The
Hannover Messe started in 1947 in an undamaged factory building in
Laatzen, south of Hanover, by an arrangement of the British
military government in order to boost the economic advancement of post-war Germany. The first fair was colloquially known as
Fischbrötchenmesse (
Fischbrötchen fair, tr. fish sandwich) due to the exemptions in
food rationing for the fair at this time. It proved hugely successful and was thence repeated on an annual basis, contributing largely to the success of the Hanover fairground in replacing the then-
East German city of
Leipzig as the new major fair city for
West Germany. The product portfolio includes building automation and technology, coating materials, air compressors, gas compressors, environmental technology, factory equipment, compressed air technology, micro-actuator systems, motors, scheduling software, refrigeration technology, robotics, and additive manufacturing systems. In the 1980s, the growing information and telecommunication industry demanded the organizer
Deutsche Messe AG to split the fair.
CeBIT was a successful spin-off of the Hannover Messe. The Hanover Fair now covers all areas of industrial technology. == Hermes Award ==