Berlin
Berlin, Germany

The nominal GDP of the city state Berlin totaled €90.1 (~$117) billion. Berlin’s economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. Fast-growing economic sectors in Berlin include communications, life sciences, and transportation particularly services that use information and communication technologies, as well as media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, and medical engineering. The Science and Business Park of Berlin-Adlershof is among the 15 largest technology parks worldwide. Research and development have high economic significance for the city, and the Berlin-Brandenburg region ranks among the top-three innovative regions in the EU. Many German and international companies have business or service centers in the city. For years Berlin is recognized as a centre of business startup in Europe. Among the 20 largest employers in Berlin are the Deutsche Bahn, the hospital provider, Charité, the local public transport provider, BVG, and the service provider, Dussmann and the Piepenbrock Group. Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Health Care and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second largest German airline Air Berlin is also headquartered in Berlin. Siemens, a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the 30 German DAX companies, is headquartered in Berlin. The national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, has its headquarters in Berlin as well. Berlin has a cluster of rail technology companies and is headquarter or site to Bombardier Transportation, Siemens Mobility, Stadler Rail and Thales Transportation.

Frankfurt
Frankfurt, Germany

With a landmass that stretches from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the north to the Alps in the south, Germany has the largest population of any EU country. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France and Luxembourg to the southwest, and Belgium and the Netherlands to the northwest. The most important sectors of Germany’s economy in 2014 were industry (25.9 %), public administration, defense, education, human health and social work activities (18.2 %) and wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food service activities (15.5 %). Germany’s main export partners are France, the US and the UK while its main import partners are the Netherlands, France and China. Germany was a founding member of the European Union in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999. Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. Frankfurt is the most international city in Germany, the largest financial center on the continent, the historical city of coronations, the city of Goethe and the Frankfurt School. Almost one in three of the people living in Frankfurt do not hold a German passport. No matter where visitors come from, they will always meet people in Frankfurt who speak their language and a restaurant that serves their favorite food. The open and hospitable atmosphere in Frankfurt stems from its centuries-old role as a trading center. This liberal and democratic tradition of the city may be one reason for the fact that people from very diverse cultures have lived here in peace with one another for a long time.

Appleton Greene
Munich, Germany

Munich has the strongest economy of any German city and the lowest unemployment rate of any German city. The city is also the economic centre of southern Germany. Munich is considered a global city and holds the headquarters of Siemens AG (electronics), BMW (car), MAN AG (truck manufacturer, engineering), Linde (gases), Allianz (insurance), Munich Re (re-insurance), and Rohde & Schwarz (electronics). The breakdown by cities proper (not metropolitan areas) of Global 500 cities listed Munich in 8th position. Munich is a centre for biotechnology, software and other service industries. Munich is also the home of the headquarters of many other large companies such as the aircraft engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines, the injection molding machine manufacturer Krauss-Maffei, the camera and lighting manufacturer Arri, the semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies (headquartered in the suburban town of Neubiberg), lighting giant Osram, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as McDonald’s and Microsoft. Munich has significance as a financial centre (second only to Frankfurt), being home of HypoVereinsbank and the Bayerische Landesbank. It outranks Frankfurt though as home of insurance companies.

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