![Messe (Freiburg) 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Messe_%28Freiburg%29_1.jpg)
Messe Freiburg (literally "Freiburg Trade Fair") is an event area and exhibition grounds in
Freiburg im Breisgau.
History
![Freiburger Frühjahrsmess 6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Freiburger_Fr%C3%BChjahrsmess_6.jpg)
Markets are undividedly connected to the
history of the City of Freiburg. In the year 1120, the establishment of the city tumbled with the market rights.
Conrad I, Duke of Zähringen
Conrad I ( – 8 January 1152) was Duke of Zähringen from 1122 until his death and from 1127 also Rector of Burgundy. He spent most of his life stemming the growing power of the House of Hohenstaufen and to this end, allied himself with the ...
shows all in all that the first fair was allowed to take place because of King
Wenzel of Prague in 1379. Subsequently, Freiburg was on the International Commercial Centre on many occasions during this year. The
Münsterplatz, and also the Stühlinger Kirchplatz, used for leisure activities, were very important centres. Between 1885 and 1914, at least six "people shows"
(
human zoo
Human zoos, also known as ethnological expositions, were public displays of people, usually in a so-called "natural" or "primitive" state. They were most prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. These displays sometimes emphasized the sup ...
) ethnological expositions took place because of the spring and autumn fairs in Freiburg, which were dedicated to people from
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Sri Lanka (previously named as Ceylon). The current ancient fair ground was inaugurated in the east of Freiburg in 1929. This had been used in the past for sporting events. The civic hall, situated on the Schwarzwaldstraße, was established to the east of the ancient fairground in 1954. This was according to the designs of Albert Maria Lehr. In the five decades that followed, the civic hall was used for social events, festivities, concerts, exhibitions and fairs. It was used as the provisional
University Library
An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...
from autumn 2008 until the new UB was completed in July 2015. Since the end of 2015, it served as emergency accommodation for refugees. In the meantime, the hall is under the protection of
historic buildings and monuments.
The decision to move the Messe to the north of Freiburg was made in the nineties. The first construction stage, together with its three halls, was made up of 18,500 m² of floor space and service areas and was only implemented after just short of one and a half years. On January 17, 2000, three years after the appropriate municipal council resolution, the construction stage was put into action. Due to the relocation of the Messe, building sites emerged on the “Alten Messplatz”. These enriched the current surrounding areas of
Wiehre, Oberau, Waldsee and
Littenweiler, including 180 new residences and a huge shopping centre (Zentrum Oberwiehre).
The first public festival took place in autumn 1999 on the new outdoor area known as the "Freiburger Herbstmesse". Due to the investment of 75 million Euros, Freiburg had four times more exhibition space at its disposal than before. Cultural events can now take place in hall 2 with up to 10 000 viewers. On March 25, 2003, the local council in Freiburg decided to build a fourth hall: the Rothaus-Arena. In November 2004, the construction began. The country supported the second construction phase of the Messe with a grant of 2,9 million Euros from the promotion program for investmenting in exhibitions. The total investment for the fourth hall was around 22,9 million Euros, which was predominantly provided by regional companies. The designs for the construction of the first three halls, subsequently the Rothaus-Arena and the expansion of its foyer were award-winning, making it an achievement for the architect, Detlef Sacker, who is from Freiburg. The new hall was inaugurated in 2006 as “Intersolar”, where the singer
Pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
made her appearance at the International Trade Fair.
The first construction stage, as well as the necessary connections to the roads and local public transport, including any further costs were paid with around 12,5 million Euros by the
Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus. 4 million Euros came directly from the state
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
. Another 7 million came into the city treasury through selling property to the state Baden-Württemberg, which was used for expanding the
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
. The city invested more than 10,5 million Euros in creating the Messe Freiburg. Through the commercialization of the old trade fair in the east of the city, on which a new part of town and a shopping center were built, 12 million Euros were generated. The city paid more than 9 million Euros for the external development of the new trade fair and the demoliting of the buildings in the old location. The federal government and the state of Baden-Württemberg paid roughly 10 million Euros. All plans concerning the costs and schedule were kept.
The estimated doubling of the trade fair revenue to six million Euros by 2010 was exceeded in 2007 with more than 7,9 million Euros, and in 2010 with 15 million Euros. The indirect profitability of the Freiburg economy, trade and gastronomy, which was generated by the new trade fair, had tripled to 60 million Euros per year during this time. The biggest events in the last decades included: the
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
in 2000, an open-air concert by
Herbert Grönemeyer with 54000 visitors, the visit of the
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
, several TV-shows (
Wetten, dass..?, Verstehen Sie Spaß?,
Musikantenstadl
Musikantenstadl is a live television entertainment program broadcast in the German language throughout Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. It features Austrian, Swiss, and German popular folk music ( Schlager, Volkstümliche Musik), international ...
,...), the world championships of indoor cycling (in 2005) and
roller figure skating. The number of days when the trade fair was occupied rose from roughly 220 to 330 between 2005 and 2007. The revenue per employee of the Messe Freiburg is by now the highest in the country.
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
held a vigil mass on 24 September 2011, together with 28,000 adolescents on the exhibition ground of the Freiburg Messe, as part of his visit to Germany in 2011.
Location and infrastructure
![Neue messe m](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Neue_messe_m.freiburger_flugplatz.jpg)
The Messe Freiburg is situated 2.5 km northwest of the Freiburg Old Town and is in close vicinity to the airfield, the goods station, parts of the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
, the
University Medical Center and the Industrial Area in the North (Industriegebiet Nord). The Messe Freiburg is connected to the city center by the
Breisgau-S-Bahn
Breisgau-S-Bahn GmbH (''BSB'') was a regional railway operator in the Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It was a subsidiary of Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (SWEG), a transport company owned by the state of Baden-Württ ...
, with the station Neue "Messe/Universität", and since December 2015, by the tram-line 4 used as a part of the Freiburg city railway. The tram-line 4 will be extended by two stations by 2017. In the future the final stop will be "Madisonalle". 4000 Parking spaces are available for visitors who arrive by car.
According to its website, the Messe Freiburg is equipped with four halls, each with an area ranging between 2.400 m² and 4.800 m², totaling up to 21,500 m². Additionally there are 11 conference rooms that can hold up to 420 people, 14 offices are available for rent, as well as an outdoor area of roughly 80.000 m². The area is used to host folk festivals, open-air concerts and exhibitions; it is also available for parking. The catering area contains three food stalls and a restaurant. Exhibition hall 4 is known as "Rothaus-Arena"; it is used as a concert hall, therefore there are adjustable bleachers as well as several seating arrangements. It provides standing room for up to 9,000 people.
In 2006, the company "Goldbeck Solar GmbH" provided a photovoltaic system with an output of 254 kilowatt-peak (kWp) for the Rothaus Arena's 6.500 m² flat roof.
Goldbeck Solar
/ref> The 1.210 solar panels are supposed to generate about 235.000 kilowatt hours of renewable energy per year. In combination with the solar power system, installed by "S.A.G. Solarstrom AG" on another part of the Messe, the power generation may reach around 650 kWp in total.
In keeping with Freiburg's traditions, a Bächle and several cobblestone mosaics have been created.
Operating company
The operating company of the Messe is "Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG" (FWTM), which is under the absolute ownership of the City of Freiburg. The company was founded in 2005 when the separate corporations "Messe Freiburg" and "Freiburg Wirtschaft & Touristik GmbH & Co. KG" (FWT) merged. The FWTM also runs the Freiburg Konzerthaus and several other venues. It is in charge of the economic development and promotion of tourism as well. The FWTM's business executives are Dr. Bernd Dallmann and Klaus W. Seilnacht. The chairman of the board is Dr. Dieter Salomon, the mayor of Freiburg and a member of the Alliance '90/The Greens.
Events
The events and fairs at the Messe Freiburg attract approximately 400,000 visitors each year. The number of events increased from 72 per year in 2002 to over 100 in 2008.
Since the very beginning, the trade fair "Intersolar" has been essential for the economic success of the Messe Freiburg. Thanks to newly created infrastructure, Intersolar had been moved from Pforzheim
Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany.
It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...
to Freiburg in 2000, where it is still organized, even after relocating to Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
because of its growing size, under the direction of the FWTM and their partner "Solar Promotion". Today Intersolar represents the FWTM in the US and in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It generates more than half of the Messe Freiburg's turnover. Apart from Intersolar, the leading trade fair in the brush industry "INTERbrossa-BRUSHexpo" (Interbrush) takes place in Freiburg every four years.
In the field of consumer fairs, the Messe Freiburg increasingly focuses its own events on special-interest fairs such as the connoisseur fair "Plaza Culinaria", the "International Kulturbörse", the construction fair "Gebäude Energie Technik", or the property fair "IMMO". Furthermore, there are the traditional "Baden-Messe", the "CFT - Camping, Freizeit und Touristik", the "Automobil", the "Modellbau" as well as two second-hand car fairs and numerous guest shows. Twice a year, there is the "Freiburger Mess" held on the open-air grounds. It is the largest funfair in the region and attracts up to 170,000 visitors. Additionally, there are various markets, circuses and conventions.
Literature
* Manuel Armbruster: ''"Völkerschauen" um 1900 in Freiburg i. Br. - Kolonialer Exotismus im historischen Kontext''. Freiburg 201
(PDF; 1,6 MB)
(German)
* Peter Lepold: ''Freiburger Messe: ... ein Bummel durch ihre Geschichte.'' Promo-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1984 (German)
External links
Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG
References
{{coord, 48.0158, N, 7.8404, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Fairgrounds
Buildings and structures in Freiburg im Breisgau
Economy of Germany
Trade fairs in Germany
Convention centres in Germany
Tourist attractions in Freiburg im Breisgau
Event management companies of Germany