Trailblazing spirit without role models
A book series about East Germany takes up the success story of the Adlershof Technology Park
Adlershof is more than a tech site. It’s a symbol of what East Germany can achieve when courage, creativity and political will come together. The book series Denke ich an
Ostdeutschland … takes up this theme.
When the Wall came down, Roland Sillmann was not in East Berlin but in idyllic Baden-Württemberg. Though he is not a born East German, no place has shaped him as profoundly as Adlershof in Berlin’s Southeast. The site is now considered Germany’s most successful technology park. The story behind Adlershof is a textbook example of the impact of courage, drive, and self-confidence—in spite of, or indeed because of the lack of role models.
Sillmann, who has been CEO of WISTA Management GmbH for ten years and comes from a working-class background, remembers his own thinking: pursuing a leadership career? owning one’s own business? These were distant thoughts. Without role models to look up to, self-confidence had to be built the hard way—a feeling shared by many East Germans after 1989, looking upon the ruins of their careers following the end of socialism.
Yet something unexpected happened in Adlershof. In the early 1990s, local policymakers dared an experiment: They planned to create an “integrated landscape of science and business” on the derelict grounds of the broadcasting company and the Academy of Sciences of former East Germany. To many, the idea was positively absurd—why here? In the middle of nowhere? But the people on the ground refused to give up. They rolled up their sleeves, started businesses, and developed ideas. Without role models, but with unyielding determination.
To ensure that examples like Adlershof’s success story are not forgotten, the book series Denke ich an Ostdeutschland … (“When I think of East Germany …”) aims to bring them to public attention. Initiated and published by Frank and Robert Nehring, the series has gathering voices, experiences, and ideas from and for eastern Germans since 2024. The father-and-son-duo called the first volume “a shot in the dark that hit the mark.” A second volume followed, thanks to the overwhelming response—accompanied by the platform ostdeutschland.info, which brings together current debates on the topic. Their goal: to provide inspiration, foster understanding, and build bridges between East and West.
Fifty-four new voices now broaden the panorama. They include entrepreneur Knuth Baumgärtel, who describes how eastern German business culture, born of scarcity, fostered independence; former world champion speed skater Franziska Schenk, now a presenter and head of online at MDR; and Markus Meckel, the last foreign minister of the GDR.
Volume two continues to reflect on Germany’s division—without succumbing to nostalgia. It also reflects on Adlershof. A technology site in Berlin’s Southeast that interwove research and industry like few others have. Today, nearly 30,000 people work in Adlershof across 1,300 companies and 18 research institutions. From high-performance lasers and underwater robots to medical compounds—the park’s “hidden champions” deliver world-class innovation.
What’s its secret? Sillmann calls it “the Adlershof mentality”: getting things done when others hesitate. Seeing crises not as the end of something but as a starting point for something new. This attitude has long been passed on to the next generation. Young founders now have real role models—an advantage that many in the 1990s did not have.
While pessimism reigns elsewhere, Adlershof remains optimistic. Responding to surveys, companies cite their employees, their innovative strength, and their networks as the main reasons for confidence. The site’s DNA spells future.
However, Sillmann also offers a critical view. In many regions of East Germany, he says, this spirit of exchange and collaboration is still lacking. Too many opportunities go unused because people fail to connect. His appeal: more community spirit, more celebrations, more open doors. Proximity, cooperation, and creativity—the ingredients of Adlershof’s success—can be cultivated anywhere.
His conclusion: Instead of clinging to the cliché of a “discontented East”, it takes self-confidence to write one’s own success stories. Adlershof proves that it can be done. The newest edition of the When I think of East Germany … series offers many a inspiration to continue writing the success story of East Germany in many shapes and forms.
Rico Bigelmann for Potenzial
Book series on ostdeutschland.info