MANAGEMENT CHANGE AT MESSE DÜSSELDORF: MARIUS BERLEMANN TO SUCCEED ERHARD WIENKAMP

   At the Shareholders’ Meeting of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH on May 10, 2024, presided over by the chairman Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller, Marius Berlemann (38) was appointed as the operative managing director. With that, the Shareholders’ Meeting followed the recommendation of the Supervisory Board of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. When he takes on this new role on August 1, Marius Berlemann will succeed Erhard Wienkamp (65), who will retire at the end of July 2024.

   As operative managing director, Marius Berlemann will, until further notice, take over Erhard Wienkamp’s areas and projects at the homebase Düsseldorf (Germany) and worldwide: the Plastics and Rubber portfolio with the world’s leading trade show K; the Health and Medical Technologies portfolio (leading trade show MEDICA, COMPAMED); the Beauty and Rehacare portfolio (BEAUTY DÜSSELDORF, TOP HAIR and REHACARE International); the Caravaning and Outdoor portfolio (CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF); the Wine and Spirits portfolio with the ProWein trade show; the Print Technologies portfolio with the world’s leading trade show drupa. He will also be responsible for the Retail and Retail Technologies portfolio (EuroShop and EuroCIS) and the Occupational Safety and Health/Glass Technologies portfolio (A+A and glasstec). He will also oversee the Corporate Social Responsibility department and two of Messe Düsseldorf’s three sales teams. In addition, Marius Berlemann will be in charge of the departments International Participations & Services, Special Events, which includes the German venues for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Conference Management and International Business.

   “We are delighted that the Supervisory Board has followed the proposal of the finding committee by appointing Marius Berlemann as operative managing director. Our aim with this decision is to facilitate a smooth handover of business, thus ensuring continuity and safeguarding the quality and further development of our operative business,” stated Wolfram N. Diener, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. Wolfram Diener has known Marius Berlemann for many years and pointed out his excellent industry expertise, especially in the growth market of Asia, his broad management experience and his international trade show successes. This, according to Diener, creates ideal conditions for the further development of Messe Düsseldorf's close-to-the-customer product portfolio in Germany and abroad and for a strengthening of the Düsseldorf economic location.

   Marius Berlemann has been working at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH for over 13 years. In 2011, he started his career there with a traineeship. Subsequently, he served as senior project manager of ProWein where he was already involved in the internationalization of this event and looked after key accounts. In 2013, he was posted to Messe Düsseldorf Shanghai to organize the first ProWine China as project director. He returned to Düsseldorf in 2014, where he served as the project director of ProWein and global head of Wine & Spirits until 2019. He then returned to Messe Düsseldorf Shanghai where he has since been responsible for 63 employees and twelve international trade shows as general manager. In 2021 he became managing director of Messe Düsseldorf China and in 2023 closed the most successful fiscal year since its foundation.  In addition, Marius Berlemann currently manages the new regional hub Messe Düsseldorf for Asia (MDfA) in Singapore, which was founded in April 2024, making him responsible for Messe Düsseldorf’s entire Asian business.

   Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller commented: “The Supervisory Board and the shareholders agreed that Marius Berlemann is the ideal successor to Erhard Wienkamp, both personally and professionally. He stands for a clear operative strategy and international positioning of Messe Düsseldorf's trade show portfolio. It is certain Marius Berlemann, together with the top-notch trade show team, will use his extensive expertise to maintain the city subsidiary’s optimal positioning in the international trade show business going forward while further expanding its operative business.

The Messe Düsseldorf Group

Messe Düsseldorf is among the most successful trade show organizers worldwide. It hosts around 40 trade shows, including 20 leading international ones, at its 613,000-m² exhibition center in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 18 halls, international market leaders and top decision-makers of various sectors get together every year in order to present and discover innovations, to exchange ideas and to network. Messe Düsseldorf’s sectors of expertise include: “Machinery, Plants and Equipment,” including metallurgy and foundry technology (inter alia drupa, K, interpack, glasstec, wire and Tube); “Retail, Trades and Services” (EuroShop, EuroCIS, ProWein); “Health and Medical Technology” (MEDICA, COMPAMED, REHACARE); “Lifestyle and Beauty” (BEAUTY, TOP HAIR); and “Leisure” (boot, CARAVAN SALON). Completing this lineup are numerous conventions, corporate events, conferences and meetings by subsidiary Düsseldorf Congress. Abroad, Messe Düsseldorf organizes 65 events and participations. The corporate group’s global network encompasses 77 foreign representatives for 141 countries – including seven international subsidiaries.