German Chancellor welcomed to Herrenknecht HQ 17 Oct 2019

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the Herrenknecht headquarters in Schwanau at the beginning of October 2019, affirming her support of the company and its innovations being used on tunnelling projects around the world, which “really are projects that go down in history,” the Chancellor declared.

Dr-Ing E.h. Martin Herrenknecht welcomes Angela Merkel to Herrenknecht HQ

A closer look at the cutting wheel for a TBM for a railway project in Lodz, Poland

On a tour of the plant premises, company founder and Chairman of the Board of Management Dr-Ing E.h. Martin Herrenknecht showed the Chancellor the tunnelling technology developed and manufactured by the company to enable challenging projects. She praised the innovation of the company and its ability to respond rapidly to new market demands.

The Chancellor also visited the training workshop, giving the more than 100 apprentices present the opportunity to speak with her in person. Following the tour of the plant premises, the Chancellor spoke to 200 invited guests and media representatives and addressed topics such as the shortage of skilled workers, the acceleration of public planning and approval procedures, as well as investments in research and innovation. In her address, the Chancellor spoke of the immense changes that have taken place within a single generation: “This is down to the fact that there are always people who believe you can change the world, that there are people who have an incredible amount of technological ideas, who try things out, put them into action and then see that progress really is being made,” she said.

Dr-Ing E.h. Martin Herrenknecht emphasised the importance of the active backing of the Chancellor and the German Government in the current challenging market and competitive conditions for family-run businesses, SMEs, the region, and the more than 5,000 Herrenknecht employees.