Success story Adlershof

Dr Hans Kremendahl, born 1948, was State Secretary of the Berlin Senate and Lord Mayor of Wuppertal

It has now been twenty years since “liquidation” had loomed for the 5,500 employees at the Akademie’s location in Berlin Adlershof. The premises presented a bleak prospect. Many were convinced that there was going to be little left over in the wake of Reunification and the inevitable dissolution of institutes and combines. Today, two decades later, this location is now home to about 800 companies, 14,000 employees, high capacity nonuniversity research institutes, the Humboldt University faculties of natural sciences, and a modern media centre. Adlershof is the birthplace of Germany’s largest and best technology park, a figurehead for the German capital.

In 1991, as the Minister of Economic Affairs, I was one of those who believed in Adlershof. We were lucky: We could invest in this location a lot of money from the European Regional Development Fund and the joint task for the improvement of the region’s economic structure – money we converted into infrastructure and business promotion. The decisive contribution for setting up new technology companies came from an unconventional startup programme going under the name of FIT: Over a limited period and without red tape, newly founded companies could receive funds serving purely for setup purposes independently of projects.

Many of these companies are now long established operators at the location. The innovation and founder centre IGZ, the international founders’ centre OWZ, the dedicated technology centres, BESSY II – all of these were part of the initial phase that laid the foundations for a unique success story.

At that time I had often asked Germans from the West to imagine what they would do if the civil service regulations were suddenly repealed with retroactive effect, and professors now had to take their chances on the free markets... precisely what many company founders were faced with in 1990 in East Berlin’s Adlershof. They mastered this challenge, with spectacular results. They can be proud of their achievements, as we all can!

I wish all Adlershofers and WISTAMANAGEMENT GMBH all the best and every success for the future!

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Dr. Hans Kremendahl