Cologne's economy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trade, industry, culture: sculpture on the Cologne exhibition tower

Cologne is one of the most important business locations in Germany . The connection to the Rhine , the convenient location ( motorway junction , railway junction ), the proximity to the Ruhr area and the Benelux countries have always determined the economic picture of Cologne, which is characterized by a strong diversification of many industries .

Historical industries

Ancient economic metropolis

In Roman times, the settlement, which was raised to the Roman colony Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium in 50 , developed into an ancient economic metropolis. The convenient location on the Rhine created the essential prerequisites for this; at the same time the important highways of Lower Germany met here . The flourishing trade - u. a. Salt, wood and agricultural products - the CCAA began to shape the province as early as the 1st century . At the same time, the transport industry developed into an important branch of the economy. The glassmaking trade benefited from the pure quartz sands found nearby , so that the CCAA developed into the center of glass production in Lower Germany; however, only a little of it was exported to distant regions. The Franconian invasions and the Frankish conquest of Cologne in 455, with which the Roman influence in the region was steadily pushed back, seem to have dampened the economic development in the transition from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages .

City of long-distance trade and the Hanseatic League

Around the year 1000 Cologne can be described as one of the most important market places in the empire, which had developed an extensive network of long-distance trading relationships. The most important place of long-distance trade in Cologne was London , where the merchants founded a Cologne Hanseatic League and moved into a guild hall , which was privileged by the English king from 1167 onwards. In addition, the people of Cologne had very intensive trade relations with Flanders and lively relations with Italy. This Rhenish traffic line had already developed in Roman times and carried goods traffic across the Rhine to Basel.

The relationship between Cologne and the Lübeck Hanseatic League was characterized by opportunistic cooperation. The Steelyard , the London Hansekontor, was dominated for more than two-thirds of the Cologne merchants; however, the privileges applied to all Hanse merchants. When the Kaufmannshanse developed into a Städtehanse, Cologne was undisputedly a suburb for the Westphalian and Lower Rhine Hanseatic cities, the so-called Cologne third . Nevertheless, Cologne did not take part in the Hanseatic Days until 1383 . A war coalition against the Danish king Waldemar was decided at the Hanseatic Day in Cologne in 1367 ; Cologne itself did not join the Cologne Confederation . Between 1471 and 1476 Cologne was even excluded from the Hanseatic League because the city did not want to let its special privileges in England trade rest during a trade conflict between England and the Hanseatic League. It was not until the 16th century, when it became clear that the Hanseatic League was falling behind against traders from southern Germany, that Cologne became more involved in the structures of the Hanseatic League. In 1556, Heinrich Sudermann from Cologne was appointed syndic of the Hanseatic League, which for the first time appointed its own spokesman and representative. However, Sudermann did not succeed in stopping the decline of the Hanseatic offices in London and Flanders, which were particularly important for Cologne trade . Because Bruges' access to the lake was silting up, Sudermann had to move the office to Antwerp , which was placed under Cologne's supervision in 1591.

The Cologne merchants benefited from the so-called stacking right . It was practiced from the 12th century to the 19th century and stipulated that all goods traded via Cologne and transported on the Rhine had to be stacked in the city for three days and offered for sale. This gave the Cologne residents a right of first refusal. The practice was favored because the shiploads had to be reloaded to another type of ship at the height of Cologne anyway.

Wine was one of the most important Cologne trade goods; Cologne was considered the wine house of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century Cologne was the most important wine trading point in Europe after Bordeaux . In addition, Cologne developed into the center of the Rhine fish trade. In 1420 built fish department store herrings were not only stacked but repackaged in new Pökellauge. The Cologne Brand , the brand used by city officials to mark the barrels tested, developed into a supra-regional seal of quality for herrings. Another focus in the Cologne trading business was metal trading. Above all, the people of Cologne organized the flow of goods for iron, achieved a leading and, in the second half of the 15th century, even a monopoly in trading steel from the Mark, established themselves as the European distribution center for English tin and became a hub for lead from the northern Eifel.

Around 40,000 people lived in Cologne, many of whom worked in manufacturing. For this purpose, they were organized in guilds, which in turn were grouped in so-called gaffs . The textile industry was by far the most important; 6,000 to 8,000 of them lived. In the late Middle Ages, Cologne had developed into a leading textile center in north-western Europe. The Verbundbrief of 1396, which established the order of power as the city constitution, granted the Gaffel, which is connected to the textile industry, more councilors than anyone else. The weaving of woolen fabrics developed into a successful export trade that delivered its cloth to Venice as early as the 12th century. Later the Danube region, Prague and Hungary were opened up as trading markets. The fact that the Cologne wool weavers mainly opened up their export markets themselves and did not leave this to merchants remained unique in the German guild system. In the course of the 13th century, silk production took off rapidly, so that around 1500 the silk handicraft also displaced wool weaving as the leading trade. As the only German city, Cologne managed to develop a flourishing silk industry and to maintain it for centuries. Cologne silk was in demand all over Europe. The silk trade was almost entirely in female hands. In 1437 a women's guild was founded for the silk makers , which otherwise only existed in Paris.

A second focus of the pre-industrial trade in Cologne was metal processing. The iron processing industry in Cologne owed its reputation above all to the manufacture of weapons. In addition to Nuremberg and Braunschweig, Cologne had achieved the status of armaments capital, which was known for the manufacture and export of swords, armor, armor and iron gloves. Cologne merchants, for example, dominated the English trade in armaments until the late 16th century. In the 17th century, Cologne was also known for the manufacture of firearms and developed a popular cannon foundry.

Medieval trade required a functioning supply of credit. Therefore, parallel to the trade, a banking industry developed in Cologne , which spawned banking companies that operate nationwide. Cologne benefited from its proximity to the financial center of Bruges. In the 15th century at the latest, giro traffic became common in Cologne. In 1553 a Cologne stock exchange was set up, which - after the stock exchanges in Augsburg and Nuremberg - was one of the oldest in Europe. The supraregional importance of Cologne as a trading city is also reflected in the fact that the Cologne mark was officially designated as an imperial coin weight by Emperor Charles V in 1524 . The Cologne pfennig, of which 160 were struck from a Cologne mark, was a standard currency of the High Middle Ages.

Encrustation in a medieval structure

Up until the 16th century, Cologne was the largest German trading city, then it was overtaken by Nuremberg and increasingly fell behind. Although the location on the Rhine with its catchment area stretching from Basel to the Scheldt area continued to allow trade, the business connections of Cologne merchants were increasingly curtailed. As a Catholic city, Cologne moved into an outsider position in the Protestant Hanseatic League. The trade privileges in England, which were particularly important for Cologne, were lost in the 16th century; the London Stalhof was confiscated in 1598. The relocation of Dutch trade from Bruges to Antwerp also did not succeed to the same extent. The Antwerp Hanse-Kontor was placed under Cologne supervision in 1591; two years later it was de facto dissolved.

From the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), however, Cologne was able to profit economically. The well-fortified city was considered impregnable and could therefore play a central role in the war economy in Europe, which carried out lucrative trade with all warring parties. Cologne became a transshipment point for all war-essential goods with connections to the imperial, Danish, Swedish and Portuguese troops and even a war entrepreneur like Wallenstein from Bohemia did his business via Cologne. This also strengthened Cologne's position as a financial center.

In the following century, Cologne's city constitution, which had granted the guilds a dominant influence over the gaffs , proved to be hostile to innovation. Cologne did not consider it necessary to set up a trade fair , as Nuremberg or Frankfurt am Main did. The double-entry bookkeeping was in southern Germany, which was reached late in Cologne to a standard. Above all, however, the unconditional orientation towards the proper master craftsman was detrimental to business. The modern manufacturing system was rejected as a company organization; In the textile industry in particular, the Aachen and Krefeld manufacturing and publishing companies, as well as the Dutch and English competitors, were able to oust the Cologne craft from the market. After long-distance trade was lost, only forwarding remained . In addition, Cologne was intolerant of Catholicism and forced the often innovative and successful Protestant entrepreneurs to move to Mülheim on the right bank of the Rhine .

With the French rule introduced in 1794 after the Napoleonic conquest, it was possible to abolish the now obsolete city constitution of 1396, to break the traditional encrustation and to introduce freedom of trade . Napoleonic legislation enforced equality between Protestants and (at least in part) Jews. At the same time, Cologne, which had now become part of France as a border town, was cut off from its traditional trading partners. Profits could only be made in trade with France, Italy and Switzerland. Overall, however, the French occupation ended the long Cologne Middle Ages and gave way to a radical change in the local economy.

Growth through industrialization

After Cologne was added to the Prussian monarchy in 1815, the city was able to develop again economically. The population grew rapidly within the medieval city walls and doubled to around 100,000 by the year 1850. At the same time, numerous companies were founded in various industries during these decades, so that a highly diversified economic structure could develop that has remained decisive for Cologne to this day is. The steam engine revolutionized transport systems. In 1825 the Preußisch-Rheinische-Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft was founded, which developed into Cologne-Düsseldorfer through takeovers until 1853 . By investing early in the then modern railway technology, Cologne was able to establish itself as a railway hub in the west by 1859. In that year, the first fixed Rhine bridge since Roman times, which the Cologne residents called a mousetrap , linked the rail network of the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft with that of the Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft and thus connected Cologne with both the economic centers in Belgium and with the Ruhr area. The importance of this railway line is clear from the fact that it was called the Iron Rhine .

Economic structure data

Cologne has a very diversified economic structure that includes shrinking industries as well as growth industries. The contribution of all sectors of the Cologne economy to the total turnover in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia makes the city one of the German economic metropolises. The automotive industry and energy and water supply traditionally occupy a special position ; the chemical industry , the food industry and the publishing industry are also important sectors. The insurance industry in particular held its own against the national trend and thus strengthened Cologne's position as one of the major insurance locations in Germany. 6% of all employees worked in the financial and insurance services sector, while 5.5% were employed in the information / communication sector (as of 2010).

Compared to other major German cities, Cologne holds the top position in two of six industry segments in 2015: With around 7,500 employees subject to social insurance contributions, Cologne ranks first in the field of broadcasters. With around 4,400 employees subject to social insurance contributions, Cologne also ranks first among the comparison cities in the telecommunications sector: Berlin (3,300 employees) and Düsseldorf (3,200 employees) follow in second and third place.

In 2016, Cologne achieved a gross domestic product (GDP) of € 63.463 billion within the city limits, making it fifth in the list of German cities by economic output . In the same year, GDP per capita was € 59,407 (North Rhine-Westphalia: € 37,416 / Germany € 38,180). Nominal GDP growth was 2.2% in 2016.

According to the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a total of 13.6% of all employees subject to social insurance in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia worked in the Cologne economic region in 2010. The service industry dominates with 82.4%, the rest is accounted for by the manufacturing industry. Within the service sector, most are employed in trade (15%), followed by transport / warehousing with 5.4%. In terms of gross value added of 61 billion euros (as of 2008), the service sector in Cologne ranks first with a share of almost 52%, followed by the finance and rental industry (23%) and trade / hospitality / transport with 13%. Even the smallest sector, the manufacturing industry, achieved in Cologne with 26.5 billion euros (as of 2010) 8.8% of the total turnover of this sector in North Rhine-Westphalia. Vehicle construction is strongly represented in Cologne with a turnover share of 56%. With an export rate of 58%, the economic metropolis is well above the average for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia of 43%.

The unemployment rate in December 2018 was 7.4% and thus slightly above the average for North Rhine-Westphalia of 6.4%.

Company sizes

According to the IHK, the largest employers in the city of Cologne include Ford-Werke (18,500 employees), Stadtwerke Köln (12,400 employees) and the Rewe Group (10,600 employees). In the Cologne economic region, which includes the city of Cologne as well as the city of Leverkusen and the three districts of Oberberg, Rhein-Berg and Rhein-Erft, Bayer (12,700 employees) is one of them.

Among the largest employers in the city of Cologne with more than 2,000 employees are two vehicle construction companies ( Ford-Werke , Deutz ), two trading companies ( Rewe , Galeria Kaufhof ), four insurance companies ( Axa , Gothaer , Talanx , Generali ) and three transport companies ( KVB , Lufthansa , UPS ), two energy suppliers ( RWE Power , Rheinenergie ), two media companies ( WDR , RTL Group ), two banks ( Sparkasse KölnBonn and Kreissparkasse Köln ), two chemical companies ( Lanxess , Ineos Köln ) and TÜV Rheinland and the clinics of the city of Cologne .

trade

Cologne is an old trading city. This tradition is continued today by the following companies that are still based in Cologne:

retail trade

Wholesale

Automobile trade

The following automobile dealerships have their German headquarters in the Cologne region:

Chemical / pharmaceutical

Perfume / Cosmetics / Pharma

JM Farina, founded in 1709

Farina has existed opposite , the oldest still existing company in Cologne, since 1709 . Cologne owes its most famous product, Eau de Cologne, to its founder, Johann Maria Farina (1685–1766). In the 19th century, this became the German name of Kölnisch Wasser . Farina opposite with the red tulip and Mäurer + Wirtz with the brand 4711 are the two producers of Cologne water today , which is Cologne's best-known product abroad as the original Eau de Cologne.

Chemical industry

The chemical industry is an important engine of the North Rhine-Westphalian economy . The chemical industry in Cologne and the Cologne area developed for the most part in the 19th century. After the Second World War and the associated reconstruction as well as during the years of the “ economic miracle ”, the branch of industry grew the most. Today Cologne is to a certain extent the capital of the North Rhine-Westphalian chemical industry. The branch of industry achieved almost 12 billion euros in sales in the area of ​​the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry. That is more than 25% of the total sales of the chemical industry in North Rhine-Westphalia and 8% of the total German chemical sales. Upstream of the Rhine, on the outskirts of Wesseling, is the Rhineland refinery of Shell, which is the largest in Germany. In addition, numerous global companies have a production site in the Cologne chemical belt between Leverkusen and the Rhein-Erftkreis. The best known are Akzo Nobel , Bayer CropScience , Braskem , CABB , Clariant , Covestro , dralon GmbH, Evonik Industries AG , Ineos Cologne , Lanxess and Novasep .

Many of these companies are located in one of the chemical parks in the Cologne chemical belt. So stand in the Chemparks in Leverkusen and Dormagen, the chemical park , the Chemical Park Cologne-Merkenich and Evonik -place in Lülsdorf still open spaces available, where other companies can settle. These chemical parks now shape the picture. The ChemCologne initiative is the network of the chemical industry in Cologne and markets the region as a strong investment location.

The chemical factory Kalk had to stop its production in 1993.

Biotechnology and life science

BioRegio Rheinland with its center in Cologne has positioned itself as one of the leading biotech and life science regions in Europe. Cologne has a distinctive and high-quality research and university landscape in medical and biotechnological research. With more than 20 companies in the biotechnology industry alone in the city and more than 40 in the region, Cologne is an example of the successful development of a young industry. There are points of contact with the nearby pharmaceutical and chemical industry of the so-called "Cologne chemical belt".

Special locations are:

  • BioCampusCologne
  • Technology Park Cologne-Braunsfeld
  • Technology and start-up center Cologne on the right bank of the Rhine (RTZ)
  • BioFactory Cologne on the HagenCampus
  • Pharmaceutical Center Cologne
  • Cell Center Cologne

Industry

vehicle construction

The automotive industry has a long tradition in Cologne. Automobile manufacturers had their companies or German branches here from the very beginning. Strictly speaking, automobile history cannot be written without the city of Cologne, since the world's first pure engine factory was built here, NA Otto Cie. which the developer of the Otto engine Nikolaus Otto founded together with Eugen Langen in 1864. The two brought Karl Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler to Cologne as mechanics. The company was later called Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz after the district in which it was located , from which Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG (KHD) emerged in 1938. With its Magirus-Deutz brand trucks and buses, KHD was one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in Germany from the 1950s to the 1970s . The West wagon , one located somewhere also in Deutz company was taken over in 1959 by KHD. Today's Deutz AG emerged from KHD .

Next founded as August Horch 1899 in Cologne-Ehrenfeld , the company Horch (A. Horch & Cie.), In 1901 the first production car left the factory. The Audi company later developed from this with intermediate stops .

There were around 25 motorcycle and tricycle manufacturers, as well as over 20 passenger car manufacturers, along with truck and bus factories in Cologne. They tried to conquer the streets with electric gasoline drives or with combined hybrid drives. Other well-known pioneers were Ettore Bugatti (Mülheim), Bernhard and Heinrich Scheele (Bickendorf), Wilhelm Karmann (Melaten) and Ernst Heinrich Geist . Arthur Delfosse was not only an automobile pioneer, he was also a pioneer in the aircraft and industrial sectors. He founded the first aircraft engine factory in Germany in Cologne-Riehl, followed in 1919 by the establishment of the Cologne industrial works and the purchase of the Helios AG site in Cologne-Ehrenfeld for the production of electric motors and machine tools.

The Citroën Automobil AG was entered in the commercial register of Cologne on January 8, 1927, began at a plant in Poll with the assembly of cars. From 1935 the decline began due to trade restrictions during the Nazi era, from 1936 there was only one repair shop, which was confiscated in 1939 as "enemy property". The factory was destroyed in the Second World War in 1944. From 1950 Citroën started with a sales company in Maison Belge ; It was able to settle in 1959 in exchange for the area in Poll in Porz-Westhoven , which was incorporated into Cologne in 1975 via land on Sülzburgstrasse and Aachener Strasse . The German headquarters are still here today.

The largest employer in Cologne is Ford of Europe GmbH. In 1931 it moved its headquarters from Berlin to Cologne, where it had built a new plant in Cologne-Niehl directly on the Rhine . This was continuously expanded after the war. Today the European headquarters are located here. With around 20,000 employees, Ford is the city's largest employer and an important economic factor. In addition to various factories in Cologne-Niehl, the development of one of the large European spare parts stores in Cologne-Merkenich is also located here.

In 1954, Renault finally relocated its German headquarters to Cologne, from where the company moved to Brühl on the Cologne city limits in 1962 .

Since October 9, 1970, the Toyota -vertrieb Gesellschaft (later Toyota Deutschland GmbH) is located in Cologne-Marsdorf . In addition to the headquarters, the Formula 1 racing team Toyota Racing was also located here until the end of 2009 . The division will be continued by Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) as a test and development company specializing in high technology.

mechanical engineering

After the chemical industry and vehicle construction, mechanical engineering is the top-selling pillar in the Cologne economic area. This branch of the economy currently has over 17,000 employees in over 100 companies in the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry and generates annual sales of over 3.2 billion euros.

Since 1876, when the Otto engine was invented in Cologne and from it a. a. the Deutz AG developed, Cologne is the seat of important mechanical engineering companies. Alfred H. Schütte GmbH & Co KG , based in Cologne-Poll, is a global leader in some areas as a manufacturer of machine tools. The products are offered worldwide through subsidiaries and sales partners. In Germany, the company also sells products from foreign machine tool manufacturers.

The Cologne Maschinenbau AG in Bayenthal was founded on 15 February 1856 the first joint stock company of the Rhenish engineering. She built u. a. the iron roof structure for Cologne Cathedral, Flora and Cologne Central Station. Later it also manufactured gas containers and was therefore called the "lantern factory".

From the 1930s onwards, Germany's largest airfield, the Butzweilerhof, attracted more than 15 aircraft designers, manufacturers and aircraft engine builders to Cologne.

Other companies:

Media economy

At the beginning of the 1980s, an economic crisis set in in the mechanical engineering and chemical industries in Cologne . The unemployment increased more and more, which is why the city of Cologne put on media and technology-oriented companies. With over 30%, Cologne has the highest production share in television programs in Germany; WDR alone supplies ARD with a program share of 21.25%. Thus Cologne is Germany's most important media city in the history of television .

Centers such as the MediaPark , the Coloneum and the TV studios established themselves on the city limits of Hürth. In the area of training in media, there is the Cologne School of Journalism , the RTL School of Journalism for TV and Multimedia and a branch of the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences .

Book publishers

Cologne-based book publishers are Kiepenheuer & Witsch , Bastei Lübbe and VUB Printmedia.

Print media

Cologne daily newspapers with the highest circulation are the nationally known Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (321,000 copies) and the Kölnische Rundschau (148,000), both published by the M. DuMont Schauberg group . With a circulation of 181,000 copies, the Kölner Express from the same publisher is the city's highest-circulation tabloid , followed by Bild Köln with 58,000. Daily Cologne local parts can also be found in the taz and in WELT kompakt . The StadtRevue and Cologne Illustrated are monthly magazines with lifestyle and cultural content that intro was a free, ad-supported music magazine.

broadcast

Archive building of the WDR in Cologne

Radio

The West German Broadcasting Corporation (WDR) has had its headquarters in Cologne since 1926. It was first called Westdeutsche Funkstunde AG (Wefag) and was founded on September 15, 1924 in Münster , but then renamed itself to "Westdeutsche Rundfunk AG" (WERAG). Its radio and television studios are located in several places in the city. The WDR broadcasts its radio programs like the youth radio Eins Live from Cologne . With over 3,700 employees, it is the largest media and broadcasting company in the city and the largest broadcasting company in Germany, larger than ZDF .

The Germany radio produces the radio station, the nationwide radio programs Germany radio and DRadio knowledge . The local station Radio Köln , an offshoot of Radio NRW , is the market leader with a market share of 20.6% (as of 2012), followed by Eins Live and WDR 2. The cathedral radio from the Archdiocese of Cologne also broadcasts from Cologne and the private broadcasters bigFM and RPR 1 from Rhineland-Palatinate operate studios in the city.

watch TV

Since 1988 the private TV broadcaster RTL and its later daughters RTL II and Super RTL as well as the news channels n-tv and VOX have been in Cologne, production companies such as Brainpool , Bonito TV and Endemol Germany have been gathering their studios in Cologne. The production company Magic Media Company in Hürth is one of Europe's largest TV and film production companies and is located on the Cologne city limits.

This is how numerous television series such as Lindenstrasse (which is set in Munich ), Die Anrheiner , Unter uns , Verbotene Liebe and Everything that counts are created in Cologne . Well-known shows that are recorded or broadcast live in Cologne include Deutschland sucht den Superstar , Let's Dance , stern TV , Wer wird Millionär? , Clever or Schillerstraße . The Big Brother TV show is also being recorded in Cologne-Ossendorf. In addition to these stationary production locations, Cologne is also one of the filming locations for the crime series Tatort with constantly changing film sets as well as for other series. With over 30%, Cologne has the highest production share in television programs in Germany; WDR alone supplies ARD with a program share of 21.25%. This makes Cologne Germany's most important media city.

The infrastructure with “media suppliers” and, as is common in the industry, the large number of freelance media workers and the Cologne cultural scene , moved VIVA (since 1995 with VIVA PLUS , at that time still VIVA ZWEI ) to Cologne. In the meantime, VIVA has changed hands and will continue to be heavily restructured in Berlin. The television production company AZ Media TV, which produces the trend magazines for RTL , is also based in Cologne. M. DuMont Schauberg runs the city television station Köln.tv (formerly center.tv ). Action Concept Film- und Stuntproduktion GmbH in Hürth, founded in 1992, is now one of the largest full-service film productions for action formats ( Cobra 11 ). BBC Germany, the UK BBC's Germany studio , is located in the MediaPark.

In total, around 350 film and television production companies and more than 600 supplier companies are based in Cologne. Together with the television stations, they employ around 25,000 people.

Record labels

Numerous Cologne-based companies (including Sony Music , Zomba Records , Jive and many more) have meanwhile moved to Berlin, as has the trade fair for music and entertainment “ Popkomm ”. Part of the successor to Popkomm is c / o pop , which is mainly dedicated to electronic music and, like Popkomm, is held parallel to the Ring Festival, which will take place until 2005 . Until 2010, EMI subsidiary Electrola , one of the five major labels , had its headquarters in the centrally located MediaPark ; she then moved to the west of Cologne. The label's repertoire includes bands like the Beatles . The small record label Eigelstein Musikproduktion was founded in 1979 and is best known for its releases by the Cologne rock band BAP . The city has a total of 20 record companies.

Finance

Cologne's financial sector is made up of banks , insurance companies and other financial service providers and makes Cologne one of the most important financial centers in Germany and Europe. Banks and insurance are important branches of industry for Cologne's economy . Of the business tax order target of 816.4 million euros (2012), 131.5 million (or 16.1%) were accounted for by insurance companies and 70.95 million euros by banks (8.7%).

Insurance

Around 26,000 people are employed in the insurance industry in Cologne. This makes Cologne the second largest insurance location in Germany after Munich. With around 17 percent of total tax revenue, the insurance industry is one of the three largest business taxpayers in Cologne.

Many insurance companies have their German headquarters in Cologne:

former:

Credit institutions

Cologne banks now serve customers based in the region between Aachen and Gummersbach and between Monheim am Rhein and Trier . Cologne is one of the most important German locations for automotive banks , and all other types of banks are also represented at the Cologne banking center. Among them are the branches of major banks and two major financial institutions as universal banks , private banks , specialized banks , a development bank and a branch of the Bundesbank . There are 11 banks or bank-related institutes in the street and surroundings of Unter Sachsenhausen alone. In 2013 there were 68 credit institutions in Cologne with almost 1,000 branches and 14,811 employees. Cologne’s two large savings banks alone are among the city’s largest employers .

former:

service

Telecommunication / IT

Logistics / transport

Consulting service

tourism

Tourism is an important industry for Cologne; Cologne is one of the 25 most popular city trip destinations in Europe. The city has more than 30,000 beds in around 300 accommodation establishments. Every year, Cologne is visited by over 5.7 million guests who book over 3 million hotel nights in the city - and who stay in the city for an average of 1.7 days. The cathedral alone has more than 6 million visitors annually. More than 3.5 million guests attended the events in Cologne (events, cultural events and trade fairs).

Consumer goods

Textile

Food

Consumer Goods

Handicraft products

Energy industry / utility

  • E AS SIMPLE , nationwide electricity and gas provider
  • RWE Power (formerly: Rheinbraun; around 5,200 employees in Cologne)
  • RheinEnergie (around 3,100 employees in Cologne)
  • Yello , nationwide electricity and gas provider

research

Cologne is also known as a research location. The Max Planck Society operates four institutes in Cologne: for social research , for neurological research and for plant breeding research . In 2013, the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging moved into its new institute building on the premises of the university clinic; it is part of the Regional Life Science Cluster, which focuses on research into age and age-related diseases.

The Institute of German Economy has been based in Cologne since 1951. The business research institute, which is close to the employer, carries out research work in 11 scientific fields, including the international economic system , financial markets and collective bargaining policy . In addition, the German Aerospace Center with numerous research facilities has its headquarters in the south-east of Cologne, in the Porz district .

Local economy

Hohe Strasse in Cologne (shopping street)

A million inhabitants , plus over 220,000 commuters , as well as tourists and business travelers generate high tax revenues and purchasing power for the city.

Many Cologne companies also show the reference to their city in their company names and logos , there are 57 companies with the name Colonia , other companies have the two steeples of Cologne Cathedral or the Cologne coat of arms in their company logo.

Essential economic and political interests of the City of Cologne, such as the establishment of the Mediapark , are represented through the City of Cologne's investments, in particular through Sparkasse KölnBonn and Koelnmesse ; in addition, through other municipal holdings that are organized under the umbrella of Stadtwerke Köln and its parent company GEW Köln .

literature

  • Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne. Cologne 2013
  • Hermann Kellenbenz , Klara van Eyll (eds.): Two millennia Cologne economy. Vol. 1: From the beginning to the end of the 17th century. Vol. 2: From the 18th century to the present. Cologne 1975.
  • Mario Kramp, Ulrich Soénius: Made in Cologne, Cologne brands for the world. Cologne 2nd edition 2015

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 24ff
  2. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated Economic History of the City of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p. 20
  3. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated Economic History of the City of Cologne, Cologne 2013, pp. 55, 57
  4. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 44ff
  5. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 65
  6. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 70
  7. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 74ff
  8. ^ Carl Dietmar: Das Mittelalterliche Köln, Cologne 2006, p. 108f.
  9. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 77
  10. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 76f
  11. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 79f
  12. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small illustrated Economic History of the City of Cologne, Cologne, 2013, 82
  13. ↑ Walter Buschmann, Matthias Hennies, Alexander Kierdorf: Via Industrialis, discovery trip Cologne industrial culture . Essen 2018, p. 20 .
  14. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 81f, 88f
  15. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 90f
  16. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 84ff
  17. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 101f
  18. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 97ff
  19. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small illustrated Economic History of the City of Cologne . Cologne 2013, p. 90 f., 104 f .
  20. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 115
  21. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 96
  22. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small illustrated Economic History of the City of Cologne . Cologne 2013, p. 73 .
  23. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 72
  24. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 77
  25. ^ Michael Kaiser: Waffen, Cologne, soldiers, Cologne and the war economy; in: Stefan Lewejohann (ed.): Cologne in unholy times, The City in the Thirty Years' War, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2014, p. 96ff
  26. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 118f
  27. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 102
  28. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 119
  29. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 120ff
  30. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 139
  31. ↑ Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated economic history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p 140
  32. ^ Ludolf Camphausen in a memorandum of 1833, quoted in based on Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Small Illustrated Economic History of the City of Cologne, Cologne 2013, p. 133
  33. ^ City of Cologne: Employment development in Cologne and in a regional comparison 2008 to 2015. Accessed on August 1, 2020 .
  34. ↑ Current results - VGR dL. Retrieved January 7, 2019 .
  35. ↑ Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce: Cologne Economic Region 2011 - Statistical overview ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 292 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ihk-koeln.de
  36. ^ Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Federal Employment Agency, accessed on January 7, 2019 .
  37. ↑ The most employing companies / institutions in the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2017
  38. ↑ The most employing companies / institutions in the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2017
  39. ↑ Cologne Economic Region 2014 ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website of the Cologne Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved July 11, 2014.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ihk-koeln.de
  40. ↑ Daniel Wauben, the Cologne Chemical Region. Complete works: Business location Cologne , Verlag Kommunikation Wirtschaft GmbH, Oldenburg, without ISBN, page 36 f.
  41. ^ City of Cologne, business location, biotechnology and life science
  42. ↑ Technology Museum Cologne: History
  43. ↑ Immo Mikloweit: 125 years of Automobiles from Cologne Cars: Motorcycles & Airplanes. Bachem, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-7616-1344-X , p. 119.
  44. ^ Toyota Motorsport GmbH
  45. ^ City of Cologne, business location, mechanical and plant engineering
  46. ^ Albert Gieseler, steam and power machines, Kölnische Maschinenbau AG
  47. ↑ Immo Mikloweit: 125 years of Automobiles from Cologne Cars: Motorcycles & Airplanes. , P. 156ff, Bachem, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-7616-1344-X .
  48. ↑ About Ehrenfeld ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stadt Bezirk-ehrenfeld.info
  49. ↑ Culture Industry Report Cologne - Selected Sectors and Markets - "Media". P. 20 (PDF; 1.4 MB)
  50. ↑ Cologne industries, article information record companies
  51. ↑ Data from 2014, Kölner Rundschau: Cologne remains the second largest insurance location
  52. ↑ Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry , Industry Profile: Banks and Insurance Companies , January 2015
  53. ↑ Kölntourismus 2014 ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.koelntourismus.de
  54. ↑ Figures for 2014. Kölntourismus 2014 ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.koelntourismus.de
  55. ↑ Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Cologne Economic Region 2015, p. 3
  56. ↑ Koelntourismus 2014 ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.koelntourismus.de