising and upwardly mobile. One
major advantage is that excellent connections by road,
rail and air put all Europe’s key business centers – from
Moscow to Madrid – within easy reach. That makes it
vastly simpler for a corporate HQ to coordinate and
integrate its offices and subsidiaries around Europe.
Situated at the heart of Europe, Nemetschek AG has
grown relentlessly from the very beginning. We initially
needed undeveloped commercial land to expand our
operations. And even our most recent location decision
was a clear statement in favor of Munich: Concentra
GmbH is currently erecting a new office building in
Munich-Riem for which we will be the tenant. The move
will go through before the end of the year.
A combination of successful trade shows (such as
Systems) and a concentrated media landscape leverage
the transfer of knowledge between industry players.
Given the dizzying speed of technological progress, staying on the ball has never been as important as it is today.
That is why cooperation between research and industry
is indispensable to innovation and the development of
new products. Here again, Munich need shun no comparison. The Fraunhofer Institute is just one of the organizations whose work in information and communications
technology complements that of the higher education
establishments. Nemetschek and the Fraunhofer
Institute are currently collaborating on a research project
entitled “The Multimedia Workplace of the Future”. The
aim is to develop a communication infrastructure based
on which intelligent “wizards” and delegation systems
will be able to operate. The project is structured in a way
that very quickly produces results which can then be
further developed as spin-off products – an excellent
example of Munich’s healthy symbiosis between foundational research and hands-on product development.
Another important by-product of this impressive research
landscape is that the universities and other higher
education establishments train up urgently needed
young talent. The IT industry in particular benefits from
the above-average level of employee qualification in
Munich: 10.7 percent of Munich’s active population are
university graduates; 5.5 percent graduated from other
institutes of higher education. Quite apart from which,
Munich is known to be a melting pot for the computer
industry. More than 155,000 people in the region earn
their living in the I&C industry. Munich thus also offers
ideal conditions for recruiting new staff.
Prof. Georg Nemetschek,
Founder and Member of the Managing Board,
Nemetschek AG
Whether or not Bavaria becomes a new “Silicon Valley”
depends to some extent on the political arena. The
Bavarian state government, which we engage in a
permanent and constructive dialogue, is doing everything
within its power. The same goes for the City of Munich –
above all in the form of the Department of Labour and
Economic Development and in the person of Councilor
Christiane Thalgott of the Urban Planning and Construction Department. All our points of contact in local
and regional government have proven to be flexible,
professional, and able to act quickly. Moreover, with over
30 VC companies, Munich stands out as Germany’s
number one source of venture capital. Most of these
companies are active investors in the information and
communications technology industries.
The indicators are all pointing up;
so there is no time to waste.
A new dimension in
design: the D-board, a
digital drawing board
developed by
Nemetschek AG
39
How times change! Already, we are caught up headlong
in the age of information and communication. Today,
around 30 percent of German households have PCs.
Everyday life would be inconceivable without mobile
phones. And the rise of the Internet is palpably changing
the society in which we live.
The Internet has emerged as a crucial factor of competition for firms of all shapes and sizes. The trend in user
growth worldwide – 200 million or so people were
already on the ’Net in 1999, while 2.9 million German
(.de) domains were registered by August 2000 – speaks
for itself. Technical possibilities are racing ahead of the
market. E-commerce will establish the Internet as a key
factor of business, and will radically change value chains
as we know them.
Back in 1990, the 64 kbps bandwidth offered by T-ISDN
was the non plus ultra in data transfer for private households. Now, T-ISDN and T-DSL together provide access
to bandwidths of up to 768 kbps and more. Existing users
of T-ISDN will already appreciate the convenience
afforded: the integration of telecoms services out of
the wall; and the easy combination of phone and fax
services. This creates the ideal complement to existing
services and enables high volumes of data to be transferred through broadband pipes. T-ISDN and T-DSL
constitute a brand new “dynamic duo” that can be mixed
and matched to implement made-to-measure telecoms
solutions, to bridge the “last mile” at low cost, and to
give business users access to innovative data communication solutions such as T-Net-ATM and T-InterConnect.
Mobile communication has become a regular feature of
everyday life. Some 18 million people currently use
T-Mobil’s digital T-D1 network – not just for phone calls,
but increasingly also for mobile data transfer. Mobile
WAP services were launched about a year ago, providing
direct access from WAP mobile phones to suitably edited
Internet sites: the information available via this channel
currently ranges from the latest global news to hints
about restaurants and events in the user’s immediate
vicinity. Short messages (SMS) have also rocketed to
popularity in recent years. The figure of some 300 million
short messages per month handled by our network at
the end of last year has already doubled to around
600 million.
Deutsche Telekom was quick to prepare the ground for
the convergence of mobile communications with the
Internet. Last summer, our General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS) introduced a mobile network technology that
supports 40 kpbs mobile data transfer rates over mobile
phones – approaching ISDN levels. Soon UMTS will
usher in the third generation of mobile communications:
this new technology will permit mobile data transfer
rates of up to 2 Mbps, bringing the dream of “mobile
multimedia” into breathtaking reality.
The Telekom group is one of Germany’s biggest employers, with a 207,000-strong workforce, of whom some
5200 are based in Munich. Together with its subsidiaries
and affiliates, Deutsche Telekom is today positioned as
a high-tech telecoms corporation whose products and
services lead the field in many different areas.
In Munich’s IT metropolis alone, Deutsche Telekom
provides cutting-edge telecommunications services to
more than a million retail customers, 57,000 SMEs, and
around 2800 large corporate customers – the likes of
BMW, Allianz, Microsoft, Siemens, and the New Munich
Exhibition Center (Neue Messe München).
DSL, the broadband communication infrastructure
for the next generation,
offers a completely new
Internet experience:
ultra-fast speeds for all
applications, from surfing
to complex multimedia
–
–
Into a new communication age
with the Internet and UMTS
Dr. Eberhard Beck,
Head of the Munich office
of Deutsche Telekom AG
–
–
“No, sir. The Americans need the telephone, perhaps,
but not us. We have plenty express couriers.”
Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer at the Royal Mail,
speaking to Alexander Graham Bell in 1896.
“I am convinced that there will be no demand for
more than five computers worldwide.”
Thomas J. Watson, President of IBM, 1943.
“There is no reason why anyone would ever want to
have a computer at home.” Ken Olsen, Founder and
President of Digital Equipment, 1977.
“No-one will ever need more than 640 kilobytes!”
Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, 1981.
At the same time, Munich is a permanent major building
site as far as Telekom is concerned. 8500 square meters
of technology premises on the Marsstrasse are currently
being converted to ultra-modern office space, where
employees of the group’s technology office will be
located in future. In addition, work on a “Telekom Center
Munich” in the Dingolfingerstrasse is scheduled to begin
in spring 2001. This new center will be one of the biggest
construction projects within the city’s central ring-road
(Mittlerer Ring) and will accommodate some 2500 stateof-the-art jobs for service and sales staff. Both building
projects are designed to further optimize customer care
in the Munich area.
41
The Munich Network (formerly the New Technologies
Promotion Group, or “FNT”) is the top address for innovative, growth-oriented entrepreneurs and startups in
the Munich region. The journal “Tornado Insider” put
it very succinctly in August 1999: “The Munich Network
is almost a one-stop shop for the advice entrepreneurs
need at all stages of growing a new high-tech business.”
The Munich Network seeks to help fast-growing technology companies – especially in the areas of information
and communication (I&C) and life sciences – along the
road from business idea to market success. It also aims
to establish the Munich area as Europe’s leading center
of entrepreneurship. To this end, the Munich Network
has launched a high-caliber “entrepreneur network”
which brings together founders and entrepreneurs,
investors and consultants in an informal setting. Major
corporations (such as BMW, Microsoft and Siemens),
innovative medium-sized companies (such as IXOS and
SCM Microsystems), successful startups, leading
venture capitalists, investment bankers, consultants,
universities and research institutes all rub shoulders
within this network. The Munich Network is always
willing to provide advice or useful contacts on specific
issues relating to company planning, finance and growth.
42
Special emphasis is placed on personal networking,
which has become the Munich Network’s hallmark. The
Munich Network forums are a classic example. Held
several times a year, these events attract around 250
participants on average and have become one of the
highlights of the startup scene. The forums aim to
motivate people by exposing them to successful role
models. Entrepreneurs are invited to present their
success stories, and subject specialists address the
gatherings on issues of strategic relevance (such as
share offerings, stock options, mergers and acquisitions,
corporate venture, global expansion, and so on).
International networking opportunities are afforded by
the annual Munich Network congress, which is attended
by well over 600 delegates from all around the globe. The
1998 congress looked at “marketplaces for growth
companies”; 1999 focused on “international business
angel networks”; and the theme in 2000 was “making
professional entrepreneurs”. Since May 2000, the
Munich Network has also been organizing VentureCity, a
monthly get-together for business founders and
investors. These meetings give young entrepreneurs a
chance to make initial contact with capital backers in a
relaxed atmosphere. Between 500 and 650 visitors
attend the VentureCity events: over half are startup
entrepreneurs, and around a third are venture capitalists
and business angels.
Alongside information and contact events, the Munich
Network has also set up another three events and institutions whose specific mission is to help new business
startups and young entrepreneurs.
The Munich Business Plan Competition (MBPW): The
Munich Network has been holding the Munich Business
Plan Competition every year since 1997 (a task delegated
to Munich Network subsidiary MPBW GmbH as of
1998). This is both the biggest and the most successful
regional competition. Teams that have taken part in the
competitions to date have already set up now fewer than
103 companies.
“Munich Network”– the new technologies promotion group –
a “one-stop shop” for fast-growing high-tech firms
Eberhard Färber,
former Managing Director,
Munich Network
The Munich Entrepreneurial Academy: Since November
1997, the Munich Entrepreneurial Academy has been
communicating a broad spectrum of relevant knowledge
– such as starting and financing a company, drawing up
a professional business plan, successful marketing,
focused market analysis, selecting, managing and motivating employees, and employee participation schemes –
in the context of practical workshops. Besides the
benefit of this training, many of those who have attended
the academy have gone on to find venture capital investors and business partners.
The Munich Business Angel Network: In May 1999, the
Munich Business Angel Network started out as a regional
forum of successful and experienced entrepreneurs
who wanted to offer capital, experience, contacts and
personal commitment to support promising startups. By
October 2000, the network had already invested over
eight million marks in a total of twelve separate projects –
making the Munich Business Angel Network the most
successful regional network of its kind in Germany.
The work of the Munich Network has played a major
part in elevating the Munich area to the status of one the
leading high-tech and entrepreneurship centers both
in Germany and in the international arena. In Germany,
the Munich region is the undisputed number one. In
international comparison, it holds equal rank with Tel Aviv
right behind the two leaders, Silicon Valley and the
Boston area (according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group). The initiators and proponents of the
Munich Network are in no doubt that Munich will continue to consolidate and expand its leading position in
Europe. The Munich Network is and remains fully
committed to the goal of encouraging more and more
young people to take the plunge and unfold their entrepreneurial prowess.
43
1973 is generally regarded as the year in which biotechnology was born. Back then, the American scientists
Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer first succeeded in
cloning genetically engineered DNA molecules in foreign
cells.
Since then, biotechnology has blossomed into a forward-looking, multibillion-dollar industry. The (German)
Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in
Research estimates that, by 2015, some 42 percent of all
drugs will be produced with the aid of genetic engineering techniques. In 1999, Germany alone registered
176 patent applications for biotechnology-related
pharmaceuticals.
44
The Munich region ranks among the foremost biotechnology research and development locations in Germany,
perhaps even in Europe. It is currently home to over
120 pharmaceuticals and biotech firms. Over 100 of these
are small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and of
these, more than three-quarters were either launched or
moved to Munich in the “startup boom” from 1997 to
2000.
Developments on the labor market in recent years far
outweigh the mere number of companies, however.
Munich’s biotech SMEs today employ in excess of 2000
people – compared with the 300 or so who worked in
this line in the city prior to 1997.
Munich’s focus as a biotechnology region is squarely
on research and development into medication and diagnostic agents – the segment known as “red (or medical)
biotechnology”.
Munich’s dynamic development as a biotechnology
region in recent years is by no means least the product
of a uniquely conducive climate: two universities, two
university hospitals, two other institutes of higher
learning, an environmental and healthcare research
company (Gesellschaft für Umwelt und Gesundheit), and
three Max Planck Institutes with a strong bias toward
biology all give the region vast pool of scientific knowledge. This in turn lays the foundation on which biotechnology research can be applied by businesses at the
sharp end of the market.
The large number of venture capital companies based
in Munich and the funding options made available by the
Free State of Bavaria further simplify the task of launching new firms. More than 45 biotech companies in the
region are partly financed by venture capital.
Lastly, a series of technology transfer hubs – such as
Garching Innovation, Innovative Technologies Neuherberg, transfer centers rooted in higher education,
and BioM AG – help ensure that innovative ideas are
implemented swiftly and smoothly.
BioM AG was founded in 1997 with a mission to coordinate scientific, business and political aspects, to promote
Munich as a biotech location, and to support companies
during the startup phase. One of BioM’s initial tasks was
to coordinate the allocation of public funding within the
framework of the federal government-backed BioRegio
competition. Without doubt, this competition was also
instrumental in establishing Munich as a biotech region:
the Bavarian capital was one of the three winning
regions in Germany.
Prof. Horst Domdey,
Member of the Managing Board, BioM AG
Since then, a total of around DM 50 million in public
funding has been injected into nascent biotech firms. The
focus of BioM’s activities has today shifted to facilitating
the growth of networks. Press and PR work on behalf of
the location plays a central role here. Involvement in
trade shows and the staging of information events for the
biotech companies themselves are likewise part of the
BioM AG portfolio.
Teamwork is a key to
every successful startup
BioM AG assists would-be research startups by providing initial advice free of charge, passing on contacts to
the business and scientific communities, helping with
the search for laboratory and office space, and providing
what is known as “seed financing”. These funds are
made available from the proceeds of the sale of shares
in BioM.
Aided by the money invested by BioM AG, young companies are then able to raise additional capital in the form
of dormant equity holdings from tbg, a technology holding company, and Bayern-Kapital.
The future doubtless holds many further challenges for
Munich as a biotech region. New research and development ideas must be identified. What is now needed is
for the location to achieve a “critical mass” that will enable it to remain competitive at national and international
level. This in turn will demand more extensive networking and even better knowledge transfer between established firms and startups. Closer cooperation between
companies is also a must in the interests of consolidating
the industry. And, of course, corporate expansion will
fuel huge new demand for space and suitably qualified
people. The whole issue of “infrastructure” ill thus take
on new significance for Munich’s young biotech companies.
The ground must be staked out as early as possible to
ensure that the industry can continue to grow and remain
competitive.
The Biotechnology
Innovation and Startup
Center (IZB) in
Martinsried provides
7500 m2 of space for
fledgling companies –
and an ideal setting
for them to realize their
business ideas
45
We are living in exciting times. The entire panorama of
media and communication industries has witnessed
explosive growth in recent decades. Within a short space
of time, society has undergone a series of developments
that are unparalleled in world history. From print to radio
to TV and, since the early 1990s, on to the digital revolution. Spearheading this advance is the Internet, which
has opened up completely new ways of communicating
and sharing knowledge.
46
The media are a major driving force behind the new
knowledge society. The 45 million or so computers
hooked up to the Internet around the world already shovel the equivalent of the entire intellectual output of the
19th century back and forth every day. Yet the importance
of the media does not end there: they are equally a
powerful engine of economic growth. Some 700,000
people in Germany are today employed in the new media
industry; and even this figure is expected to leap to 1.1
million by 2002. New businesses are popping up like
mushrooms all over the place. The entrepreneurial spirit
is enjoying a veritable renaissance.
Dr. Hubert Burda,
Chief Executive Officer,
Hubert Burda Media Holding
In light of all these developments, countries, regions
and individual cities are pulling out all the stops to attract
the productive and creative forces that empower this
new economy. In the new media landscape that is
emerging, Munich has staked its claim with notable
success. A study by the Boston Consulting Group cites
the Bavarian capital as the world’s number four for Internet and information technologies. Compared with the
rest of Germany, Munich easily leads the field in both old
media and new.
In the age of bits and bytes, soft location factors are
rising to new prominence. The main emphasis has
shifted from machinery and equipment to people and the
attractiveness of the location. Munich’s recipe for
success is its unique blend of all the right ingredients:
“hardware” in the shape of large companies; plenty of
startups; what are known as “centers of excellence”
for training and re-search; the natural beauty of the regon;
and, of course, the whole field of entertainment. The
latter aspect is of particular importance to young people
coming from abroad. No festival in the world is as famous
as the “Oktoberfest”. Young people want to find a fun
location where they can enjoy life and live and work to
their own rhythm. More flexible shop opening times,
for instance, are of considerable significance in this
context. And the unique flair of facilities such as the
Loden-Frey park and the Kunstpark Ost needs to be there
in abundance.
Hubert Burda Media, a company with 4500 people on
its payroll, is proud to be present in Munich. The city is
home to more than “just” a series of leading print media,
including “Focus”, “Freundin” and “Das Haus”: more
and more Internet firms such as Focus Digital, in which
Hubert Burda Media holds an interest, are throwing
down their roots in Munich. Hubert Burda Media is
further committed to a wide array of initiatives (the LMU
university council, the Internet advisory council, the MIT
agency for media and information technology – now
operating under the name gotoBavaria) that benefit both
the city and the region. Hubert Burda Media is thus
playing an important part in maintaining and adding to the
attraction of Munich as a media location.
These days, speed is everything. “Be fast or be last,”
is a fitting epithet. Munich has indeed got off to a flying
start. Yet the city on the Isar can ill afford to rest on its
laurels: the competition – both national and international
– never sleeps. We need to take a leaf out of the global
leaders’ book. Silicon Valley, Boston and Tel Aviv must
serve as our benchmark. What really sets these regions
apart is their ability to network quickly. If we, too, succeed in bundling all our energies intelligently, if business,
politics and the universities can work closely together,
closing ranks to rise to the major challenges of the day,
there will be no stopping Munich’s onward march to
still greater success.
Permanent innovation
is the key: new technologies and new media
formats offer users a
wider choice and greater
diversity
47
Both the concept behind Munich’s Literature House
(Literaturhaus) and the way it has been realized present
an impressive calling card for public-private partnerships.
When the chance arose to convert the former Salvator
school into a literature house, the first question was that
of cost and financing. The listed building dates back to
1886, but had suffered severe war damage and was
thus badly in need of repair. The first two points on the
agenda were therefore the need to restore and convert
the building, and the need to find the money to do so.
DM 20 million was the sum ultimately needed.
48
View of the
Literature House on the
Salvatorplatz;
Architect: Prof. Uwe
Kiessler and Partner; in
the background: the
Theatinerkirche
A quote from Oskar
Maria Graf is engraved in
this stone table at the
Literature House;
Artistic concept: Jenny
Holzer
A small group of dedicated Munich publishers and book
vendors got together to form an initiative and broached
the subject with the mayor and the members of the city
council. It was also necessary to enlist sponsors both
in the industry and beyond. Finally, a concept for a publicprivate partnership was crafted that would take the
form of a joint foundation backed by the City of Munich
and a group of private donors. Munich contributed a free
50-year leasehold and funds of around DM 12 million.
Private donors and sponsors put up the remaining
DM 8 million. Ongoing program and project work is
financed along similar lines by a mix of public subsidies,
private sponsorship funding and revenues taken.
The joint Literature House project was born of the
conviction that electronic media alone are not the source
of all knowledge and education, but that literacy and the
ability to express oneself are the bedrock of all media
skills. This is the only way to tap into the raw material of
knowledge. Ultimately, information and media can only
be handled intelligently if one is able to absorb it and
structure it selectively. Literacy is thus the very cornerstone, the sine qua non of the media world.
Seen from this angle, literature houses that serve as
central, public places of literary discourse take on a singular social significance and occupy an important place in
the media society of the future. Since it was opened in
summer 1997, the Munich Literature House has become
a melting pot for critical and creative responses to the
issues of the day. It makes an important contribution to
the literary life of the city. If you like, it makes a clear
statement that TV and the Internet are rooted in literature
and literacy – that both stand on the shoulders of
Gutenberg.
The “Literature House” – old medium, new partnership
Dr. Ulrich Wechsler,
President of the Stiftung Buch-, Medien- und
Literaturhaus, Munich
In just two short years, Rosenheimer Strasse 145 (just
behind the city’s Ostbahnhof) has been transformed into
Munich’s biggest media campus: Media Works Munich,
or “MWM” for short.
Having so many media enterprises at such close quarters
inevitably generates synergies and mutual stimulus between tenants, many of whom cooperate officially and
even give work to each other.
The previous tenant, the textile firm Konen, moved out in
1996, leaving around 40,000 m2 of empty space. So the
owner of the property, IVG, began looking for a way to
continue using the now-vacant production and factory
buildings on into the future. In close collaboration with
the City of Munich, an idea grew and took shape: to take
the facilities of the former textile plant – designed in the
“loft” style of the 1930s – and rent it to creative minds
in the media industry. In other words, to reinvent the
location as a media center.
It is also fascinating to see what the various tenants have
done with their premises. Rempen & Partner, an advertising agency, has created a vivid “red world” (red is the
color of the firm’s logo), while TV production company
H5B5 has conjured up a Mediterranean flair with an exotic blend of sunlight yellow, sienna, and lush greenery.
Since last summer, the generously dimensioned inner
courtyard has boasted a fountain as the focal point of the
entire complex.
50
The point of departure was the idea of preserving the
original character of the premises, effectively providing a
kind of high-quality shell which tenants could then redesign to suit their own requirements. This concept made it
possible to let the premises at extremely attractive rates.
Bright and beautiful:
the premises of TV
production firm H5B5
Media AG at the media
competence center
Media Works Munich
Otto Link,
Head of the Munich office
of IVG Immobilien GmbH
The idea met with considerable enthusiasm. Well-known
media firms such as ProSieben subsidiary H5B5, the
Düsseldorf-based top 30 agency Rempen & Partner, the
radio program service provider BLR Radio Dienst, and any
number of startup media companies all moved into the
MWM. Equally important, the location also offers a
concentration of media training and development facilities that is probably unrivaled anywhere in Germany.
Examples include the Bavarian Press Academy
(Akademie der Bayerischen Presse e.V.), the German
Acting Academy (Deutsche Schauspieler Akademie), the
Catholic Media Academy (Katholische Medienakademie),
and the training and development channel AFK. Since its
launch, the MWM has also made a name for itself among
international media companies. Eurosport and the British
publishing house Future Publishing recently signed
agreements to move into the premises.
The former textile factory is now fully let. Owing to
sustained heavy demand, a new “Media Bridge” building
of around 20,000 m2 is to be erected on the same site.
Completion is slated for 2003.
At Media Works Munich,
each company is completely free to do its own
thing: “red” and “open”
are important words
in the vocabulary of the
Rempen & Partner
advertising agency
51
52
Come to Munich and you come to a comprehensive compendium of culture … The world-famous Kammerspiele,
the Residenz Theater, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra,
the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the National Theater and
the Deutsches Theater, the old and new “Pinakotheken”
(soon to be complemented by a third) and a kaleidoscope
of no less outstanding art galleries, the Deutsches
Museum, the Gasteig cultural center and the Literature
House, Kunstpark Ost and Tollwood, the Feierwerk
and Alabama halls, cabarets and discos, the Munich Film
Festival and Film Museum, a plethora of beer gardens,
the Englischer Garten, the Alps and their foothills, the
lakes, the Munich Marathon, the cycle tours …
Is there no end to the list?
Strong on soft location factors
The opera cult
the gift of the century has a future
in the new millennium
53
The Muffat Hall – once
part of a power station –
is today much in
demand as a venue for
multicultural events; the
exciting tension between
aging industrial
architecture and all the
trappings of a modern
meeting place create a
unique vibrancy
54
The opera cult
Sir Peter Jonas,
Director of the Bavarian State Opera
Vincenzo Bellini’s
“I Puritani”, directed by
Jonathan Miller;
premiere performance:
May 26, 2000, at the
National Theater in
Munich
The history of the Bavarian State Opera begins in the
year 1653. Back then, Munich had the first free-standing
opera house in Germany. Since then, the “Staatsoper”
has become a veritable institution in the life of the city.
Among the first of the ensemble’s permanent homes
was the Cuvilliés Theater, opened in 1753. Mozart’s
Idomeneo premiered here in 1781. In 1818, the opera
ensemble moved into new quarters at the newly built
National Theater on the Max-Joseph-Platz. The
Wittelsbach family’s decision to build this 2100-seat
theater evidenced a visionary prowess of the kind one
would perhaps associate with a Bill Gates today. When
the National Theater opened its doors, Munich had a
population of just 54,000. Statistically, that meant that
four percent of the local inhabitants attended the theater
each evening. Scaled up to today’s ratios, that was the
equivalent of 50,000 visitors a day. And that was just the
opera-goers!
Since those days, what was once the preserve of
monarchs and their royal courts has, happily, been
demo-cratized. The National Theater in Munich, a central
hub of European music at least since the time of Richard
Wagner, is a prime example of how opera houses can
add to a city’s stature. The building itself is a powerful
argument for opera as an artistic form.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Bavarian State Opera
furnishes a useful and esthetic example of why society
should invest in an opera ensemble (what we call “state
subsidies” in the current vernacular). The legal entity
behind the Bavarian State Opera supports us in our
mission, which is not to be a provider of entertainment or
diversion, but to act as an accessible form of social
conscience on the very highest artistic level and with an
absolute commitment to artistic integrity, yet at the same
time subject to sound principles of professional business
management. When our critics wryly observe how
well-off we are, given that Munich is, financially, such an
“isle of the blessed”, our retort is that the island is made
of rubber: we have to blow it up ourselves. It is true: we
receive state funding that is generous indeed. It is equally
true, however, that no opera house in Germany generates revenues of the same magnitude or offers a comparable program, guaranteeing at least one performance
every day – the majority of which play to a full house. We
are privileged to welcome nearly 600,000 visitors a year –
more than the two big Berlin opera houses put together,
and with greater ticket revenues.
Yet we are not the only cultural institution in Munich to
turn in such an impressive performance. Art and culture
are very important aspects of life in Munich: listen to a
debate on promoting the arts anywhere in the world, and
you are more than likely to hear positive references to
Munich. When it comes to the arts, Munich is far less
conservative than its reputation. It is the world’s secondlargest book publishing venue. Its assortment of
museums ranks fifth in the world. It offers a wider variety
of high-quality musical events than any other city apart
from London. How many other cities can boast three top
orchestras, all headed by prominent conductors – and not
just since Trias Mehta, Maazel and Levine have been in
command? The only thing I could still wish for is that
Munich would bundle its cultural energies more efficiently – its private, local and regional energies – to foster an
image even more in keeping with its significance and
wealth of potential. Paris, London, Vienna, even Berlin …
All the world knows that these are cultural centers par
excellence. But do they know that the same is true of
Munich?
55
Georg Friedrich Händel’s
“Rinaldo”, directed by
David Alden; premiere
performance at the
Munich Opera Festival
2000 in the Prinzregenten
Theater
56
There can be few cities besides Munich that have a
comparable density of museums covering such widely
varying themes and yet with such consistently high quality. Each of Munich’s collections has its own distinctive
character: each museum accommodates its own unique
kaleidoscope of perspectives. The most fascinating thing,
however, is how such a network of museums has been
woven together throughout the fabric of the city.
Munich’s museums of art, for instance, are not ostracized
on an island or packed together under one roof (as they
are, say, in Berlin or Paris). Instead, despite their relative
geographic proximity, each maintains a respectful
distance toward all the others within an area that is also
home to two universities and an assortment of related
institutions. Having so many variegated areas of
know-ledge – research and education, art collections and
exhibitions – together at such close quarters gives
Munich a very special flavor. The Modernist Pinakothek
will soon add another important link to the city’s artistic
chain. The greatness and quality of exhibits and the sheer
breadth of coverage offered by Munich’s museums is
nevertheless neatly and charmingly packaged into
manageable dimensions at the different venues. Munich
offers a tremendous opportunity to weave a vibrant,
living web of cultural institutions where the humanities
rub shoulders with the sciences and each discipline
cross-pollinates all the others.
Munich has a tightly meshed network of cultural facilities
that provide a safe haven, an effective and much-needed
counterweight to the business – and “busy-ness” – of
this thriving metropolis. The beauty of Munich is that,
whichever museum you choose to visit, you will always
find superlative quality on every side.
Glyptothek – the
Achaeans: the east and
west gables of the
Doric Temple of Athena
on the island of Achaia,
depicting a scene
from the Achaeans’
advance on Troy
Lighting by Dan Flavin
to mark the opening of the
“Lenbachhaus” art center
above the Königsplatz
subway station
Architect: Prof. Uwe
Kiessler and Partner
Prof. Helmut Friedel,
Director of the Municipal Art Gallery in the Lenbachhaus
Munich 2001: A tiny provincial nest surrounding the
ramshackle residence of some second-rate monarch. The
streetlights go out at nine because the locals are all long
since tucked up in their beds. The town is enfolded in
contemplative tranquility … save for the odd artist, actor
or cultural editor gazing wistfully into the night, muttering
“Oh, Berlin” and yearning for a city that is still awake and
alive even at this ungodly hour ...
That, at least, is the impression you get if you read some
of the trendy magazines which, eleven years after the
fall of the Wall, still occasionally feel constrained to
lament the tragic fate that has befallen Munich since
Berlin again took over as the nation’s capital. Artistic
license has evidently been allowed to run riot: the reality
could not be more different. The question one ought to
be asking is not “Where do you go to dive into Munich’s
nightlife?”, but “Is Munich’s nightlife damaging the local
economy?” Take a stroll around the Kunstpark Ost near
Munich’s Ostbahnhof of a Thursday night, for example,
and you might be tempted to wonder what all these
thousands of young people are going to look like at the
office the following morning – or later the same morning.
Will they still be able to lift a pencil, let alone engage in
more strenuous physical or mental activities? Here in the
Kunstpark, the bar is packed out until the early hours
when “normal” people are donning their ties and trotting
off to work. People throng to the 30 or 35 clubs, halls and
bars (you never know the exact number at any given
time) to have fun, go to rock concerts, dance at techno
discos until their knees give way – or just prop up some
trendy bar, downing unheard-of cocktails until the world
gradually seems to fade from view … Its operators are
proud to inform you that the Kunstpark Ost is Europe’s
biggest amusement center: if you can’t find something to
your liking here, someone has probably switched your
life-support system off.
58
Four in the morning
at the “night canteen” in
the Kunstpark Ost
Fortunately, that is not the case for most people. Which
is why culture and leisure are such a natural part of what
are often referred to as a location’s “soft” factors. Soft
factors are of relevance to those people who are so much
in demand that they can choose where in the country
they want to work; people who are picky about where
and how they live, and what they can do in their free
time. Another reason why Munich is such a desirable
business location: most big companies have long since
discovered that they have to offer their staff more than
just a job – even at the risk of having to follow the “afterwork parties” (starting at six) that several Munich discos
have introduced with “instead-of-work parties” that go
on all day and all night. And it is not as if Munich only had
the Kunstpark Ost. Looking for an alternative? Try the
Feierwerk, die Alabama Hall, the Zenith, the Muffat Hall,
Club 2, the Einstein, or any number of smaller clubs,
discos and watering-holes that host Munich’s “in” culture. Or you could do an about-face and go for something
decidedly more haute culture: from the National Theater
to a range of smaller playhouses, not to mention the
galleries and concert halls in the Gasteig and the
Residenz … Even people who have devoted considerable
energies to exploring the local culture never cease to
be amazed that, despite such an apparent surfeit of
offerings, you still (as often as not) have to queue for
hours to get tickets to even the most off-the-wall avant
garde festival.
Rumors of Munich’s cultural demise would, therefore,
appear to be greatly exaggerated. The only people who
still complain are the ones who haven’t been here for
years. Incidentally, the city fathers recently decided that
a new “Kunstpark Nord” was also to be set up out in
Freimann. Fortunately for the local economy and its
leisure-weary workforce, however, the newcomer will
only be opening for business (read: pleasure) when the
Kunstpark Ost has to close down. A good thing, too!
After all, when it comes to “soft” location factors, we
really ought to give Berlin a fair chance!
Everyone wants to
be in on the Feierwerk
summer festival
59
Franz Kotteder,
Editor-in-chief, Munich Culture/SZ Extra
Stage diving at the
free & easy festival at
“Backstage” on the
Donnersberger Brücke
When the Olympic sports facilities were handed over
to Olympiapark München GmbH in early October 1972,
no-one knew exactly what would become of this extraordinary park, whose architecture has remained so
strikingly idiosyncratic to this day. The last few niggling
doubts have nevertheless long since bowed to one
incontrovertible fact: the Olympic Park was the gift of the
century to the Bavarian capital. This statement is true on
many levels. The park not only numbers among the
world’s leading sports and leisure centers, with a worldclass spectrum of sporting, cultural and commercial
events, as well as presenting an exceptionally diverse
program for countless thousands of amateur sports fans
and tourists alike. In the course of its 28-year history, the
Olympic Park has also emerged as an important factor in
the local economy.
60
the gift of the century has a future in the new millennium
Wilfrid Spronk,
Managing Director,
Olympiapark München GmbH
There are many reasons for the park’s lasting success.
One is that, from the word go, a whole lot of creative
ideas and commitment went into filling the facility with
life and vitality even after the end of the Olympic Games.
To date, the park has registered 134.6 million visitors at
7500 events and in its assorted recreational facilities. Yet,
the sheer number of events and the extent to which the
facilities are used are only one side of the coin: the other
is the business aspect. Here again, however, astute
planning and proactive management have consistently
contributed to a positive bottom line. In 1999 alone,
the company posted a robust operating result on sales
revenues of DM 48 million. And this figure does not
include the revenues generated if one also counts the
sales netted by event organizers and resident firms: the
actual sum total is likely to be between eight and ten
times higher.
Should all these interim goals be achieved, it would theoretically be possible for Munich to set its sights higher
still and apply for the Olympic Games for a second time
after 2010. This would have to be an application for the
Winter Games. But even that would be a historic
success, were it to come about: no city has ever hosted
both the Summer and the Winter Olympics.
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch himself once
said he was proud of Munich, which, in his view,
had made the best post-Olympic use of its facilities of all
previous host venues. A view which confirms a journalist’s claim that the 1972 Olympic Games and the Munich
Olympic Park were indeed the “gift of the century” to the
Bavarian capital.
61
Four examples illustrate the business importance of the
Olympic Park for the City of Munich. Studies conducted
by the University of Hamburg found that every person
who visits a soccer match at the Olympic Stadium also
spends at least DM 50 in the city, over and above the
price of their ticket. Given that the stadium attracts
between 1.8 million and nearly 2 million spectators every
year, that amounts to a tidy sum. Another example is the
1997 Champions League Final between Borussia
Dortmund and Juventus Turin: this one event alone was
the cause of an exceptional high volume of arrivals and
departures – 931 flights in all – at Munich Airport on the
day of the match. Again, the “Three Tenors” concert with
Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras in
1996 yielded handsome rewards for the city’s shopkeepers and hoteliers in particular. Finally, the Compaq
Grand Slam Cup was held in the Olympic Hall every year
from 1990 through 1999. Especially for Munich’s
restaurant and hotel industries, the event was a major
money-spinner in the run-up to Christmas each year. This
became acutely apparent in 1997, when the dates of the
tournament were shifted to coincide with the Oktoberfest – causing revenues to drop noticeably in December.
Besides serving as a venue for major events, the Olympic
Park in Munich also fulfils two other important social
functions: as a center for mass and recreational sporting
activities; and as a tourist venue. A range of fun sports,
recreational pursuits and tour programs (taking in the
Olympic swimming pool, the ice rink and the visitor
service) have often been put on here and are now emulated by other municipal operations, often in collaboration
with the Olympic Park.
Talk about sports in Munich and you simply cannot avoid
the subject of the Olympic Park. This success did not just
happen, however. Above all now, as the competition
from major sports arenas in Germany and abroad becomes ever fiercer, the park cannot afford to rest on its
laurels. A whole series of structural and technical
changes will need to be made if the facility is to be able
to com-pete with rival venues for major events such as
the European Athletics Championships and the World
Cup Soccer tournaments scheduled for 2002 and 2006
respectively in Munich. The need to convert the Olympic
Stadium – the first demand asserted by the Munich
Olympic Park– naturally takes top priority. In the long
term, however, there is also no alternative to a thorough
overhaul of the Olympic Hall.
Venus Williams in action;
the Ladies’ Masters
tournament will be held in
Munich from 2001
Panoramic view of the
Olympic Park; Architects:
Behnisch and Partner;
Landscsaping:
Prof. Dr. Günther Grzimek
Theresienhöhe –
a choice cut in the heart of Munich
62
Facade of the “Fünf Höfe”
(“Five Courts“) on the
Theatinerstrasse, the
redesigned headquarters
of HypoVereinsbank
Architects: Herzog and
De Meuron
Munich has the lowest vacancy rate for commercial
property anywhere in Europe. For years, the city has
consistently been hitting new peaks in the letting of office
premises. A million or so square meters of office space
was re-let in 2000 alone. Each year, 5000 new dwellings
are completed. All of which puts Munich top of the league
of German cities.
Ambitious projects for a very broad and diverse array of
uses are currently in planning, under construction or
nearing completion. A small selection includes Messestadt
Riem (16,000 residents, 13,000 jobs); the Central StationLaim-Pasing development axis (17,000 residents, 11,000
jobs); Parkstadt Schwabing (1500 dwellings, 11,000 jobs);
the “Fünf Höfe” urban district (35,000 m2 of office space,
30 shops and restaurants); and Mercedes City (77,000 m2
of net space).
Munich’s booming property market
63
Theresienhöhe – a choice cut in the heart of Munich
Dr. Lutz Mellinger,
Member of the Board, Corporate and Investment
Banking Division, Deutsche Bank AG
The city’s dynamic economic growth, the robust health
of the local property market, with very low vacancy rates
and rising rents, and above all the superb location in the
heart of Munich – these were the considerations that
clinched the decision by Deutsche GrundbesitzInvestmentgesellschaft mbH (DGI), a subsidiary of the
Deutsche Bank group, to acquire a 28,000 m2 plot of land
on the Theresienhöhe off the City of Munich for its open
“grundbesitz-invest” fund in September 1999.
The site of the former exhibition center is now being
transformed into an attractive new 45-hectare urban
district comprising office space, cultural facilities, apartments, shops, and open spaces. The spacious Bavaria
Park will also be opened to the public. And, as an added
bonus, the district will be relieved of the burden of traffic
to and from the exhibition grounds. All in all, the
Theresienhöhe therefore presents a tremendous urban
development opportunity – both to the Westend district
adjacent to the city center and for investors.
64
The size and pre-eminent location of the DGI site – at
what used to be the main entrance to the exhibition
grounds – makes it one of the most outstanding
elements of the overall project to develop the Theresienhöhe. In close and uniquely constructive cooperation
with the City of Munich, the DGI organized an ideas and
implementation competition, inviting the participation of
eight respected architects from Munich, Hamburg,
Cologne, Düsseldorf, Rome and Vienna. The task of
these specialists was to come up with a development
solution which was economically efficient and satisfied
the highest architectural standards, but which also
harmonized well with the surrounding district. The
winning solution had to meet with the unreserved acceptance of both the City of Munich and its citizens. The
office premises now under construction will combine
maximum flexibility, efficiency and functionality, and can
be split into smaller and larger units in line with demand.
Ten percent of the 70,000 m2 of gross floor space that is
planned has been earmarked for residential accommodation and will be supplemented by retail and service units.
The core of the winning design (submitted by KSP Engel
and Zimmermann, a Cologne-based team of architects)
is a single, imposing office building with a sweeping
glass facade. This centerpiece will be flanked by three
additional office blocks and one residential building. The
company is investing 230 million euros in this development project. Construction work is likely to begin in the
spring of 2001; completion is scheduled for the first
quarter 2003.
The project is already a winner: it will help revitalize the
urban district and further enhance the magnetic attraction of Munich’s city center.
May I take this opportunity to congratulate Munich and
its population on this choice morsel!
Theresienhöhe – the
old makes way for the
new: the winning design
from the urban development ideas competition
Architects:
Steidle and Partner
Theresienhöhe –
a 70,000-m2 project
owned by Deutsche
Grundbesitz-Investmentgesellschaft mbH
Architects: KSP Engel and
Zimmermann
65
66
It had been said that Munich had reached the end of its
development curve. Regional politicians had declared the
city to be “plastered to death”. Creating new jobs was
seen as counterproductive, if not impossible. That was
back at the start of the 1990s. Times have changed,
however, and with them the general mood. In the meantime, Munich, which last grew by incorporating adjacent
communities in 1936, has proved that vast development
potential still remains within its existing boundaries.
The turning point came when Christian Ude took office as
mayor of the city. Ude gave the go-ahead for an urban
development policy whose tough, no-nonsense motto
was “Compact, urban, green”. This meant that space
would in future be “recycled” intelligently. The densely
packed urban landscape was to be – and still is being –
loosened up by the carefully and sensibly planned development of public and private open spaces. A concept
which proved that high-quality, modern urban development is still possible even within the relatively tight constraints of Munich’s city limits. A number of impressive
examples have proven this to be the right strategy.
– Moving the airport from Riem to Erding made room
for extremely important infrastructure projects, The
New Exhibition Center and International Congress
Center have already been built. A new urban district
to accommodate 16,000 people is growing – complete with a major shopping and leisure center, offices
and commercial premises. The National Garden
Exhibition is due to be held on the site in 2005.
– Moving the exhibition center out to the edge of the
city paved the way to convert the Theresienhöhe into
a new urban district center with a balanced mix of
accommodation, office buildings and small busines
ses. The park inherited from the former exhibition
center will substantially improve the quality of life in
the new district.
– One particularly remarkable example is Parkstadt
Schwabing, a project at the “gateway to Munich” –
where the city’s central ring-road feeds in to the
Munich-Berlin freeway. On this derelict industrial site
that used to house oil tank facilities, concrete facto
ries and shipping firms, and where 90 percent of the
ground was sealed, a completely new part of
Schwabing is now taking shape that will include extensive public and private parklands accounting for
55 percent of the total surface area. The initiative for
this project lay solely with the private land owners.
Headed up by ARGENTA, a Munich-based development
company, twelve land owners have agreed to bear the
very considerable expense associated with the social and
traffic infrastructure (subsidized accommodation, kindergartens, roads, paths, bridges and underpasses) and
to share all costs between them. All on a voluntary basis.
Dr. Helmut Röschinger,
Managing Partner, ARGENTA Internationale
Anlagegesellschaft mbH
The former industrial monolith, with all its eye-sores, is
now gone; work on improving the land has begun. The
parks and open spaces will be ready by fall 2001.
Parkstadt Schwabing will provide 1500 new dwellings
and 12,000 jobs in an office and small-business setting.
The above examples show that Munich has by no means
exhausted its urban development potential. Having
understood the need for sound urban planning, an appropriate construction density and conducive building laws,
the city’s leaders have created a suitable economic
framework for such development. It is this framework
which enables property owners to shoulder the high cost
of eliminating obsolete forms of land use and creating the
kind of infrastructure that will support new uses.
67
All of which only adds to the attraction of Munich, a city
with an exemplary mix of work, leisure and quality of life.
Parkstadt Schwabing –
40 hectares of development potential in the
north of Munich: room for
12,000 jobs, 1500
dwellings and lots of
open spaces; the winning
design from the urban
development ideas
competition;
Architects: A. Perret,
I. Lewitan and
Prof. R. Schmidt
68
Munich’s infrastructure is truly one of superlatives:
Germany’s second-biggest airport; its most modern exhibition and congress center; excellent links to the national
and international freeway network; an efficient system of
local public transport with almost 4900 km of regular lines;
an advanced telecommunications and network infrastructure with five city loops and numerous gateways to highspeed wide area networks; exemplary healthcare facilities,
including 57 hospitals; a comprehensive array of educational establishments, with nearly 400 schools; Germany’s
biggest adult education scheme; the biggest municipal
library in the country; the Bavarian State Library, flanked by
a number of specialist libraries; 4500 km2 of recreational
and sports facilities; and so the list could go on.
Infrastructure – nothing but the best for Munich
69
Facade of the technical
city hall: 1200 offices
covering 82,000 m2 of
usable floor space
Architects: Ganzer and
Unterholzner
70
“Messe München”, the Munich exhibition center operator, has positioned itself as a competent, market-oriented
and global partner to the international business community. It does this
– with a leading-edge infrastructure and a marketoriented program of events in Munich
– by continually optimizing the quality and scope of its
services
– by offering global support to its customers in the main
business centers of up-and-coming market regions in
Europe and on other continents
– by cooperating on an international level with exhibition operators in Central Europe
– and, not least, by intelligently deploying electronic
media and enhancing the value of trade show participation for its customers.
International demand for exhibition space – both among
exhibiting companies and the various trade show
organizers – has been increasing relentlessly in Munich,
especially since the new exhibition center opened its
doors in February 1998. Every year, an attractive program
of events draws over 30,000 exhibitors from more than
90 countries and over two million visitors from some 150
countries to trade shows and related events in Munich.
Some of the highlights of the year include capital goods
exhibitions for the construction and the environmental
technology industries, trade shows for drinks technology
firms, the logistics and transportation industries, forestry,
electronics, computing and new technologies, and
events for high-end consumer goods such as sports
products, sportswear, jewelry, and watches and clocks.
Another example of effective international cooperation
in the context of exhibitions and trade shows is the
Central European Fair Alliance (CEFA). Together with its
counterparts in Bratislava, Budapest, Graz, Klagenfurt,
Ljubljana, Prague, Vienna and Zagreb, the Munich
exhibition center operator has set itself the task of creating a powerful platform for trade show cooperation that
will benefit customers who take part in events at all
these locations.
Manfred Wutzlhofer,
Executive Director, Messe München GmbH
A major step toward continually optimizing the services
which Messe München provides to international business is the intelligent use of new media before, during
and after trade shows. Online media effectively expand a
trade show’s sphere of influence far beyond the physical
limits of the exhibition grounds, and can likewise extend
market communication beyond the duration of a given
show. Messe München is working on a way to set up
trade show-initiated and trade show-induced business
platforms in suitable forms which the expo community –
exhibitors, visitors, the media, and Messe München itself
– can then grow and expand very effectively.
For all its strategic measures, Messe München remains
committed to building a service portfolio that brings
marketplace players together wherever possible. Special
forms of international support have also been designed
that are tailored to the specific needs of small and
medium-sized enterprises.
Mountains next to the
center’s lake: part of
“Gran Paradiso”, a work
of art by Stephan Huber,
which stands outside
the west entrance to the
new exhibition center
The International Congress Center Munich (ICM) has
projected the city to the ranks of the top five congress
venues in Germany. In terms of seating capacity (7000) it
ranks second. Sustained strong demand and long-term
bookings are a clear indication that the ICM has enabled
Munich to successfully plug a gap in the market for major
international congress events.
North view of the halls
on the new exhibition grounds; the
exhibition center tower is
pictured at left;
Architects: Kaup, Scholz,
Jesse and Partner
An international sales network in more than 80 countries
all around the globe adds to the international nature of
events held in Munich and at other locations. Additional
representations and subsidiaries are to be set up in future
in Europe and on other continents. This will provide
customers and partners alike with even more efficient
support and expose the trade show stands in Munich to
even more potential business partners throughout the
world, enriching and augmenting the process of intercontinental dialogue.
The construction and operation of a new exhibition
center in Shanghai lends a new, concrete dimension to
our claim to be “competent, market-oriented and global”.
To improve the efficiency of the services they provide in
East Asia, the trade show companies of Düsseldorf,
Hanover and Munich have embarked on a strategic
alliance and arenow working together to build the
Shanghai New Inter-national Expo Center. In this project,
the partners aim to bundle their skills and energies, share
the financial burden and the risks involved, and, in
collaboration with the Shanghai Pudong Land Development Corporation, their Chinese joint-venture partner, to
engage in ground-breaking and successful exhibition
activities.
West entrance to the
new exhibition center in
Messestadt Riem
The doors of the Bavarian capital are open to the world.
The city harbors vast economic potential and lays rightful
claim to cultural excellence. All of which, however,
makes Munich heavily dependent on an efficient, reliable
transport infrastructure. In the field of local passenger
transport, Munich played a pioneering role by building its
first subway (“U-bahn”) and mass transit (“S-bahn”) lines
in the run-up to the 1972 Olympic Games. When the new
airport went into service two decades later, the city again
set a new benchmark.
72
Willi Hermsen,
Managing Director,
Flughafen München GmbH
Since the new Munich airport opened in May 1992,
more than just the traffic volume has changed, however:
the traffic structure, too, has shifted dramatically. Transit
traffic still played only a comparatively minor role at
Munich-Riem but has emerged as a powerful engine of
growth at the new location. The 1.3 million or so transit
passengers registered in 1992, the year of the grand
opening, rose to a figure of 5.7 million in 1999. Such rapid
growth bears witness to a far-reaching change in the
function of Munich airport: it documents Munich’s elevation to the elite ranks of Europe’s leading air traffic hubs
– a crucial qualitative factor for Munich as a business
location.
The opening of the new airport was timed perfectly to
coincide with a rapid increase in the volume of air traffic
in Munich. Whereas fewer than eleven million passengers were counted in 1991, the last year of operation
at the former site in Munich-Riem, the number of arrivals
in and departures from the new airport shot up to 21.3
million in the eight years that followed. The volume
of passengers doubled as traffic through Munich airport
consistently increased, pushing Munich up from
fourteenth to ninth place among Europe’s most heavily
frequented passenger airports.
The airport’s ability to position itself as a new hub has
been helped in large part by the strong commitment of
Deutsche Lufthansa, which has gradually been cultivating
Munich as its second German gateway since 1995.
Lufthansa alone now services more than 80 destinations
non-stop from Munich. All told, Munich airport now has
regular links to 220 destinations around the world, includ ing such attractive long-haul destinations as Atlanta,
Bangkok, Cape Town, Chicago, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur,
Mauritius, Miami, New York, Peking, Philadelphia, San
Francisco, São Paulo, Toronto and Washington. Airlines
can only make a profit on the majority of these long-haul
routes because their departures from the Munich hub
are supported by a finely-meshed network of connecting
and feeder flights, thereby ensuring a heavy influx of
transit passengers.
To consolidate Munich’s new-found role in international
air traffic over the long term, the airport is already being
expanded to prepare it for the challenges that still lie
ahead. A second passenger terminal, currently being built
to the east of the airport, will go into operation in 2003
and will be able to handle 20 million passengers.
Flughafen München GmbH and Deutsche Lufthansa AG
are sharing the entrepreneurial responsibility for the
construction and operation of Terminal 2. The new
terminal will be used exclusively by Lufthansa and its Star
Alliance partners. As an efficient relay station in the
networks operated by this major airline alliance, the new
terminal will be specially tailored to the unique requirements of transit traffic.
On the apron at Munich
airport
Architects: Prof. von
Busse and Partner Blees,
Büch, Kampmann
North view of the
building site for the new
terminal, which will
open in 2003;
Architects:
Koch and Partner
The second terminal will also help Munich to continue to
compete with other European rivals. Transit passengers
will not be the only beneficiaries: in future, travelers
departing from Munich’s natural catchment area will also
enjoy the wide range of destinations and comprehensive
service that only a fully-fledged air traffic hub can offer.
Travelers from the Munich metropolitan area itself – who
make up 38 percent of all passengers who board at the
airport – likewise stand to benefit. In addition, extended
airport operations will positively impact the local economy and job market. Some 20,000 people already work
for over 400 companies at the airport, making it one of
Bavaria’s largest employment locations. Around 5300
airport staff live in Munich itself.
Incessant growth in the number of visitors testifies
to the unmitigated attraction of the city on the Isar. For
millions of visitors from Germany and abroad, their stay in
Munich begins at our airport. Munich has always prided
itself on being a “global city with a big heart”: all the
better, then, that it can now justifiably claim to be a
“global city with a big hub”, too. The airport is well able
to give visitors from around the world the welcome they
deserve when they arrive in Bavaria.
73
Munich is regarded as one of Europe’s most attractive
business locations; yet it also offers a quality of life that
leaves others green with envy. SWM GmbH, Munich’s
infrastructure utility, has a lot to do with this: providing
competitive energy services; piping in top-quality drinking
water from Bavaria’s Alpine foothills; operating an
exemplary local public transport system; and running 16
attractive indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
74
Infrastructure –
nothing but the best for Munich
Dr. Kurt Mühlhäuser,
Managing Director,
SWM GmbH
It is no coincidence that SWM GmbH is successful
today and has every prospect of a very bright tomorrow.
Just as the former energy and transport monopolies have
given way to a lively competitive landscape, so the
“Munich municipal utility” – which used to have marked
bureaucratic leanings – has now been transformed into a
dynamic business operation that is actively shaping the
infrastructure markets of the future.
Back in the mid-1990s, the SWM GmbH management
set about the groundwork that would bring fundamental
change to the company. It all started when a rigorous
system of cost management was implemented, a move
to which the company’s robust state of health today is
largely attributable. Modern management methods redesigned the way major projects were handled, drafted a
new power station concept, and bundled its electricity,
gas, district heating, drinking water and telecommunications networks. The resultant synergies were impressive,
saving hundreds of millions of marks in a cost-cutting
drive that has since proved sustainable. The utility’s transformation to a limited liability company [GmbH] in 1998,
coupled with its fundamental internal reorganization, has
made the company as a whole much leaner and fitter –
and has also enabled it to rebuild and consolidate its
market- and service-oriented operations.
Even while still in the throes of transition, SWM GmbH
was busily improving the quality of life and range of
leisure facilities in Munich to get the city in shape
for the future. Large sums of money were invested to
modernize local swimming baths, to safeguard the
supply of drinking water, and to expand what is already a
world-class public transport system. Only recently, the
company moved into the telecoms business, too – a
commitment that has quickly emerged as yet another
success story. SWM GmbH has invested around DM 100
million in state-of-the-art optical fiber technology. On the
basis of the resultant high-speed network, the SWM
subsidiary and Munich city carrier M"net, launched in
1996, began offering its customers advanced telecoms
services such as fixed-line, Internet and telephone services. Break-even was reached in fiscal 1999; revenue and
profit expecta-tions continue to point upward.
Fierce competition in the energy market since the late
1990s has nevertheless wrought the most visible changes at SWM GmbH. An innovative package of measures
evidenced the fresh wind that was blowing through
the company – and was well-received by its customers
in Munich. The package included competitive prices,
tailor-made offers for corporate and retail customers, and
an aggressive series of marketing and sales activities
designed to win new customers and cement the loyalty
of existing ones. Meanwhile, the entire local population
has been able to follow the evolution of SWM GmbH’s
umbrella brand strategy. Everyone in Munich is now
familiar with motifs and products that bear the big “M”
symbol. The brand has come to stand for full-line, local
service and top-quality products. One of the company’s
premium products, for instance, is the enhanced security
service introduced in 2000 for its electricity customers.
Customers who use this service have faults and problems rectified faster; and inspections and minor repairs to
all house utility installations are carried out free of
charge. Corporate customers, too, value the security
ex-pertise offered by SWM’s service portfolio. This
expertise is an important aspect of SWM’s location
advice service, which helps high-tech companies optimize the attraction of their location in Munich.
The next few years will once again put SWM’s corporate
development to a stiff test as market dynamism increases and competition for locations intensifies. SWM
is called on to continually improve its services and
sharpen its competitive edge. Consistent cost management, a stronger customer orientation and a keener
competitive focus will remain the central thrust of all that
we do. Strategic local and supraregional alliances are also
taking on ever greater significance to enable us to track
market developments with the aid of suitable partners.
Our objective remains to provide corporate and retail
customers in and around Munich with the best possible
infrastructure – our way of helping to ensure that Munich
stays out in front.
75
Munich’s utility company
optimizes the city’s electricity, gas, water and
district heating infrastructure. Subways and indoor
and outdoor swimming
pools are also part of its
portfolio. M"net, an SWM
subsidiary, operates a
powerful, high-speed
metropolitan area network for telecommunications services
Employment and the structural transition in Munich
The Munich Employment and Qualification Program
“Ökoprofit®” shows the way
76
The Munich Employment and Qualification Program, the
Verbund Strukturwandel GmbH, the city’s project to
smooth young people’s transition between school and
vocational training and a series of other tools and projects
are just some of the ways in which the Department of
Labour and Economic Development is accompanying the
structural transition on the labor market. Administrative
reforms aim to bring the city’s public sector closer to the
people it serves by presenting a new range
of offers, including multiservice urban district centers,
longer opening hours and shorter turnaround times.
Munich’s city portal (www.muenchen.de) – a project initiated in collaboration with the Chambers of Commerce
Industry and Handicrafts – is currently putting Munich on
the virtual map with an array of interactive information,
services and offers of cooperation.
Empowering change
The Wettersteinplatz
subway station
Architects: Raupach
and Schurk; color design
by Alfons Lachauer
77
The instigation of the Department of Labour and Economic Development ten years ago met a pivotal demand
of Munich’s trade unions. Given the importance of
economic activity in and for the city, the Munich branch
of the DGB (Germany’s association of trade unions)
believed it was imperative on the one hand to create a
dedicated unit and, on the other hand, to systematically
involve and promote the interests of the workforce in the
city’s economic development. A local economic policy
that relied on input from employers alone would have
been too short-sighted.
78
Munich’s development since then is the proof of just how
successful this strategy has been and still is. Munich has
had the lowest unemployment rate of any large German
city for many years. The DGB sees two main reasons
for this: one is the intensive qualification and employment policy pursued by the City of Munich; the other is
an business promotion unit that has always sought to
maintain a balanced mix of production and service industries, of large and small companies. Sustaining such
diversity despite setting specific priorities is crucial both
to the economic development and to the trend in employment in the city. This is the only way to cushion and
absorb the changes wrought by structural changes. One
aspect is the variegated range of qualification programs,
which offer carefully tailored work activities in a range of
new forms to improve and adjust the level of qualification
among both the active population and the unemployed.
The focus to date has been on young people (especially
those with few school qualifications), on women, and on
people working in industries threatened by structural
changes. The work of the Verbund Strukturwandel GmbH
(VSW), a company set up to facilitate structural change,
is another central pillar of this policy.
In recent years, the Agenda 21 process has caused the
City of Munich to step up its commitment to sustainable
employment, for instance by offering additional training
to people in the handicraft and construction industries.
This is one area where much remains to be done.
Improving the level of qualification in such areas is important if, for example, Munich’s older buildings are to be
renovated in an environmentally compatible way, and if
the many small and medium-sized enterprises are to be
able to compete on a solid basis.
The media industry is currently experiencing a singularly
rapid phase of restructuring. New job profiles are taking
shape, old one are having to change. If Munich intends to
maintain its enviable position, it is essential to improve
the conditions in place for initial vocational training, but
also those for ongoing training and development, in line
with the challenges that confront us today. Heavy investments by both the local authorities and other players are
necessary but will undoubtedly pay off: a well-qualified
labor pool is a key factor for any business location.
The Munich arm of the DGB will continue to feed
constructive input into the work of the Department of
Labour and Economic Development in future, bringing
the experience and needs of the workforce to bear as the
process unfolds. Our aim is to ensure that the Munich
economy does not become one-sided, but that it is
shaped and molded by the interests of the people
concerned. If we succeed in this mission, Munich will
remain strong in the face of international competition.
A baker at work: more
and more women are
making handicrafts their
business
79
Employment and the structural transition in Munich
Helmut Schmid,
DGB District Chairman, Munich
Handicrafts offer a solid
grounding – and bright
prospects
Innovative, productive, therapeutic – Anderwerk
GmbH as an example of the Munich Employment and
Qualification Program
Many of the tensions we know only too well today have
their roots in the 1980s: economic crisis and stagnation
on the one hand, quantum leaps in technology on the
other. The PC took the world by storm; new production
strategies were tested; the unions countered the crisis
with a program for “qualitative growth” and the battle for
a 35-hour week. Yet, all too often, these grand strategies
and designs seemed to lose sight of the individual.
At the same time, in the mid-1980s, the “Pasing Youth
Workshop” was set up by the workers’ welfare organization on the western outskirts of Munich. The workshop
dedicated itself to providing direct assistance for underprivileged young people, and to providing work and a
chance to earn qualifications – albeit without any certificates to begin with – for all those who could not keep up
with the ever faster pace of new technological challenges
given the obsolete methods of training and career
preparation. The following account of how the youth
workshop grew and developed is just one of many similar
developments at any number of other initiatives and
startups.
80
The Munich Employment and Qualification Program
The colorful mix of projects and subsidized companies in
existence today only makes sense when one lifts the lid
on a completely different side to economic development,
where experimentation, alternative viewpoints and in
many cases years of discussion have gradually led to the
emergence of concrete models. One example was the
attempt to shake off the polarity between classical
psychoanalysis and anti-psychiatry and to take a different
approach to dealing with mental illness. Practical approaches, in which the mentally ill were counseled and
integrated instead of being isolated and shut out, moved
center-stage. Psychosocial counseling centers and
occupational projects sought to apply measured doses of
gainful employment as a central aspect of therapeutic
integration, rather than seeing the world of work as
something compulsive and alienating. Thus, over time,
was born the spectrum of psychosocial counseling
centers and “integration firms” that we know today.
In 1985, all these different approaches to employment,
qualification and integration projects were put together
and given reliable funding and backing under the aegis of
the AFI (Arbeitsförderungsinitiative), a local authority
employment promotion initiative. In 1991, the AFI became one of the pillars of the employment policy adopted
by the newly founded “Department of Labour and
Economic Development”; and at the end of 1993 it became an integral part of what is now the Munich
Employment and Qualification Program (Münchner
Beschäftigungs- und Qualifizerungsprogramm, or MBQ).
AFI companies and projects sponsored under the MBQ
today cover a wide range of “problem areas”, from integration firms for all forms of mental illness and isolation,
through projects for socially deprived youngsters and
facilities providing training and trial work opportunities for
people on social security, to companies for older, longterm unemployed people.
Jürgen Lohmüller,
Managing Director, Anderwerk GmbH
Two employees of the
INBUS learning center
work on a recycling
project
What is now the Anderwerk GmbH (which operated
under the name Inbus from 1991 to 1999) has thus
grown from a project centered around the “Youth Workshop” to what is effectively a medium-sized “company
for new action in education and social work”. In terms of
its legal structure and content, Anderwerk maintains its
associa-tion with the workers’ welfare association; its
commercial management and operative business, however, are completely independent.
Despite criticism and disbelief from certain quarters,
there is no lack of projects that center around occupation
in general and gainful employment in particular. And it
has long since been a recognized fact that “occupation”
does not mean digging holes and then filling them in
again: it rather means applying oneself to sensible, useful
tasks – useful in the sense that concrete demand exists
for such tasks, along with a willingness to pay for the
acquisition and use of the end products. “Manufacturer’s
pride” is elemental in fostering commitment and cultivating intrinsic motivation so that controls, checks and
instructions are not needed every step of the way. Not a
mark of the subsidies granted – which, incidentally,
increasingly comprise a mix of funds from the relevant
departments at the City of Munich, the Labor Office, and
the Free State of Bavaria (especially those funds drawn
from the European Social Fund) – is used to make the
products cheaper. Instead, these resources serve as the
“reward” (in the widest sense) for the educational and
development work performed, which engenders stability
and improves qualification. If you have ever ordered a
made-to-measure item of furniture from Anderwerk (an
angled kitchen unit, say, with a built-in desk module), you
will know that you do not have to worry about the quality.
However, social commitment noticeably reaches its
limits when you receive the invoice! This is where
market forces come into play!
Alongside people with mental illnesses, whom we offer
a dignified way of at least earning a sizeable part of their
living by the work of their own hands, an entirely different
category of people also falls within the scope of what we
have come to see as our “target group”: older people –
over 50 according to official statistics, but in practice
often those who are past 45 – many of whom have seen
their employers go bankrupt or have been forced out for
their alleged “lack of flexibility or performance”.
But how does one go about making the vast experience
of older employees available to younger colleagues?
How can it be transferred systematically? At Anderwerk,
we have found that the disassembly and retrieval of
valuable spare parts presents an interesting new sphere
of activity – an area from which attractive training modules could undoubtedly be derived, including practical
content and examples for which there would never be
room in the busy routine of any “normal” vehicle repair
shop.
This example alone shows how employment and qualification companies can make a very innovative contribution both on a technical and organizational level and
with regard to didactic methodologies. The 40 or so AFI
operations and vocational youth assistance (BBJH)
projects* in Munich concentrate heavily on such aspects.
Their focus is not on homogeneous mass production that
can compete with wage levels in, say, Portugal or
Thailand. If you like, these companies seek to combine
two complementary "product lines”: the goal of human
development; and the creation of useful products or
services for the customer. In either case, the end result
is always “hand-crafted”; at most small-series production
methods are used; and the customer’s exact specifications are followed to the letter.
Projects, institutions and companies that advise, develop
and operate under the auspices of the Munich Employment and Qualification Program have thus carved out a
regular niche for themselves in the “Munich cluster” that
is so highly regarded in Germany and throughout Europe.
This cluster combines an almost unique array of every
conceivable kind of vendor and supplier: producers and
manufacturers; old and new economy companies; production-oriented service providers; and service-oriented
production firms!
* Thanks to the activities of the Youth and Labor Offices,
BBJH projects have, in Munich in particular, emerged as
a separate entity to which consulting, employment and
qualification assignments are entrusted.
81
Economic activity that gave due consideration to
ecological issues was long believed to be an inherent
contradiction. Too much emphasis was placed on retroactive environmental protection. To then selfishly seek to
make a “profit” on such clean-up operations was felt to
be the ultimate irony.
82
Enter Ökoprofit® Graz, whose aim was – and always has
been – to overcome old prejudices and shatter taboos.
Ökoprofit (the name derives from the German acronym
for “Ecological Project for Integrated Environmental
Technology”) is a program of preventive corporate care
for the environment. The project aims to apply concrete
measures which improve corporate environmental protection – saving on energy and raw materials, reducing
waste and emissions – and which thereby also cut costs.
To achieve this goal, the Graz Environment Office, the
companies that participate in the scheme, professional
environment consultants, and an assortment of business
associations collaborate in the context of workshops;
advice is provided to local companies; and Ökoprofit®
teams collate relevant environmental data and formulate
environmental protection programs for the corporate
sector. An extensive range of practical working materials
lays the foundation for workshops and consulting
sessions. Companies that successfully complete the
Ökoprofit® program are distinguished accordingly by
their local authority.
Even though creating the right climate for innovation and
sustainable development is actually one of their main
responsibilities in this area, it still came as some surprise
to find politics and public authorities boldly leading the
way into such a potential minefield. However, it was only
when the business and scientific communities also threw
their weight behind the venture that the first verifiable
successes were scored.
Ökoprofit® shows the way
Dr. Karl Niederl,
Director, Environment Department,
Municipal Corporation, Graz, Austria
A thoroughly professional attitude on all sides has helped
earn the project the respect it needs if it is to unfold
its full impact on a large scale. Today, the range of Ökoprofit® companies spans everything from small upstart
businesses through solid SMEs to large enterprises of
international standing. More than 300 firms in Austria
have now discovered for themselves that cooperation
between companies and local authorities to link business
considerations with environmental constraints can be a
profitable business, on several counts: by ensuring a
positive image; by transferring knowledge and creating a
competitive advantage; and simply by improving net
income.
The “club” of Ökoprofit® companies and municipalities
has enjoyed strong international growth and will continue
to act as a multiplier, convincing more and more businesses and local governments that practicing a policy of
sustainability really does pay: the path from Ökoprofit®
workshop to actual implementation is astonishingly
short, direct and efficient.
83
The City of Munich was the first city in Germany to adopt
the Ökoprofit® concept as part of its “Local Agenda 21”.
Munich has since done much to help the idea of “applied
sustainability” – in which local authorities can play an
active, seminal role – to achieve widespread acceptance.
Over 20 German local authorities, from small and
medium-sized towns through rural communities to
collaborative clusters to major cities, today implement
the principles of Ökoprofit®. And the number is growing
all the time.
A practical example of
how economic and ecological interests can be
reconciled: over a 25year period, this former
landfill site has been
transformed into a leisure and recreation area
Photographic sources
84
Munich Tourist Office, archive 20
Lenbachhaus, archive 56
ARGENTA Internationale Anlagegesellschaft mbH 67
BioM AG 45
BMW Press Corps., cover, 3rd from right, 16,
17
Achim Bunz, cover, 4th from right, back cover,
3rd and 4th from right, 15, 57, 61
Burda Media Holding 46
Karsten de Riese 70
Volker Derlath 53, 58, 59
Deutsche Bank 65
Deutsche Telekom 40
Fraunhofer Society 18, 26, 27
Werner Hennies, back cover, 2nd from
right,73
Bernhard Hiepe 51
Wilfried Hösl 54, 55
HypoVereinsbank 14, 62
Chamber of Industry and Commerce 78, 79
City of Munich
Department of Labour and Economic
Development 22, 23, 71 (top), 72
Department of Urban Planning and
Construction 64
Max Planck Societies 24, 25
Elisabeth Mühlbauer 80
Maria Mühlberger 60
Stefan Müller-Naumann 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 29,
36, 48, 49, 69, 71 (bottom), 76, 83
MWM 50
Nemetschek AG 39
Sophie Seitz 21
Siemens, cover, 2nd from right, 9, 10, 11
Stadtwerke München GmbH 74, 75
Jens Weber, cover, 1st from right,
back cover, 1st from right
Published by:
Landeshauptstadt München
Referat für Arbeit und Wirtschaft
Herzog-Heinrich-Strasse 20
80336 München
Chief editor:
Dr. Reinhard Wieczorek
Head of Department of Labour
and Economic Development
Councilor
Editorial team:
Rita Müller-Roider
Petra Müller
Claudia Hörter
Layout and design:
Büro für Gestaltung
Wangler & Abele
Veronika Wucher
English translation:
Nigel Robinson
Printed by: Peschke Druck
Circulation: 2500
Munich, May 2001

Munich Means Business

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