Moving and shaking. “It‘s like a bid for the Olympics,” says a happy Philipp Murmann of the Schleswig-Holstein Research Forum. “We are happy to announce that after Kiel 2011 we will be hosting the event again in 2022.” He means the national finals of the young researchers’ contest “Jugend forscht”, which will come to Lübeck for the first time from 26 to 29 May 2022. With 1,200 expected guests the Hanseatic city will shine in MINT .
Mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology – MINT for short – are disciplines close to the heart of Jan Lindenau, Mayor of Lübeck. The 38-year-old youngest-ever wearer of the chain, sees this as an “extraordinary decision”, which will make a “nationwide impact”. The national Jugend forscht finals are organised by Kathrin Ostertag, Project Manager of Lübeck Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Hotel rooms have been booked, as have the Gollan shipyard and the MuK Music and Congress Centre. In the MUK rotunda 220 young scientists will present 120 projects; 80 former winners have also been invited.
Eike-Christian Fock, MICE Manager at Lübeck and Travemünde Marketing says: “We recently appointed the first two Congress Ambassadors at our Academic Evening. Jan Lindenau is one, being very committed to winning new events.”
With the “knowledge element” the Mayor wants to pave the way to making his city debt-free. Also by investing in Lübeck‘s most important fields of expertise. This includes congresses such as that of the German ENT Society with 2,500 delegates at MuK in 2018. As one of the oldest dedicated congress centres in Schleswig-Holstein, MUK is celebrating its 25th anniversary in October 2019. Thanks to a major revamp, it will gradually shine in new splendour. After completion of the second phase in 2022 MUK will be an accessible venue with a strong focus on sustainability.
When asked to tell us her favourite place, MUK boss Ilona Jarabek talks about future investments: “I like to be on MuK’s roof, from there you have great views of the city. Ideal for a roof-top bar – perhaps my dreams will come true …”
Visions that will give a boost to the innovative power of Germany‘s northernmost state. Reinhard Meyer, erstwhile Minister of Economics, Labour, Transport and Technology, initiated “Tourism Stra‧tegy Schleswig Holstein 2025” in 2014. Not to be understood as a static project, it is rather a dynamic process. Dr. Bettina Bunge, Managing Director of Schleswig-Holstein Tourism Agency (TASH) since 2017, was inspired by this momentum in Kiel and has implemented it in her work: “We are the federal state with expertise in renewable energies, life sciences, the food, maritime and digital industries, as well as tourism.”
The TASH boss founded Schleswig Holstein Convention Bureau (SHCB) to ensure that these fields of expertise will also benefit the meetings industry: “We have established an agency for impartial and free advice. Already established local convention bureaux such as lübecKongress, Sylt Marketing, Husum Tourism and City Marketing and Convention Office Kieler Förde are closely involved.” Veit Schröder is Head of the SHCB in Kiel.
Big plans are on the agenda in Kiel. In January, the city council of the SH federal state capital decided to build an event and congress centre on the castle grounds: “A directly adjacent concert hall would fit in perfectly with the concept,” says council member Daniel Pollmann. “Traffic connections are ideal and there is enough parking space. In addition, the city of Kiel has owned the premises since early this year. This can be very helpful for our future plans.”
Known for all things maritime, Kiel is home to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Institute for Oceanography of Christian Albrecht University, which also offers conference space. Other venues include Sparkassen Arena Kiel and Cruise Terminal Ostseekai. A further 9-million-euro building will be added to the latter by 31 March. There is also a lot going on in the hotel scene of the city with a population of 250,000: Within three years, 1,150 new hotel rooms are to be added.
Half an hour‘s drive west, in rustic Büdelsdorf, drainage specialist ACO offers capacities for 2,000 guests in its own centre, including the 120-year-old Thormannhalle. The Alte Meierei restaurant is in charge of catering. Other exciting venues further inland include Rendsburg with its trade fair and Grüner Camp agriculture centre, as well as Neumünster‘s Holstenhallen, home of Nordbau trade fair.
Wind and e-sports, water and sustainability – Husum has wide-ranging fields of expertise. The city of 18,000 people on the North Sea coast has become the cradle of the wind industry. Thanks to Husum Wind, a fair established in 1989, it has evolved into a congress city. One of the most important projects is the first Husum Coast & Prevention Conference at Messe Husum & Congress in late October 2019. The team under Arne Petersen has identified coastal protection as an important field of innovation in the face of climate change.
A topic that also directly affects Sylt, Schleswig Holstein‘s most famous island, which invested 5 million euros in coastal protection in 2018. “Sylt is not only the largest of the North Sea islands, but also the most endangered,” says Hendrik Brunckhorst, Spokesman of the Federal State Agency for Coastal Protection, National Parks and Marine Protection. The island lacks a sand bank like Amrum. But one thing it doesn’t lack is a congress centre.
And this one is well booked. Westerland‘s former spa centre offers 800 seats in total and is popular with doctors: For more than 60 years, Schleswig Holstein’s Dentists‘ Association has hosted its CPD congress there each June. Sylt International Week on Anaesthesiology in September lures around 900 delegates to the centre on the promenade.
The annual Palliative Congress with almost 700 guests in March has seen the strongest growth. Angelika Haarz of the events department of Sylt Tourism Service enthuses: “The delegates’ passion for their topic warms my heart. The people are so innovative, as is the organiser.” And Congress Centrum Sylt chimes in with this: “We invest a lot in technology. We don‘t wait for customers to express their wishes. So nobody will be disappointed.” And with these words he has already described Schleswig Holstein’s seventh element: Great attention (to detail).
