Press information of Koelnmesse

The time capsule ceremonially lowered in Deutz today will not be reopened until the 150th anniversary of Koelnmesse on 11 May 2074 The Dean of the Cologne Cathedral Robert Kleine blesses the new Confex building as a place of encounter and peaceful exchange Koelnmesse and guests at the company's 100th anniversary celebration support Cologne's cathedral construction association, which was founded in 1842, with a donation for the cathedral's preservation

Koelnmesse will be operating over 20,000 m2 of solar panels on the roofs of its halls by the end of 2024 The aim is to produce three million kWh of sustainable electricity annually This will save a total of 1,850 tonnes of CO2 per year Overall strategic goal: a CO2-neutral energy supply by 2028

New joint venture with proven and established partners Corferias and Concept2b paves the way for expansion of EISENWARENMESSE to Latin America and the Caribbean. The established event “El Gran Salón Ferretero” brings together suppliers, distributors, and retailers to present an outstanding selection of products, technologies, and services. Latest addition of successful Cologne trade fair format in Colombia ensures dynamic growth for Koelnmesse and its partners as well as new business opportunities for hardware vendors.

Koelnmesse GmbH today announced that it will be extending its contract with Oliver Frese, which currently runs until the end of 2024, by a further five years to 31 December 2029. Frese has been the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Koelnmesse since 2020.

- To mark its 100th anniversary, Koelnmesse is opening its new event and congress location Confex with space for 6,200 guests, directly at the Cologne Messe/Deutz ICE railway station. - State-of-the-art venue in the heart of Europe with perfect transport links raises the bar for congresses, trade fairs and corporate events. - Konrad Adenauer founded Koelnmesse in 1924 to drive the economy of the West and as a European peace project. - Among the 2,000 guests attending the anniversary celebrations are Minister President Henrik Wüst and numerous other public figures. To mark its 100th anniversary, Koelnmesse is hosting a grand opening ceremony for Europe’s most cutting-edge event and congress centre: Confex. The technologically and environmentally groundbreaking new building creates new opportunities for innovative event formats in the region. After almost three years of construction, a core element of the one-billion-euro investment programme Koelnmesse 3.0 is launching on schedule.

- A strong upswing after the COVID-19 lockdown: Koelnmesse announces record sales of 416 million euro and the highest result in the company's history - Financial prudence remains the guiding principle: offsetting deficits from the pandemic years and strengthening equity - Anniversary and inauguration: Koelnmesse opens Confex, a state-of-the-art event and conference centre, to mark its 100th

Koelnmesse and dmg events, two global leaders in the exhibition industry, have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on developing key trade exhibitions across the Middle East.

- Registration open for 91st UFI Global Congress, taking place 20-23 November 2024 - Largest, most global event of the year hosted by Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany

Silke de Witt is taking over the financial reins at Koelnmesse from 1 July 2024, and will also become a member of the Executive Board. She is joining the company on 1 April 2024 and will share the role with Volker Ahrberg, Member of the Executive Board and sole authorised signatory for Koelnmesse, on an interim basis. Volker Ahrberg will be retiring at the end of June in a planned departure.

Koelnmesse is launching an ambitious sustainability strategy to become climate-neutral five years earlier than planned. Alongside E.ON, Koelnmesse is consolidating its pioneering role as it plans to save 5,800 tonnes of CO2 per year from 2028 onwards at one of the world’s largest city-centre trade fair sites. A partnership between E.ON and RheinEnergie will enable an innovative and effective combination of decentralised generation and centralised district heating. Within the framework of a new energy partnership with E.ON and RheinEnergie, by 2028, Koelnmesse will have completely switched the heating supply for its trade fair grounds in Cologne – the eighth largest trade fair site in the world – to climate-friendly technology. The systems used will be powered by sustainable sources such as air, groundwater and the sun. In innovative combination with the RheinEnergie district heating system, this new heating concept will secure significant energy and CO2 savings amounting to 5,800 tonnes per year. These plans form part of the sustainability strategy that Koelnmesse is launching today, which involves the company and Koelnmesse's own events reaching the requirements for climate-neutrality as early as 2030. This is five years earlier than initially planned.