Welcome to the heart of Europe Find out | Invest | Reap the benefits More than 2,800 advertising boards in 16 German cities promoted Erfurt in 2014/2015. The confident message of this campaign? Erfurt is growing and continues to develop at a rapid pace. Inhalt Contents A city at the heart of the action. Erfurt is growing 2 In the heart of Germany. Location and transport links 4 A growing city. Projects for the future 6 Reinventing the heart of the city. ICE-City Erfurt 8 On fertile soil. Industry in Erfurt 10 Already bearing fruit. Leading companies 12 A region ready for take-off. The Erfurt economic area 16 A meeting place in the heart of Europe. Conferences and conventions 18 A passion for teaching and research. Campus Thuringia 20 A city to capture your heart. Life in Erfurt 24 Welcome to Erfurt. Advice and contact details 28 | 1 Erfurt is growing A city at the heart of the action. Land area of Erfurt: 269 km2 2 | Erfurt is growing Erfurt is going places! It’s not for nothing that the Cologne Insti- Most of the old town has been restored The many companies that have moved tute for Economic Research named Erfurt and combines medieval charm with the to Erfurt in recent years are making this among the ten most dynamic cities in buzz of an urban centre. possible. Germany in its 2014 rankings. You can see Erfurt, the regional capital of Thuringia, the changes everywhere and sense a spirit is a prime hotspot for development and, ‘Erfurt is growing’ is therefore the confi- of dynamism: all kinds of housing projects as such, offers the many young people who dent message that is currently being heard are being built across the city, new hotels choose to settle here excellent prospects all over Germany. But Erfurt is much more are on the brink of completion, and Erfurt for the future. It scores highly in rankings than that: it is also one of the country’s train station is being turned into a hub for of locational factors such as quality of prettiest cities, is centrally located and Germany’s high-speed ICE trains as well as life, housing and, thanks to a burgeoning continues to establish itself at the heart of the centre of a fantastic new district. labour market, employment opportunities. Germany, and of Europe. 210,000 208,000 206,000 204,000 207,807 202,000 206,380 200,000 198,000 200,949 196,000 199,114 194,000 196,517 192,000 2015 2006 2010 2014 190,000 2002 Population of Erfurt Population growth in Erfurt from 2002 to 30 June 2015 | 3 Location and transport links In the heart of Germany. Erfurt – centrally located and easily accessible Erfurt’s favourable location at the crossroads of two ancient trading routes has always played a part in its development. Today the transport infrastructure that Distances serves the city is better than ever before and makes travelling here a pleasure. to other major European cities Whether you use the intercity train station, the excellent autobahn links or the inter- (km, via motorways) national airport, your journey to Erfurt will be fast, convenient and hassle-free. 210 km Dresden 215 km Hannover 260 km Frankfurt Well-connected 300 km Berlin Erfurt’s autobahn links to the Thuringia 310 km Prague region and the rest of Germany 340 km Stuttgart 360 km Hamburg 365 km Cologne 415 km Munich 555 km Zurich 580 km Amsterdam 580 km Brussels 645 km Bratislava 720 km Vienna 795 km Milan 825 km Paris 840 km Warsaw 840 km Budapest 4 | Location and transport links Journey times from Erfurt main station on InterCityExpress (ICE) trains, including the time savings from 2015/2017 when the new ICE routes are brought into operation ) = current journey time Berlin ) 2:40 h = future journey time y = from Dec 2015 1:50 h 50 min = from Dec 2017 y = time saving Leipzig ) 1:15 h 45 min y 30 min Halle ) 1:20 h 35 min y 45 min ERFURT Frankfurt/Main ) 2:12 h Dresden ) 3:00 h Æ 2:00 h y 1:00 h Nuremberg ) 3:10 h Munich ) 4:30 h 1:20 h y 1:50 h 2:30 h y 2:00 h Road Air Rail The A4 and A71 autobahns meet right Business travellers can park right outside From Berlin via Erfurt to Munich; from outside the city and ensure fast connec- the terminal, check in and use their own Dresden to Frankfurt: changes to Deutsche tions from all directions. Together with or a chartered plane to get to their next Bahn’s railway timetables in 2017 will the eastern bypass, they form the Erfurt meeting – saving a huge amount of time see well over 35,000 people a day depart, ring road, whose twelve junctions provide in the process. Every year Erfurt-Weimar arrive or change at Erfurt train station. rapid access to the entire municipal area Airport registers several thousand small- This will make the city a major hub for and make it quick and easy to reach all aircraft movements. It is also ideal for intercity rail transport in the heart of residential areas and business districts. freight transportation, and holidaymakers Germany. New high-speed routes will Multi-lane feeder roads, such as the B4, in particular appreciate the fast connec- reduce travel times dramatically and will help traffic to flow smoothly into the city. tions to the city centre. Journey times to be coordinated with connecting services, and from the airport on tram line no. 4 are including to the surrounding Thuringia just 20 minutes. region. | 5 Projects for the future A growing city. Infrastructure and housing for the future Buoyant growth and fantastic opportuni- visitors in town on business or for a short Johannes feld estate, which will have its ties for investment – these are remarks break. The city’s hotels and guesthouses own nursery and park, as well as the resi- that are increasingly being heard in con- registered 447,300 guests and 772,500 dential buildings on the former Braugold nection with Erfurt. There’s a lot going on overnight stays in 2014, a new record that brewery site. They are being joined by the in the city right now and people are justi- sustains the upward trend seen over the eco-friendly pilot development at Marien- fiably optimistic about the future. past few years. Tourism is a key economic höhe, the Graphisches Viertel project, factor for Erfurt and this has not been lost in which an old printing works is being Erfurt is an important part of Germany’s on investors, with two newly built hotels turned into nearly 100 rental apartments biggest rail infrastructure project of recent that opened in September 2015 offering with underground parking, the Borntal- decades, German Unity Transport Project 8. an additional 240 beds for guests. Further bogen es tate and the new housing in the The Berlin-Erfurt section will come into hotels are in the pipeline. old town, right by the cathedral. These are operation in December 2015, with Erfurt- just a few examples of what’s possible in Munich to follow in 2017. These new high- But Erfurt is not just a magnet for visitors. Erfurt. speed routes will reduce travel times and For a number of years now, it has experi- the services will be coordinated to make it enced population growth that has greatly Erfurt citizens old and new are looking easier for passengers changing trains. This exceeded all forecasts. New citizens need forward, with great anticipation, to the will make Erfurt even more attractive as a places to live and because there is hardly Federal Horticultural Show in 2021 (BUGA location for meetings, conferences and key any vacant housing stock in the city, a wide 2021). Not least because the plans include business services. range of residential projects are currently new green spaces and parks that will be in the making. The planned and ongoing accessible to all, even after the event, and Erfurt is beautiful and Erfurt is buzzing, developments are spread out across the will make whole areas of the city even and it always leaves quite an impression on entire municipal area and include the more attractive. 12 | 6 | Projects for the future ‘Northern Gera-Aue’ – competition entry for the 2021 Federal Horticultural Show in Erfurt www.buga2021.de 1,800 new residential units being built between 2015 and 2018 2,500 €/m² Average value of new owner-occupied housing Borntalbogen housing project | 7 ICE-City Erfurt Reinventing the heart of the city. ICE-City Erfurt is the name of the new area The ICE-City Erfurt project will be brought that is being created around Erfurt’s main to fruition in several stages. Extensive plan- train station. This state-of-the-art district, ning is required for the development and a place to work, live and do business, will upgrading of this urban area. To ensure the benefit from high-grade real estate, large design quality of each project, architects green spaces and, of course, excellent con- are asked to submit proposals. nections to regional and intercity trains An area the size of 30 football pitches has and local public transport. Because of all been earmarked for hotel, conference and this and more, ICE-City Erfurt offers prime leisure facilities, flexible office and com- opportunities for investors and developers mercial space, restaurants, retail units, looking for optimum transport connections high-end housing and extensive parks and and an attractive environment.