Germany's stars
The companies and products that define what Germany builds. Chosen by our editors for their impact on a category, not for size or advertising.
01Star products50 products
Consumer14
Miele washing machines
Premium washing machines built in Gütersloh by the family company that began in 1899 with a tub washer and still designs for long life and repair.
adidas Samba
A low-profile, gum-soled football shoe designed in the 1950s for grip on icy pitches, which became one of adidas's most enduring street shoes.
Steiff teddy bear
Bear 55 PB, the jointed mohair bear designed by Richard Steiff in 1902, which Steiff counts as the first teddy bear and has marked with a Button in Ear since 1904.
Faber-Castell Castell 9000
The green graphite pencil introduced in 1905 by Count Alexander von Faber-Castell, offered in finely graded hardnesses and still a reference tool for artists and draughtsmen.
Melitta coffee filter
The paper coffee filter invented by Dresden housewife Melitta Bentz, registered as a utility model in June 1908 and the founding product of the Melitta Group.
NIVEA Creme
The skin cream developed in Hamburg in 1911 by Oscar Troplowitz and Paul Gerson Unna, sold since 1925 in the blue tin that became one of the world's best-known packages.
Leica M rangefinder
The rangefinder camera system launched with the M3 in 1954, still in production in digital form and still compatible with lenses made seven decades ago.
HARIBO Goldbears
Fruit gum bears launched by HARIBO in 1960, descended from the Dancing Bear that founder Hans Riegel created in 1922.
Neumann U 87 microphone
The large-diaphragm condenser microphone introduced by Neumann of Berlin in 1967, still a standard fixture of recording studios worldwide.
Thermomix
Vorwerk's heating food processor, first sold as the VM 2000 in 1971, which weighs, chops, stirs and cooks and guides users through recipes step by step.
Birkenstock Arizona
The two-strap sandal Birkenstock introduced in 1973, built on its contoured cork footbed and now the brand's best-known model worldwide.
Playmobil figures
The 7.5 cm play figures designed by Hans Beck and presented at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1974, the basis of the Playmobil universe of themed play sets.
LAMY safari
A robust plastic fountain pen unveiled in 1980 by the Heidelberg firm LAMY, designed by Wolfgang Fabian and now a modern design classic.
adidas Predator
The football boot introduced in 1994 with rubber ridges on the upper, based on a concept by former footballer Craig Johnston, to add grip and swerve on the ball.
Software & AI7
MP3 audio format
The audio compression format developed largely at Fraunhofer IIS in Erlangen, fixed as an MPEG standard in 1992 and named .mp3 in 1995, which made digital music portable.
TeamViewer
Remote access software from Göppingen, first released in 2005, that lets a technician see and control a computer anywhere in the world.
Celonis process mining
Software from a Munich university spin-off that reconstructs how business processes really run from the event data in systems such as SAP, then helps fix them.
SAP S/4HANA
SAP's enterprise resource planning suite built for its in-memory HANA database, launched in 2015 as the successor to SAP's earlier ERP systems.
DeepL Translator
Neural machine translation from Cologne, released in August 2017 and known for translations that read naturally rather than word for word.
n8n workflow automation
A Berlin-built automation platform, launched in 2019, where users connect apps, data and AI models in a visual editor and can host it themselves.
FLUX image models
Text-to-image AI models from Black Forest Labs of Freiburg, released from August 2024 by the researchers behind Stable Diffusion, in open and commercial versions.
Industrial machinery6
Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines
Custom tunnel boring machines from Schwanau, used on projects from the Gotthard Base Tunnel to metro lines worldwide, in every geology from hard rock to soft soil.
Kärcher high-pressure cleaners
Kärcher's cleaning business began in 1950 with the DS 350, described as Europe's first hot-water high-pressure cleaner.
STIHL Contra chainsaw
STIHL's first gearless one-man petrol chainsaw, launched in 1959 at 12 kg, which helped make powered chainsaws practical for individual forestry workers.
Heidelberg Speedmaster
The sheetfed offset printing press series launched in 1974 by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, used for commercial and packaging printing around the world.
CLAAS LEXION combine harvester
The combine harvester series launched by CLAAS of Harsewinkel in 1995 with the LEXION 480, presented at the time as the most powerful combine in the world.
RATIONAL iCombi Pro
An intelligent combi steamer for professional kitchens that combines steam and convection heat and adjusts cooking automatically; RATIONAL invented the category in 1976.
Health & Life Sciences5
Aspirin
Acetylsalicylic acid, synthesised in pure form in Bayer's laboratory in 1897 and registered as the Aspirin trademark in 1899, one of the most widely used medicines in history.
Dräger Alcotest
Breath alcohol testing from Lübeck, from the colour-change Alcotest tube of 1953 to electronic devices whose readings are admitted as evidence in court.
Ottobock C-Leg
The microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee presented by Ottobock in 1997, which adjusts resistance in real time to the wearer's gait and terrain.
Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine
The mRNA vaccine developed by BioNTech of Mainz with Pfizer, which on 2 December 2020 became the first COVID-19 vaccine authorised in a Western country.
Siemens Healthineers NAEOTOM Alpha
The computed tomography scanner that Siemens Healthineers describes as the first photon-counting CT in clinical use, introduced in 2021.
Mobility4
Mercedes-Benz safety body with crumple zones
Béla Barényi's 1952 patent for a rigid passenger cell with deformable front and rear, first built into a production car in the Mercedes-Benz W 111 of 1959.
Porsche 911
The rear-engined sports car shown in Frankfurt in 1963 as the 901, renamed 911 and still in production more than six decades later.
Bosch ABS anti-lock braking system
Developed with Mercedes-Benz, Bosch's digitally controlled ABS entered series production in the S-Class in 1978. It keeps wheels from locking under heavy braking and laid the groundwork for later safety systems.
Bosch ESP electronic stability programme
Electronic stability control developed by Bosch, which debuted in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class coupé in 1995 and helps stop cars from skidding out of control.
Semiconductor equipment4
AIXTRON MOCVD systems
Deposition systems from Herzogenrath that grow thin layers of compound semiconductors on wafers, used for LEDs, lasers and power electronics.
TRUMPF EUV drive laser
A high-power CO2 laser system that fires 50,000 pulses a second at tin droplets, creating the plasma that emits the light used in EUV chipmaking.
Infineon CoolMOS
High-voltage power MOSFETs released in 1998, the first commercial products based on the superjunction principle, which cut losses in power supplies.
ZEISS EUV lithography optics
The mirror systems inside every ASML EUV scanner, built by ZEISS SMT to steer 13.5 nm light onto silicon wafers with near-atomic precision.
Automation3
SICK safety laser scanners
Laser scanners from Waldkirch that monitor danger zones around machines and robots and stop them when a person enters a protective field.
Siemens SIMATIC controllers
The automation family Siemens registered as a trademark in 1958, whose programmable logic controllers from the S5 and S7 series run factories around the world.
KUKA industrial robots
Industrial robots from Augsburg, starting with FAMULUS in 1973, described as the first industrial robot with six electromechanically driven axes.
Materials3
Haber-Bosch process
Industrial ammonia synthesis from nitrogen and hydrogen, first operated by BASF at Oppau in 1913. Haber supplied the laboratory process; Bosch led its industrialisation.
fischer nylon expansion plug
The plastic wall plug Artur Fischer patented in 1958: a nylon dowel that expands as a screw is driven in, now a fixture in virtually every toolbox.
SCHOTT CERAN glass-ceramic cooktop
The glass-ceramic cooktop panel SCHOTT launched in 1971, which can be heated to high temperatures without cracking and changed the look of kitchens worldwide.
Energy2
SMA Sunny Boy inverter
The string inverter family for home solar systems from SMA of Niestetal, which converts direct current from solar panels into grid-ready alternating current.
ENERCON gearless wind turbines
Onshore wind turbines without a gearbox: since the E-40 of 1993, ENERCON has driven a large-diameter generator directly from the rotor hub.
Space & Defence2
Quantum Systems Vector
A portable reconnaissance drone from the Munich area, introduced in 2020, that takes off vertically and then flies like a plane; widely used by Ukraine's forces.
Isar Aerospace Spectrum
A two-stage orbital launcher from Ottobrunn near Munich; after a failed first flight in March 2025, it reached orbit from Norway in September 2026.
02Star companies52 companies
Consumer Brands12
Beiersdorf
Hamburg skin care group behind NIVEA, Eucerin and La Prairie, founded in 1882 on a patent for medical plasters and still majority-controlled…
Birkenstock
Footwear maker built around a contoured cork footbed, whose two-strap Arizona sandal of 1973 went from orthopaedic oddity to a global fashio…
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…
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…
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…
Melitta Group
Family-owned Minden group built on Melitta Bentz's 1908 paper coffee filter; today it makes filters, coffee, coffee machines and househo…
Miele
Family-owned maker of premium domestic appliances and commercial machines, founded in 1899 and still run by the Miele and Zinkann families f…
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…
Sennheiser
Family-owned audio specialist near Hanover making microphones, wireless systems and professional audio; owner of Neumann since 1991. Its con…
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…
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…
adidas
Sportswear group from a small Franconian town, founded by Adi Dassler in 1949, whose football boots and terrace trainers have shaped both el…
Automation & Robotics4
Beckhoff Automation
Owner-managed automation company from Verl that pioneered PC-based control and developed the EtherCAT industrial Ethernet standard and TwinC…
Festo
Family-owned automation specialist known for pneumatic and electric drive technology, technical education and its striking bionic research r…
KUKA
Augsburg robot maker whose orange arms build cars worldwide, owned by China's Midea since 2017 and reportedly weighing a listing in Chin
NEURA Robotics
Swabian robotics company building cognitive collaborative robots, mobile platforms and the 4NE1 humanoid, with its own AI and developer ecos…
Enterprise Software4
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…
DATEV eG
Member-owned Nuremberg cooperative that supplies tax advisers, auditors and their clients with accounting, payroll and tax software and data…
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…
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.
Biotech & Life Sciences3
Bayer AG
Leverkusen life sciences group in pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science, founded in 1863 and the company that registered the Asp…
BioNTech
Mainz biotech that co-developed the first approved mRNA vaccine and is now concentrating on cancer immunotherapies and mRNA medicines.
Merck KGaA
Darmstadt science and technology group, family-controlled since 1668, active in healthcare, life science tools and materials for chipmaking.
Industrial Technology3
Bosch
Foundation-owned technology group spanning automotive systems, industrial technology, power tools and heating, now reorganising for a toughe…
Kärcher
Family-owned cleaning technology group from Winnenden, best known for high-pressure cleaners, with ranges for homes, professionals, industry…
Siemens
The Munich conglomerate behind factory automation, rail systems and smart buildings, now positioning itself as a software company for the in…
Medical Technology3
Drägerwerk
Lübeck-based medical and safety technology group making ventilators, anaesthesia machines and patient monitors, plus breathing apparatus and…
Ottobock
Prosthetics and orthotics maker from Duderstadt, founded in 1919 and listed in Frankfurt since 2025, known for microprocessor knees and bion…
Siemens Healthineers
Erlangen-based maker of imaging scanners, laboratory diagnostics and cancer therapy systems, listed in Frankfurt and still majority-owned by…
Tools & Fasteners3
STIHL
Family-owned maker of chainsaws and outdoor power tools from Waiblingen, founded by Andreas Stihl in 1926 and now pushing hard into battery-…
Würth Group
Family-controlled group from Künzelsau that develops and sells fastening and assembly materials to tradespeople and industry through a large…
fischer group
Family-owned Black Forest company behind the fischer wall plug, today active in fixing systems, the fischertechnik construction kits, consul…
Artificial Intelligence2
Black Forest Labs
Freiburg AI lab founded by researchers behind Stable Diffusion, building the FLUX family of image, video and robotics models.
DeepL
Cologne's language AI company, whose translation and writing tools are prized for accuracy and now extend to real-time voice and agentic
Chemicals & Materials2
BASF
Ludwigshafen chemical group founded in 1865, whose 1913 ammonia plant at Oppau industrialised the Haber-Bosch process and with it high-press…
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…
Defence Technology2
Helsing
Munich defence company building AI software, strike drones, underwater gliders and an autonomous combat aircraft for European armed forces.
Quantum Systems
Bavarian maker of electric vertical take-off fixed-wing drones for reconnaissance and mapping, now one of Europe's leading defence techn…
Energy & Climate Tech2
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…
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…
Mobility2
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…
Porsche AG
Sports car maker from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen whose rear-engined 911 has been in continuous evolution since 1963 and remains the benchmark fo…
Optics & Photonics2
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…
ZEISS
The foundation-owned optics pioneer whose mirrors make EUV chipmaking possible, alongside microscopes, metrology, surgical systems and spect…
Agricultural Machinery1
Construction & Heavy Machinery1
E-commerce & Platforms1
Machine Tools & Lasers1
How we select
A star is a company or product that created, defined or still sets the standard in its category, or that is used far beyond Germany. Every profile is written from official sources. We do not publish estimates as facts, and no position on this page can be bought.
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