What makes Wiesbaden such an attractive economic location? – In its July edition, the business magazine Capital provides an up-to-date answer: In a scientific comparison of cities, Wiesbaden stands out in fourth place among 60 municipalities examined nationwide. The analysis was based on economic performance, employment numbers, population statistics, and purchasing power. The result is conclusive: Wiesbaden is an economic location with a promising future!
Wiesbaden is bubbly! Not merely as Germany’s capital of sparkling wine, but as a place that offers the people who live and work here a very special savoir-vivre. It is a unique combination of quality of work and life with attractive economic conditions. It is the special flair of a former cosmopolitan spa city, the modern elegance, and the location between the Taunus mountains and the Rheingau district. It is such “soft location factors” that attract companies to Wiesbaden.
Wiesbaden is a city of short distances, where people know each other – in short: a manageable city. People here are tolerant and cosmopolitan, yet rooted to their native soil. And that is precisely what makes this city so congenial.
The key competencies of the economic location of Wiesbaden comprise not only the insurance and consulting sector but also the media sector, the service sector, and technology-oriented companies. More than 80 per cent of the jobs are in the tertiary sector. However, there are also traditional commercial and industrial companies established here. Moreover, highly specialized high-tech and IT companies have settled in attractive, recently created industrial parks. The German and European headquarters of many famous global firms appreciate Wiesbaden’s excellent infrastructure – namely the proximity to the Rhine-Main airport – and supply services. It is this mix of business sectors that assures Wiesbaden an outstanding position in the European competition. For them and their staff, Wiesbaden’s ideal economic conditions and central location in the European Union are important reasons to establish or expand their business here. In addition, a location’s skilled-labour supply and quality of life are given increasing importance.
When companies examine potential locations, sufficient space and good transport connections are simply not the only criteria. A skilled workforce and highly qualified managers can be found where education possibilities are above average, in other words, where there are good schools and universities.
Its university of applied sciences and European Business School, whose law faculty has turned Wiesbaden into a university city, as well as its numerous schools and continuing-education facilities allow the state capital of Hessen to score and set it apart from many other cities.
Wiesbaden’s image of a residential “edge city” in the vibrant Rhine-Main region is outstanding. Characterized by an architecture steeped in history and lavish green spaces, the state capital of Hessen boldly achieves the balancing act between history and the demands of an innovative metropolis. Wiesbaden is counted among Germany’s most beautiful and popular residential areas. With over 1,000 villas from its Founder Epoch as well as numerous green residential districts near the city centre and in its still rural suburbs, it provides living spaces suitable for all walks of life.
Wellness and health care are one of Wiesbaden’s strong points among its positive location factors. The state capital’s reputation as a health centre is excellent. Renowned hospitals such as the Dr. Horst Schmidt clinics (HSK) and the German Clinic for Diagnostics (DKD) as well as local rehabilitation facilities and the above-average density of physicians and therapists are contributing factors. They are in part why Wiesbaden is the top go-to place for globally active medical and pharmaceutical companies.
Last but not least: Quality of life can be experienced not only by visiting one of numerous festivals, festivities, open-air concerts or stylish markets, which take place all year round, but also a hot spring. The carefully renovated “Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme”, an Irish-Roman spa that opened in 1913, and its modern counterpart, the therapeutic “Aukamm” spa, are just two worth mentioning.
Wiesbaden earns its reputation as the “city with savoir-vivre.” Wiesbaden is an excellent place to live and work in – and it is this unique symbiosis that makes this bubbly city with flair such an attractive economic location.
The author was born in 1952 and has been treasurer of the state capital of Wiesbaden since 2002. Later, he also became head of the city’s department of economic affairs. Since 2 July 2007, Dr. Müller has been Lord Mayor of the state capital. In the years preceding, he had been chief of the personal office of the state minister president and head of the policy department at the state chancellery.
