GCB German Convention Bureau announces new event venues that add to the country’s top offerings for international planners and delegates.
Opened in 2018, Regensburg’s new marinaforum is a stand-out example for Germany’s sustainability credentials. Located in the new Martina Quartier neighbourhood in walking distance to the elegant riverside city’s Old Town, the marinaforum project turned a former industrial building dating back to 1888 in a state-of-the-art meeting and conference centre and Bavaria’s first sustainable events centre. The project was created along sustainability criteria, including a resource-saving ceiling construction, low emission power as well as first-rate public transport connections, bike parking bays and electric car charging stations. Plus: Sustainable meeting design is supported through a Green Score Card service, enabling clients to create their customised sustainable event by choosing from over 200 different sustainability measures. And, yes, as the name suggests, the marinaforum is only a 5-minute walk away from the beautiful Danube river shore (including beach bars!).
Top Regensburg Tip
Don’t miss making memories on one of Europe’s greatest rivers and book a local river cruise on the Danube.
Only 30 minutes from Frankfurt airport and right in the heart of one of Europe’s oldest spa towns, the RheinMain Congress Center is another new venue with sustainability at its core. As early as three years before its opening in 2018, it was recognised with a special award of the German Sustainable Building Council, making it one of the most sustainable buildings in the world. Its energy efficiency is top-notch, including a rooftop photovoltaic system and natural climate control. Centrally located as a gateway to Wiesbaden’s city centre, conference hotels, shopping streets and restaurants are all in walking distance. The venue also works with a dedicated sustainability consultant, trained in GCB-run courses, who advises clients on sustainable event organisation. The congress centre’s design is based on a highly flexible concept, enabling multi-purpose use of a wide range of spaces for altogether 12,500 people.
Top Wiesbaden Tip
Known as one of Europe’s most beautiful casinos, “Spielbank Wiesbaden” offers guided tours including a little taster roulette session – lots of old-world charm and no risk.
An economic powerhouse in the south and known for its high quality of life, Stuttgart also surprises meeting planners with a variety of creative event spaces: Centrally located “Eberhardhöfe” is the third Stuttgart property of DesignOffices. The on-trend coworking, conference and event space in a historic building is based on New Work design principles, following the goals of Focus, Educate, Collaborate and Socialise. Another new option for event planners are the recently refurbished “Wagenhallen”, once the maintenance halls of the city’s former train depot, that bring a touch of urban cool and industrial chic to business events, exhibitions or concerts (up to 2,000 standing and 980 seated guests), while the new Stuttgart location of creative meeting room provider OutOfOffice offers an easy-going loft space for up to 60 people with a “beach” section for relaxation, a “sports” one for teambuilding and rooftop terrace for alfresco BBQing.
Top Stuttgart Tip:
Make the most of the city’s superb location and put the surrounding vineyards on your event agenda: Delegates can discover one of Germany’s top wine-growing region, including local speciality “Trollinger” and many quaint, family-run estates.
The renovated CCH – Congress Center Hamburg will reopen in 2020 as Germany’s largest and most modern convention centre. Originally opened in 1973 and under modernisation since 2017, the venue will also be among the top 5 in Europe, with 12,000 square metres of exhibition space, a daylight flooded, multi-purpose foyer offering another 12,000 square metres, a roomy outdoor balcony, a 12,000- people seating capacity, a 3,000-person capacity main lecture hall, and 50 mix and match conference rooms. Flexibility is key here, and the CCH is best placed to meet the growing demands for a wider variety of set-ups and attendee requirements, a trend that has also been confirmed in the recent results of the GCB’s second “Future Meeting Space” research phase. Located in the heart of Hamburg and only 20 minutes from the inner city, international Hamburg Airport, the convention centre is also connected to the Radisson Blu which is the largest hotel in town with 556 rooms.
Top Hamburg Tip:
The UNESCO-listed Speicherstadt warehouse complex, largest in the world and a unique reminder of the city’s long history as a trading hub and main port for central Europe. And, of course, there’s the stunning Elbphilharmonie concert hall: Opened in 2017, it became an instant landmark and was last year named as one of the “World’s Greatest Places 2018” by TIME Magazine.
