Berlin International Green Week (), also called simply Green Week, is an important international trade fair held annually in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, for processors and marketers in agriculture, horticulture and various food industries. Green Week traditionally takes place at the beginning of the year in the

Messe Berlin Messe Berlin (') are exhibition grounds in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf precinct of Berlin, Germany, at Masurenallee opposite the Haus des Rundfunks. Since 2011, they have officially been known as "Berlin ExpoCenter City" and operated by th ...

exhibition halls under the Funkturm and is open to the general public. In 2010 it had around 400,000 visitors. That same year, the Paris International Agricultural Show () had 650,000 visitors. , the fair is accompanied by protests themed ''

We are fed up We are fed up! () is the theme of a series of demonstrations in Germany against industrial livestock production and for more sustainable farming. The biggest demonstrations take place every year in Berlin since 2011 and attract up to 30,000 peopl ...

!''. Between 15,000 and 30,000 people demonstrate against

industrial livestock production Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms, also known as factory farming, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to mass animal husbandry designed to maximize production while minimizing cos ...

and for more sustainable farming.

History

Berlin 1932 Prize Plaque Medal International Green Week

The first green week (not yet "international") was held from 20 to 28 February 1926, when an employee at the Berlin Tourism Office had the idea to combine the traditional winter meeting of the

German Agricultural Society The German Agricultural Society (''Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft''), commonly known as DLG, is an international non-profit organisation serving the agricultural industry in Germany. DLG was founded in 1885 by Max Eyth, has over 23,000 membe ...

with an agricultural exhibition as a secondary showcase for fair participants. Green Week owes its name to the green felt coats () worn by German foresters and farmers. In the first year, there were 50,000 visitors and the fair had covered an area of 7,000 m². Green Week took place every year until 1939, with the exception of 1938 because of an outbreak of European

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

. After the devastation of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Green Week resumed in 1948. After a break in 1951 due to major postwar construction, the fair was held again in 1951 and every year since. Participation of foreign exhibitors increased continuously: by 1963 they accounted two-thirds of exhibitors. After

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in the 1990s, Green Week grew substantially. Special shows on topics such as "German Cheese" and since 2005 a technical program of over 250 lectures, seminars and symposia round off the exhibition.

References

External links

Official Website

{{Coord, 52, 30, 18.2, N, 13, 16, 41.45, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BE, display=title Agricultural shows Annual events in Berlin Food industry in Germany Recurring events established in 1926 Trade fairs in Germany

History

See also

References

External links