In its 100th anniversary year, Koelnmesse is opening Europe’s most modern event and congress centre with a major ceremony: Confex. The forward-looking new building creates new opportunities for innovative event formats in the region. After almost three years of construction, a key component of the one-billion-euro Koelnmesse 3.0 investment programme is being launched on schedule.
“For 100 years, Koelnmesse has been a hub for ideas and innovations from around the world. With Confex, this special position is secured for the next generation as well,” says Hendrik Wüst, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the occasion of the opening. “It was the wish of Konrad Adenauer, then Mayor and founder of the trade fair, for the fair to grow into a place of encounter—a place that contributes to mutual understanding between nations, between Germany and its European neighbouring countries. This has truly been achieved.” Today, Koelnmesse is an important pillar of North Rhine-Westphalia as a business location and offers companies from all over the world a platform for networking and opening up new markets. It not only generates economic added value for the region, but also strengthens North Rhine-Westphalia’s innovative capacity and international reputation in the long term. “All the more reason to offer heartfelt congratulations on this special anniversary,” Wüst adds.
At the heart of the 20,500-square-metre Confex building is the Confexhall, which can be divided into three sections and accommodates 4,300 people. It is complemented by two conference levels with 22 rooms, ranging in size from 27 to 205 square metres and therefore suitable for a wide variety of event formats. The surrounding access points and entrances to the Confexhall connect directly to the light-filled foyer, which provides ample space for receptions, relaxing breaks, presentations and side events, and leads directly to the 5,600-square-metre open-air terrace, Confex Plaza. As part of one of the world’s largest trade fair venues, Confex is connected to additional functionally flexible space capacities, allowing further areas to be activated as required.
“With this new opening, Koelnmesse is closing a longstanding gap in our trade fair infrastructure. As an attractive venue specifically for congresses and hybrid events with more than 6,000 guests, Confex will bring entirely new events and target groups to Cologne. This is why the city and the state, as shareholders, supported the construction of Confex even in difficult times,” emphasises Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne and Chair of the Supervisory Board of Koelnmesse. The three-storey new building was designed by architectural firm JSWD and blends seamlessly into the ensemble of existing trade fair buildings. Together with the new Hall 1, Confex completes the structural development of the inner-city exhibition grounds towards Rheinpark to the west.
“With the completion of the new Confex, a trade fair, congress and event venue is being created that will play a decisive role in supporting Koelnmesse in positioning its events in the future world of trade fairs,” says Gerald Böse, President and CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH. The long-term safeguarding of trade fair operations, along with new events outside peak trade fair periods that attract new target groups, will bring decisive locational advantages for Cologne and the region. “The venue stands for flexibility, efficiency and emotion—and therefore for the future of the trade fair industry,” says Gerald Böse.
The offering has been well received by the market from the outset: Koelncongress, the marketer of Confex and a subsidiary of Koelnmesse, already has bookings and enquiries through to the end of 2029. “The first events at Confex will begin as early as summer 2024. Many of the organisers will be coming to Cologne for the first time,” explains Ralf Nüsser, Managing Director of Koelncongress. From autumn onwards, Confex will also host major multi-day events, including the UFI Global Congress of the global association of the exhibition industry in November 2024.
With the new building, Koelnmesse is meeting its commitment to designing its venue and processes in a sustainable, resource-efficient and climate-friendly way. For example, 500 photovoltaic modules on the Confex roof generate energy that is used directly on site at Confex. “Architecture is not only the stage for encounters and communication; it is itself an expression of social and technological developments,” says Jürgen Steffens of JSWD, the architectural firm responsible for the design and general planning. In addition to the central issue of sustainability, the primary focus was on the digital networking of functional areas.
For 100 years, Koelnmesse has been a vibrant centre for innovation, trade and international cooperation. Konrad Adenauer initiated its founding in 1924, laying the foundation for Koelnmesse’s internationally recognised success story. “Confex is a new milestone on this path, which has connected companies, people and nations for ten decades,” emphasises Gerald Böse, head of Koelnmesse. “Welcome to a world where innovation meets tradition!”
Under the motto “Yesterday | Today | Tomorrow — Koelnmesse Connects,” the anniversary ceremony also focuses on a sensory experience of the past, present and future. Multimedia show segments take guests on a fast-paced two-hour journey from the 1920s through the present day and into the future. Following this journey through time, TV celebrity chef Johann Lafer and the Koelncongress Gastronomie team will provide culinary highlights at numerous live-cooking stations.
You can find information on Koelnmesse’s sustainability strategy here.