Trade Fairs in Germany by City and Industry
Picking the right show among dozens of trade fairs in Germany is harder than it looks. The same industry can have two or three candidate events in different cities, and choosing the wrong one means a stand budget spent in front of the wrong buyers.
In this guide you’ll find the biggest German trade fairs, the cities and venues that host them, and which fairs fit each industry, with the next edition of every show.
Which are the biggest trade fairs in Germany?
Germany’s biggest trade fairs are the flagship events of their sector, such as Hannover Messe for industrial technology, bauma for construction machinery, MEDICA for healthcare and ProWein for wines and spirits. They run on some of the largest fairgrounds anywhere.
According to AUMA, the association of the German trade fair industry, Germany has around 70 exhibition centres, and four of the world’s ten largest are located in the country. Around 13 million visitors attend German trade fairs every year.
Hannover Messe describes itself as the world’s leading trade fair for the manufacturing industry. Not every flagship fair is held every year, so checking the cycle before you plan is the first step.
These are the top international trade fairs in Germany and their upcoming editions.
| Trade fair | City and venue | Sector | Next edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hannover Messe | HannoverHannover Exhibition Grounds | Industrial technology | 5-8 April 2027 |
| bauma | MunichMesse München | Construction machinery | 3-9 April 2028Every three years |
| MEDICA | DüsseldorfMesse Düsseldorf | Medical technology and healthcare | 16-19 November 2026 |
| ProWein | DüsseldorfMesse Düsseldorf | Wines and spirits | 7-9 March 2027 |
| drupa | DüsseldorfMesse Düsseldorf | Printing | 9-17 May 2028Every four years |
| Anuga | CologneKoelnmesse | Food and beverages | 9-13 October 2027 |
| ITB Berlin | BerlinMesse Berlin | Travel and tourism | 16-18 March 2027 |
| IFA | BerlinMesse Berlin | Consumer electronics | 3-7 September 2027 |
| Agritechnica | HannoverHannover Exhibition Grounds | Agricultural machinery | 14-20 November 2027 |
| BAU | MunichMesse München | Architecture and building materials | 11-15 January 2027 |
Trade shows in Germany by city
German trade shows are spread across eight main host cities, each with its own fairground and its own specialisms. Outside them, venues such as Hamburg Messe and Messe Essen also host international fairs, for example WindEnergy Hamburg and IPM Essen.
Germany is only part of the picture, since the biggest trade fairs in Europe also run in Barcelona, Milan, Paris and other host cities.
Click a city to jump straight to its trade fairs below.
Frankfurt
Frankfurt’s fairs take place at Messe Frankfurt, with a strong focus on home textiles, consumer goods and building technology. For most exhibitors, planning an exhibition stand in Frankfurt starts months before opening day.
Cologne
Cologne’s fairs are held at Koelnmesse, a reference venue for food, office furniture and hardware, sectors where a custom stand in Cologne has to make room for product displays.
Düsseldorf
Messe Düsseldorf hosts some of the best-known fairs in healthcare, wine and printing, each with very different needs for stand construction in Düsseldorf.
Berlin
Berlin’s international fairs run at Messe Berlin, led by fresh produce, travel, consumer electronics and rail, four very different briefs for exhibition stands in Berlin.
Munich
Messe München is home to major international fairs in construction, architecture and electronics, from heavy machinery at bauma to components at electronica, a wide range for exhibition stand builders in Munich.
Nuremberg
NürnbergMesse hosts the international toy fair Spielwarenmesse alongside major events in organic food and embedded systems.
Hannover
The Hannover Exhibition Grounds, run by Deutsche Messe, host Germany’s flagship fairs for industrial technology and agricultural machinery.
Stuttgart
Messe Stuttgart hosts fairs for industry and logistics, such as LogiMAT for intralogistics, a key date in the calendar for exhibition stands in Stuttgart.
Which German trade fair fits your industry?
The right German trade fair depends first on your sector and your buyers, and then on the city. Here are the fairs in this guide grouped by industry, with some of the stands we’ve built in each sector at fairs across Europe.
If two fairs cover your sector, compare who exhibits and who visits each trade show in its latest edition. The biggest exhibitions in Germany are not always the ones your buyers actually attend.
Technology
Germany’s technology calendar is led by IFA in Berlin for consumer electronics, electronica in Munich for electronic components and embedded world in Nuremberg for embedded systems. Our past technology projects include ADA, DTONE and Wiko, built for product launches as much as for lead generation.
Food
Food and beverage exhibitors have one of the richest German calendars, from Anuga and Anuga FoodTec in Cologne to Fruit Logistica in Berlin, BIOFACH in Nuremberg and ProWein in Düsseldorf. In this sector we’ve delivered stands for Blue Diamond, Mercabarna and Monterosa, where sampling space and cold storage often matter as much as the design.
Industrial
Industrial, construction and logistics brands have the widest choice, with Hannover Messe and Agritechnica in Hannover, bauma and BAU in Munich, ISH and Light + Building in Frankfurt, drupa in Düsseldorf, Eisenwarenmesse in Cologne, LogiMAT in Stuttgart and InnoTrans in Berlin. Our industrial stands include Edwards, Sepro and FAE, where heavy machinery and live demos change what the structure needs to support.
Pharmaceutical and medicine
Healthcare exhibitors in Germany concentrate on MEDICA in Düsseldorf, one of the reference fairs for medical technology. We’ve built for EVA Pharma, K-Pharm and Alliance Healthcare in this space, where compliance and clean, clinical finishes tend to drive the brief.
Consumer goods and travel
Consumer goods brands meet at Ambiente and Heimtextil in Frankfurt, Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg and ORGATEC in Cologne for office furniture. Travel and leisure have their own references in ITB Berlin and boot Düsseldorf. Our consumer and travel projects include Guess, Henkel and Blue Diamond & Nexus, where the stand has to carry the brand as much as the product.
Exhibit at trade fairs in Germany with Contemporanea Eventi
Germany concentrates many of Europe’s flagship trade fairs in eight host cities, and each one draws a different mix of exhibitors and buyers. Choosing well starts with your sector, your buyers and the next edition date, not with the biggest name on the calendar.
Once the fair is chosen, the work moves to the stand itself, and the earlier it starts, the easier it is to organize the trade fair ahead of time without rushing the design. We design, manufacture and build custom stands and booths in our own workshop in Barcelona, with more than 20 years in the sector.
Tell us which fair in Germany you’re planning for, and we’ll prepare a proposal for your stand.
Featured image: aerial view of the Koelnmesse exhibition halls. Photo: Raimond Spekking / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and compressed.
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