Deutsche Messe has converted Hall 27 on the Hannover Messe (Fair) exhibition grounds in Hannover, Germany, to accommodate more than 1,000 Ukraine refugees. This supports German policy to accept Ukrainian refugees. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated, “We want to save lives. That doesn’t depend on the passport.” Because I have attended the annual Hannover Messe event for number of years, I'm not surprised to see the Deutsche Messe team creating a thoughtful space for Ukrainian refugees.
Over the years, I have developed friendships with the organization’s leadership and staff to understand their commitment to fostering an international community connecting people to people improving industry in ways that are good for society and the global environment. The annual Hanover Messe is one of the world's largest international trade fairs dedicated to fostering engineering and manufacturing excellence in a spirit of worldwide cooperation. Hall 27 at the exhibition center was transformed within 1.5 days, from Friday noon to Saturday evening with enthusiastic joint commitment on the part of the capital of Lower Saxony Germany, the Hanover Fire Department and Deutsche Messe AG.
The Hanover Fire Department, with a task force of 260 people, set up a total of 1,152 sleeping places for people from Ukraine seeking protection. Logistically the Hannover Fairgrounds transportation is an advantage with two mass transit rail lines and the showground's own railway station, "Hannover Messe/Laatzen," which is located on Germany's heavily traveled North/South rail axis, connecting Hannover with Frankfurt and Hamburg. The Hannover Fairgrounds also has on-site kitchen and catering. The organizations attention to detail converting Hall 27 to accommodate refugees is obvious as seen in these photos by Rainer Jensen, Deutsche Messe photographer at all shows.
In the photo below, Dr. Jochen Koeckler is discussing refugee shelter details. Dr. Jochen Koeckler is chairman of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe AG. In addition to his overall Deutsche Messe corporate responsibility, he also manages the global Industry, Energy & Logistics division with Hannover Messe and its worldwide industry events as well as the business unit IT & Services and Finance & Legal.
Hannover Messe History
The Hannover Messe started in 1947 in an undamaged factory building in Laatzen, south of Hanover, by an arrangement of the British military government to boost the economic advancement of post-war Germany illustrating to the world the kind of economic revival that entrepreneurs, workers, and politicians were capable of jointly bringing about. The goal was to showcase German goods for export to build the economy. It proved very successful, during the 22-day fair 1,934 contracts were signed worth $31,580,947 ($398,157,851 value in 2022) and the fair was repeated on a yearly basis. The annual Hanover Messe became one of the world's largest international trade fairs dedicated to fostering engineering and manufacturing excellence in a spirit of worldwide cooperation. 
