Made in Adlershof: Industry is returning to Berlin

Adlershof is not only a research and technology location, it is also increasingly developing into a production site.

The Czech Republic? Poland? China? These were the places originally considered by the management of Weinberg-based seals manufacturer Freudenberg as potential locations for their new production plant. Eventually, however, the ground for the 12,800 square metre production plant was broken on Groß-Berliner Damm in Adlershof in May 2010. The science location has made the race. And justly so: “Here, we find all we need. Topquality commercial spaces, excellent transport links, relatively short journey times to work and an innovative overall surrounding,” explains Claus Möhlenkamp, chairman of Freudenberg’s seals and vibration technology business. In his view, the investment is a definite commitment to Berlin. From spring 2011 onwards, 200 employees will produce rubber cups for the shaft drives of cars and machines.

Lamentations about the inexorable decline of Berlin as an industrial location seem unfounded. In Adlershof, activities do not focus solely on research, but also on production. The same is true for solar technology specialist Sulfurcell. In his Adlershof office, Nikolaus Meyer, the company’s founder and CEO, has worked for years on the development and testing of cost-efficient production modes for his innovative and elegant pinstripe-look thin-film solar modules. Finally, in autumn 2009, he was ready to open a brand-new facility for the mass production of his modules on Groß-Berliner Damm. Of course, the building is equipped with a solar façade.

A further example is SOLON SE, Germany’s first quoted solar manufacturer and one of the leading solar technology manufacturers in Europe. In 2006, they decided in favour of relocation to Adlershof and now employ 115 staff for solar module production. “In Adlershof, we benefit from a well-trained workforce and good transport links,” says SOLON manager Stefan Säuberlich. Tracks are made even faster, because Adlershof is the location of the research and production centre, the head of the company. Furthermore, new production methods are tested here. As Säuberlich puts it: “Adlershof is, as it were, the nucleus of our innovations.”

by Chris Löwer