Green Week – a historical review: From local produce mart to international trade fair

Introduction of the Green Week meant an end
to itinerant trading

It all began back in the days when farmers were recognisable by their long waterproof coats, which were a common sight, along with other green items of clothing. For one week each year at the end of the 19th century the farming association known as the Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG) used to hold its winter conferences in Berlin. These were accompanied by the sale by the craft trades and the industry of consumer goods and items for the farming sector in the streets around the conference venue. This itinerant form of trading gradually became more organised, and eventually a farmer named Hans-Jrgen von Hake suggested to the Berlin Tourist Office that the 1926 conference should be accompanied by an agricultural exhibition on the street known as Kaiserdamm. This was the start of the "Green Week", a name apparently given to it by journalists.

Its introduction met with widespread approval. Previously events such as horse shows, exhibitions of small animals, a seed market and hunting shows had been scattered all over Berlin. With this new arrangement they were concentrated in a compact display covering 7,000 square metres in halls normally used for radio and automobile exhibitions, and in the inaugural year they attracted an attendance of over 50,000. In those days one fifth of the area of the German capital was devoted to agriculture and horticulture. Within the city there were 45,000 horses, 25,000 pigs, 21,000 dairy cattle and over half a million poultry. Allotment gardens were owned by some 200,000 Berliners. The largest exhibit at the first of these shows was a 100 hp tractor with metal tyres. This monster, four metres in height and with wheels taller than a man, signified the beginnings of agricultural mechanisation.

Scientific and technical achievements

The Green Week underwent a rapid development during the years that followed, when many scientific and technical achievements were first introduced. For example, in 1928 a device was used to demonstrate that dogs only followed the tracks made by humans, and not their scent. At the 5th "Green Week" in 1930 a giant machine for keeping eggs fresh attracted enormous interest. It held 5,000 eggs, which were rotated, a "natural process" which enabled them to be kept fresh for up to a year. During the twenties and thirties innovations such as an in-churn milking unit, a crawler tractor and higher yielding cereals from well-known plant breeders met with an ever greater response.

Ears of wheat become the fair’s trademark

In 1936 the design by Wilhelm Hlter, of stylised yellow ears of wheat against a green background, was adopted as the symbol of the Green Week. From 1934 the fair came under the influence of the Nazis and their national agricultural organisation known as the "Reichsnhr-stand". By now the display area had increased to 72,000 square metres, offering visitors a whole range of special shows and other events. The "Green Week" did not take place in 1938 due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and the following year’s event, the last for some years, dealt with a subject that is still topical today: a special attraction, visible from afar, was provided by the "nutrition clock", programmed to show how to cut calorie intake and automatically provided tips for healthy meals too. One of the recommendations offered by the nutrition clock, for example, was to replace marinaded ribs by a tasty dish of vegetables, with precise details of the ingredients.

A new beginning with sausages and ham made of cardboard

Following the years of war, famine and destruction, the organisation representing allotment-holders and other landowners engaged in cultivation displayed the courage of their convictions to a remarkable degree when they resurrected the "Green Week" in the late summer of 1948. A total of 59 exhibitors presented their products to the Berlin public under the most difficult circumstances, due to the fact that the three western sectors of Berlin only had electricity between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. and again from 9 to 11 a.m. each day, and were subjected to a Soviet blockade of all connecting routes on land and water. On the opening day of the "Green Week", during a 24 hour period, 250 British and 357 American aircraft flew supplies of all kinds into the western part of the city. Among the many popular attractions on the Exhibition Grounds were fruit and vegetables, including a cucumber weighing 3.3 kilograms and a pumpkin that tipped the scales at 40 kilograms, representing the unattainable for many Berliners during this time of hunger and shortages. When they saw "Dora", a breeding pig from the suburb of Kreuzberg, with her piglets, many visitors could only dream of ham and bacon, and sadly, what appeared to be ham and sausages on some of the stands was in fact made of cardboard.

Adenauer came to admire a pyramid of vegetables
from the Netherlands

This was the rebirth of this event. In 1949 the trade fair company owned by the local authorities, "Berliner Ausstellungen" assumed responsibility for the fair. In 1950 the Green Week was not held because major construction work was taking place. The Green Week first acquired its international dimension in 1951 when a Dutch exhibitor, with obvious foresight, displayed tempting pyramids of vegetables to an amazed public. Among those who were impressed was the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, who was also attending the fair. In the years that followed the numbers of foreign exhibitors steadily grew. The Green Week is constantly setting new trends. The "Darmstadt" biogas plant was being exhibited to experts as early as 1953. The manufacturer’s advertising emphasised a daily output of ten cubic metres of biogas, which would be "sufficient to supply the cooking and hot water requirements in the home".

Until 1961 the Green Week had a particular appeal for farmers in what was then the German Democratic Republic. Despite the considerable obstacles confronting them at the border with the Eastern Sector, between 30 and 50 per cent of those attending the fair regularly came from the East. By 1954 attendance passed the half million mark for the first time and the displays now occupied some 30,000 square metres in nine halls.

The fair’s international dimension during the days
of the Berlin Wall

The first time that it was held following the erection of the Berlin Wall (13 August 1961) was seen by its organisers as a challenge to demonstrate its viability now that it had been cut off from the surrounding area. It became the "International Green Week Berlin'62" for the first time with Federal President Heinrich Lbke as its patron. Of the 669 companies that were exhibiting, almost half came from outside Germany. By now some 50 countries, mostly from Western Europe, but also from the USA, Canada, Israel, Morocco and the Lebanon, were regular exhibitors. Over 438,000 visitors consumed 100,000 glasses of wine, 300,000 apples and 65,000 portions of yoghurt on the German stand, ensuring that the 1962 "Green Week" was a resounding success. The French stand nearly ran out of supplies, and by the end of the event over 54,000 oysters had been opened and swallowed.

Expansion by focusing on specialist topics

During the following years the "International Green Week" became ever more important for the professionals. To an increasing extent it was based on three main areas, namely the food industry, agriculture and horticulture. Special shows on topical issues, combined shows by various countries and states, and displays of the achievements of individual regions all met with an enthusiastic response. The specialist supporting programme comprising more than 150 separate events attracted growing interest. It was at this time that the International Agricultural Film Competition was included in the programme.

In 1971 the concept was expanded to include special, instructive shows, for example on data processing and fisheries, forests and the landscape. Whereas in the two decades following the war the emphasis was on the need to ensure that the population was adequately supplied with food, gradually the aesthetic aspects of food and drink came more to the fore. This was demonstrated by shows with names such as "Home-grown food tastes best", the "Avenue of German Wines and Sparkling Wines", "Appetite ahoy" featuring the fishing industry, and an increasing number of floral displays.

At the same time Germany’s agriculture and the country’s food industry intensified their efforts to promote sales of agricultural produce. By paying close attention to the needs of consumers the "International Green Week Berlin" used specialised information and presentations to explain about the production and processing of agricultural produce. It now features a changing programme of special shows on subjects such as "From Grain to Bread", "Utilising Forests", "Barley, Hops and Malt", "Cheese from Germany" and "Extensive Livestock Husbandry".

With the opening of the International Congress Center ICC Berlin (ICC Berlin), which is directly linked with the Exhibition Grounds via a bridge, the number of conferences accompanying the Green Week each year rose to over 250.

In 1981 the "International Green Week Berlin" was augmented by the first International Agricultural Policy Forum, followed in 1982 by the first "Freshness Forums", now known as the "World of Fresh Produce", for sensitive agricultural produce. In 1984 the first MultiServa took place, serving the interests of communal catering, and 1986 saw the introduction of the first "National Beef Cattle Show", followed later by similar events dealing with "Sheep" and "Heavy Horses".

The fair is revitalised following reunification

The "International Green Week Berlin" underwent a fresh revival in 1990 when, following German reunification, it was again accessible to everyone in its natural catchment area and from neighbouring countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Given such short notice it was necessary to improvise many aspects, but by 1991 the expanded capabilities of the agricultural sector were clearly revealed by the first combined national display by the Central Marketing Company of German Agriculture (CMA), involving the five new states together with the former West German states.

The programme was expanded with great success to include Product Markets for Beer, Milk, Meat/Sausages, Tea/Herbs/Spices and Seafood, which are now regular features with many foreign participants.

An expensive supporting programme is now available to all those participating in the Green Week, with over 250 papers, seminars and symposiums, including the International Agricultural Policy Forum held by the German Farmers’ Association DBV, and the East-West Agricultural Forum from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. This well-established trade fair on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds has since acquired a number of other highly attractive features such as FRUIT LOGISTICA (since 2004 this leading international trade fair for the international fresh produce trade has taken place separately from the Green Week), specialist events such as the Agricultural Machinery Show and MultiServa, as well as House Pets & Plants (incorporated in the Green Week in 1996), and the BioMarket, introduced in 1998.

New millennium brings forward-looking topics

In 1999 the latest stage in the expansion of the Berlin Exhibition Grounds was completed, providing 166,000 square metres of display space and enabling the agricultural section of the Green Week to be extended to include "Livestock Breeding" and "Renewable Raw Materials". With the new millennium the Green Week concept was supplemented by such forward looking topics as "Green Money" and "Renewable Energy"

Focus on new EU members at the Green Week

At the International Green Week 2005 – the first show after the EU expanded towards the East (1 May 2004), when the EU became the largest single market in the western world – Berlin became a meeting place for politicians and experts representing all areas of consumer protection, food and agriculture in a way never experienced before. The fact that all the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe were represented in the display halls was impressive. In 2005 WELLNESS PLUS premiered as a new trade fair with a character all of its own, and since then has added to the spectrum of the Green Week with products that enhance personal well-being.

The 2006 event also underlined the importance of the Green Week to Central and Eastern European states. Participation by the Green Week’s partner country Russia was the largest among foreign countries, and covered a display space measuring 6,000 square metres. At the Green Week 2007 the dominant aspect was the German presidency of the EU Council. Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and President of the EU Commission Jos Manuel Barroso opened the event.

The International Green Week Berlin 2008 will be taking place from 18 to 27 January, with displays representing all areas of the food industry, agriculture and horticulture. As the successor to the East-West Agricultural Forum, in 2008 the International Conference of the Ministers of Agriculture (19 Jan.) will be debating global agricultural policies. One of the new trade fair sections will be nature.tec, a special event with a focus on bio-energy and renewable raw materials. Switzerland will be the partner country at the International Green Week 2008.