German Business
Read in German! 
The German economy is the 5th largest in the world, and the largest in Europe. Germany's economy is very export-based: in fact, Germany is the biggest exporter in the world. The German economy is 70% service-based, with tourism being a major componant. There are 5 large, world known corporations that we discuss below. They are Bayer, Siemens, Adidas, BMW, und Volkswagen. These 5 corporations produce medicine, technology, clothes, and cars.
In the medicine sector, Germany is most notable for the company Bayer, the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world. Founded in 1863, Bayer is most famous for its original brand of aspirin. It lost the trademark for its aspirin in some countries, including the United States, but retained it in others, such as Germany. Their logo (the cross) became popular as a way of recognizing Bayer with the aspirin they made. Bayer also discovered, among many others, heroin, methadone, Prontosil, and mustard gas. In a controversial part of its history, Bayer sponsored the human experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele, and hired Fritz ter Meer as its chairman after he had been sentenced at the Nuremburg trials.
Siemens is Europe’s largest engineering conglomerate. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Berlin. It had a reported global revenue of $110.82 billion in 2008. It created the world’s first hydropower station. After World War II, it began to manufacture computers, semiconductor devices, washing machines, and pacemakers. Today, it employs 480,000 people in 190 countries and sponsors the Real Madrid soccer team.
Adidas is the most popular German clothing company, the largest sportswear company in Europe, and the second largest in the world behind Nike. Founded in 1924, it now has listed company revenue of €10.799 billion. Started as a shoe company in the home of Adolf Dassler and his brother Rudi, Adidas started equipping Olympic athletes during the 1928 games. After World War II, when the company shifted to tank manufacturing, the brothers split up and Rudi founded Puma, another well known German sportswear company. Adidas now makes products, clothes and equipment for every kind of sport. Adidas’ expansion company, Reebok, also is popular in the sportswear industry.
There are many other successful German companies which contribute to making them the largest economy in Europe. Porsche, Audi, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz are also well known car companies. Germany also has several other industries, such as chemicals – BASF is the world’s largest chemical company. They have several manufacturing companies, many for automobile parts, such as Continental AG and Daimler, and Bosch. Germany faced many difficulties from reintegrating Eastern Germany into the economy, and has struggled dealing with unemployment rates. Overall, it is the innovation and variety of German products that make them the largest in all of Europe.
Founded in 1916 by Karl Rapp and Gustav Otto, Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) has long held the standard of selling luxury automobiles. In 1917 it gained the name BMW and changed its logo to reflect the patterning of the Bavarian flag. During WWI the company went public but experienced difficulty as they were forced to shut down following WWI due to their heavy war-related production. This caused an immediate shift to peacetime products such as boats, cars, and brakes. After 1924 the automobile industry really gained steam. WWII lead to an increased production of aeronautical motors over automobiles, and the production facilities were mostly Your browser may not support display of this image.destroyed by the end of the war. However, after the company was allowed to manufacture again by the Allied occupation, the company slowly came back to automobile production and began expanding a few years later. Nowadays, the company is known for its sporty luxury cars, primarily sedans and convertibles. The company continues to look forwards, as it has proposed not only more elegant and luxurious vehicles, but also a hydrogen-powered car as well as a car with a fabric skin allowing it to change shape.
OTHER SITES
Need more information about German businesses? Here's where you can find it:
Written by Eric Sawchak ('10) and Mario Accordino ('10).
By using this Site, you agree to be bound by it's Terms of Service.