Companies
The German companies behind the stories: short, factual profiles that link to each company's official website.
72 companies
Celonis
Munich-born process mining pioneer that turns system data into a live model of how a business really runs, now feeding that context to enter…
DeepL
Cologne's language AI company, whose translation and writing tools are prized for accuracy and now extend to real-time voice and agentic
Helsing
Munich defence company building AI software, strike drones, underwater gliders and an autonomous combat aircraft for European armed forces.
Infineon Technologies
Neubiberg chipmaker supplying the power semiconductors and microcontrollers that electrify cars, manage energy and secure connected devices.
Isar Aerospace
Launch company near Munich whose Spectrum rocket reached orbit in September 2026, the first commercial orbital launch from continental Europ…
SAP
Walldorf's software giant runs the finance, supply chain and HR systems of much of the world's big business, and is now rebuilding t…
Siemens
The Munich conglomerate behind factory automation, rail systems and smart buildings, now positioning itself as a software company for the in…
TRUMPF
Family-owned maker of sheet-metal machine tools and industrial lasers, including the high-power laser that drives EUV chipmaking.
ZEISS
The foundation-owned optics pioneer whose mirrors make EUV chipmaking possible, alongside microscopes, metrology, surgical systems and spect…
Anschütz
Kiel maker of ship navigation and bridge systems, founded in 1905 by gyrocompass pioneer Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe. Albert Einstein was its p…
BASF
Ludwigshafen chemical group founded in 1865, whose 1913 ammonia plant at Oppau industrialised the Haber-Bosch process and with it high-press…
BRITA
Family company from Taunusstein, Hesse, that launched the first household water filter jug in the early 1970s; named after the founder's…
Bayer AG
Leverkusen life sciences group in pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science, founded in 1863 and the company that registered the Asp…
Beckhoff Automation
Owner-managed automation company from Verl that pioneered PC-based control and developed the EtherCAT industrial Ethernet standard and TwinC…
Beiersdorf
Hamburg skin care group behind NIVEA, Eucerin and La Prairie, founded in 1882 on a patent for medical plasters and still majority-controlled…
BioNTech
Mainz biotech that co-developed the first approved mRNA vaccine and is now concentrating on cancer immunotherapies and mRNA medicines.
Birkenstock
Footwear maker built around a contoured cork footbed, whose two-strap Arizona sandal of 1973 went from orthopaedic oddity to a global fashio…
Black Forest Labs
Freiburg AI lab founded by researchers behind Stable Diffusion, building the FLUX family of image, video and robotics models.
Bosch
Foundation-owned technology group spanning automotive systems, industrial technology, power tools and heating, now reorganising for a toughe…
CLAAS
Family-owned agricultural machinery group from Harsewinkel, known for LEXION combine harvesters, JAGUAR forage harvesters and a growing trac…
DATEV eG
Member-owned Nuremberg cooperative that supplies tax advisers, auditors and their clients with accounting, payroll and tax software and data…
Drägerwerk
Lübeck-based medical and safety technology group making ventilators, anaesthesia machines and patient monitors, plus breathing apparatus and…
ENERCON
Wind turbine maker from East Frisia, known for gearless direct-drive onshore turbines, and owned by a foundation set up by its founder Aloys…
Faber-Castell
Pencil maker near Nuremberg founded in 1761, run by the same family for eight generations and best known for the green Castell 9000 graphite…
Festo
Family-owned automation specialist known for pneumatic and electric drive technology, technical education and its striking bionic research r…
Forschungszentrum Jülich
One of Europe's largest research centres. Home of JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer, and of the giant magnetoresistance…
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Munich-based applied research organisation running dozens of institutes across Germany; its Fraunhofer IIS team in Erlangen invented the mp3…
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Germany's research centre for aeronautics, space, energy and transport, and the home of the German Space Agency. It flies the TanDEM-X r…
Giesecke+Devrient
Munich security technology group founded in Leipzig in 1852. Prints banknotes for central banks and supplies SIM, eSIM, payment cards and id…
HARIBO
Family-owned confectioner that invented the gummy bear in 1922 and turned its Goldbears into one of the most recognisable sweets in the worl…
Heraeus
Family-owned technology group from Hanau: precious metals, quartz glass for chip fabs and optical fibre, bonding wire, medical materials. Ca…
Herrenknecht AG
Builds tunnel boring machines for metros, rail, road, water and utility tunnels, from microtunnelling rigs to giant shields, and supports th…
Herrnhuter Sterne GmbH
Manufactory in Herrnhut, Upper Lusatia, that hand-folds and glues the original 25-point Moravian star, a Christmas decoration born as a geom…
Hohner Musikinstrumente
Harmonica and accordion maker founded in 1857 in Trossingen, whose Marine Band has been in continuous production since 1896 and whose instru…
KUKA
Augsburg robot maker whose orange arms build cars worldwide, owned by China's Midea since 2017 and reportedly weighing a listing in Chin
Kärcher
Family-owned cleaning technology group from Winnenden, best known for high-pressure cleaners, with ranges for homes, professionals, industry…
LAMY
Heidelberg writing instrument maker known for Bauhaus-influenced design, from the LAMY 2000 of 1966 to the safari school pen of 1980; part o…
Leica Camera AG
Wetzlar camera maker whose 1925 Leica I popularised 35 mm photography and whose M rangefinder system, launched in 1954, is still in producti…
MTU Aero Engines
Germany's leading aero-engine maker: partner in the GTF, V2500 and GEnx engines, sole supplier of the PW1100G-JM low-pressure turbine, a…
Max Planck Society
Germany's leading basic research organisation, with 85 institutes. Its transfer arm, Max Planck Innovation, turned discoveries such as t…
Mecklenburger Metallguss (MMG)
Foundry on Lake Müritz that casts some of the world's largest ship propellers, up to 10 metres and over 100 tonnes, for container ships,…
Melitta Group
Family-owned Minden group built on Melitta Bentz's 1908 paper coffee filter; today it makes filters, coffee, coffee machines and househo…
Mercedes-Benz Group
Stuttgart car maker descended from the firms of Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, and the company that made the passenger safety cell and crum…
Merck KGaA
Darmstadt science and technology group, family-controlled since 1668, active in healthcare, life science tools and materials for chipmaking.
Miele
Family-owned maker of premium domestic appliances and commercial machines, founded in 1899 and still run by the Miele and Zinkann families f…
NEURA Robotics
Swabian robotics company building cognitive collaborative robots, mobile platforms and the 4NE1 humanoid, with its own AI and developer ecos…
OroraTech
TUM spin-off operating a constellation of thermal-infrared satellites for wildfire detection; 20 satellites in orbit as of October 2026, plu…
Ottobock
Prosthetics and orthotics maker from Duderstadt, founded in 1919 and listed in Frankfurt since 2025, known for microprocessor knees and bion…
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
Germany's national metrology institute. It realises the country's legal time, runs the atomic clocks behind the DCF77 radio signal a…
Playmobil (geobra Brandstätter)
Toy brand from Zirndorf near Nuremberg, launched in 1974 with Hans Beck's 7.5 cm figures and made by geobra Brandstätter, part of the Ho…
Porsche AG
Sports car maker from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen whose rear-engined 911 has been in continuous evolution since 1963 and remains the benchmark fo…
Proxima Fusion
Max Planck spin-out in Munich designing stellarator fusion power plants with high-temperature superconducting magnets, starting with the Alp…
Q.ANT
TRUMPF-born Stuttgart company building photonic processors on thin-film lithium niobate that compute with light; its NPUs run at LRZ and Jül…
Quantum Systems
Bavarian maker of electric vertical take-off fixed-wing drones for reconnaissance and mapping, now one of Europe's leading defence techn…
SCHOTT AG
Specialty glass and glass-ceramic maker based in Mainz and owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, known for ZERODUR, CERAN and pharmaceutical g…
SMA Solar Technology
Hessian manufacturer of solar inverters and storage systems for homes, businesses and utility-scale plants, spun out of the University of Ka…
STIHL
Family-owned maker of chainsaws and outdoor power tools from Waiblingen, founded by Andreas Stihl in 1926 and now pushing hard into battery-…
Sennheiser
Family-owned audio specialist near Hanover making microphones, wireless systems and professional audio; owner of Neumann since 1991. Its con…
Siemens Healthineers
Erlangen-based maker of imaging scanners, laboratory diagnostics and cancer therapy systems, listed in Frankfurt and still majority-owned by…
Siltronic
Maker of hyperpure silicon wafers, 200 mm and 300 mm, for the world's chipmakers; plants in Burghausen, Freiberg, Singapore and Portland…
Steiff
Plush toy maker founded by Margarete Steiff in 1880, whose Bear 55 PB of 1902 was an early teddy bear, marked since 1904 with the famous But…
Teekanne
Family-owned tea company from Düsseldorf, founded in Dresden in 1882, that patented the double-chamber tea bag in 1949; its sister firm Teep…
Tetra
Aquarium and pond care brand from Melle, Lower Saxony, whose TetraMin flake food of 1955 changed fishkeeping worldwide; owned by the US grou…
Vorwerk
Family-owned Wuppertal group that began as a carpet factory in 1883 and now sells the Thermomix food processor and Kobold vacuum cleaners, l…
Wacker Chemie
Chemical group best known for silicones and hyperpure polysilicon. Says every second computer chip is made from its polysilicon, produced in…
Wanzl
Family-owned maker from Leipheim, Bavaria, of shopping trolleys, baskets, airport luggage trolleys, shop fittings and access gates; it descr…
Würth Group
Family-controlled group from Künzelsau that develops and sells fastening and assembly materials to tradespeople and industry through a large…
ZF Friedrichshafen
Automotive and industrial driveline supplier founded in 1915 to make zeppelin gears; maker of the 8HP automatic used by BMW and others. 93.8…
Zalando
Berlin-based fashion and lifestyle platform, listed in Frankfurt, that also sells logistics and software services to other retailers and own…
adidas
Sportswear group from a small Franconian town, founded by Adi Dassler in 1949, whose football boots and terrace trainers have shaped both el…
fischer group
Family-owned Black Forest company behind the fischer wall plug, today active in fixing systems, the fischertechnik construction kits, consul…
n8n
Berlin company behind a source-available workflow automation and AI agent platform that teams can run in the cloud or on their own servers.
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