The inauguration of the International Congress Center Berlin (ICC Berlin) on 2 April 1979 represented an important milestone in the development of the international congress industry.
This was the first time that a dedicated building of this size had been built, with 80 conference halls and rooms, several foyer levels for exhibitions, and the latest technology for shows and events.
Even to this day the ICC Berlin remains not only one of the world's largest congress centres but is also one of the most successful and most in-demand venues.
This was underlined in 2008, the most successful financial year to date, during which more large-scale congresses took place than ever before.
Over the past thirty years, Europe's largest conference centre has attracted the highest attendances, required the most complex organisational arrangements, and attracted the most international, most politically significant and in some cases most unusual events.
Out of approximately 17,800 conferences, shows and events from the last three decades the large-scale events listed below illustrate the colourful history of the ICC Berlin and remind us of the outstanding efforts undertaken to organise and hold mega-sized conferences, shows and events.
The most outstanding festive event
Among the many glittering occasions and anniversary celebrations the most memorable of all was the inaugural gala event for the ICC Berlin on 2 April 1979. Herbert von Karajan conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in front of 9,000 invited guests from all over the world. On the following day is was the turn of Karl Böhm and the Vienna Philharmonic to play in the ICC Berlin. On the third day there were performances by the soprano Katia Ricciarelli and the star tenor Luciano Pavarotti with the choir of Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the direction of Jesus López-Cobos.
The largest congress ever held
The European Cardiology Congress in 2002 attracted 26,000 medical experts, making it not only the highest attendance at any event in the ICC Berlin but also the largest scientific congress anywhere in Europe. The previous record mark of 22,000 participants had been set by the 12th World Congress for Cardiology in 1994, which was held together with the 16th Congress of the European Society for Cardiology.
The most glamorous show
Starting in 2001the ICC Berlin showed off its more glamorous side at the ECHO Awards, when the world’s second most important music prize, after the Grammies, the ECHO-POP – German Music Awards, were presented to the most successful national and international performers. A total of 5,000 stars and up-and-coming names on the international pop scene met here in a blaze of publicity, with some dazzling stage shows.
The scientific congress that attracted the greatest publicity
In the illustrious history of the ICC Berlin the World Aids Congress 1993 with 15,000 participants was a remarkable conference for many reasons. Organised when worldwide discussions about AIDS were at their height, this meeting of experts became the focus of public attention. The events taking place in Berlin received coverage in every country around the world.
The most international congress
Coverage of the World Climate Conference in 1995 was no less impressive. With 3,000 participants from 161 countries this UN conference was the most international meeting ever held in Germany.
The congress requiring the most complex organisational arrangements
The annual general meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary in 1988 fund had an attendance of 11,000, which included the finance ministers and the heads of reserve banks from 151 countries, requiring an unprecedented level of organisation, coordination and logistics. Two years prior to this a coordinating office had been set up to prepare for the meetings of these two subordinate organisations of the UN, which not only dealt with the massive supporting programme in Berlin but was itself responsible for ensuring that all the arrangements were made for the technical infrastructure and for the rooms at the conference venue.
This included the installation of 551 soundproof rooms on the Exhibition Grounds immediately adjacent to the ICC Berlin, a 110 volt power supply for the American computers and the conversion of the central stage between Halls 1 and 2 in the ICC Berlin into a massive print shop to handle the many tonnes of conference documents. Helmut Kohl, German Chancellor at the time, described this annual general meeting as "the most important post-war event, which could have a significant impact on the reputation of Berlin and the Federal Republic in the eyes of the world for years to come."
The largest product presentation
SAPPHIRE 2008, the users' conference for presenting the latest products from the software company SAP, a world leader in corporate applications, was the world's largest product presentation and brought 12,000 users from all over the world to the ICC Berlin. In 1993 the introduction by Mercedes Benz AG of its new C-Class to some 10,000 representatives of its worldwide dealership organisation was no less spectacular.
The largest trade union congress
In 2001 the ICC Berlin had a real challenge on its hands. This involved the seamless transition from the ECHO awards ceremony, which lasted into the early hours of the morning, to the amalgamation congress taking place a few hours later attended by delegates from the trade union representing civil servants and the transport sector (ÖTV). This was followed one day later by the assembly, for the same purpose, of delegates of the media union IG-Medien and the German Salaried Employees’ Union (DAG) at the ICC Berlin. The three congresses were held parallel with one another prior to the founding congress of the new mega-union ver.di (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft e.V.) which, with over 2.6 million members, is the world’s largest single trade union.
The biggest catering occasion
On 20 May 2008, Capital Catering GmbH (CCG) prepared 29,500 meals in a single day, due to several parallel events: SAPPHIRE hosting 7,000, and INTA with 3,500 participants respectively, plus a festive event which took place the same evening, during all of which more than 25 tonnes of food were processed. The guests on this sunny spring day consumed more than 100,000 drinks. 77,700 plates were required. Around 1,200 staff in the kitchen, service areas and logistics were equal to the challenge.
The Lotusphere '98 event provided an opportunity for CCG to provide catering facilities that have never been surpassed anywhere else. Pre-ordered meals representing cuisine from around the world were provided for 5,000 people each day, prepared by 70 cooks and served on time by a staff of 325 in the ICC Berlin and the adjacent exhibition halls. Participants in this congress consumed 13 tonnes of hot and cold meals, over 50,000 litres of chilled drinks, 10,000 litres of coffee and 32,000 pastry items. Each day the 80 stewards ensured that 50,000 glasses, 45,000 plates. 52,000 items of cutlery, 25,000 coffee services and 30,000 other items of clean tableware were available. A number of other events such as product presentations and dealership meetings, each with an attendance of several thousand, also required extensive catering services.
The meeting with the most original "airlift"
Volkswagen AG came up with something different for its event introducing the new VW Passat to the North American market. In 1997 this car was presented, not in North America but in Berlin, to over 1,500 sales representatives from the USA and Canada who had been flown in shortly beforehand.
The stage bears the weight of its heaviest stars
The load-bearing capabilities of the main stage in the ICC Berlin was put to the test in 1996, when five trucks with a total weight of 40 tonnes went on show at the heaviest items ever to feature on this stage, at the IVECO presentation.
The most avant garde event
Pure provocation or the spectacular presentation by a highly individual fashion designer? Opinions were divided regarding the avant garde show by the star designer from Paris Designers Jean-Paul Gaultier in 1988.
The largest event by the churches
The majority of the programme of events of the 1st Ecumenical Church Conference in 2003, attended by over 150,000 believers, took place in the ICC Berlin. Another event of a religious nature provided a particularly colourful scene: the scene at the annual meeting of these somewhat unusually clad conference attendees did not feature briefcases and suits. Instead the aluminium-coloured ICC Berlin provided the backdrop for the 3,000 orange-clad adherents of the Bhagwan who came from all over Germany to this meeting.
The congress with the largest accompanying exhibition
The 24th European Cardiologists' Congress at the ICC Berlin in 2002 also required an area of more than 50,000 square metres in the halls on the adjoining Exhibition Grounds, of which 25,000 square metres was occupied by an accompanying industry exhibition. The Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society 2008 also occupied a vast area on the Berlin Exhibitions Grounds, in all 52,000 square metres, of which 12,000 square metres were taken up by the fair, and 5,000 square metres by a scientific poster exhibition.
World champions in every respect
An unrivalled sporting career began for a young man on the boards of the ICC Berlin, which has also acquired an international reputation in the world of tennis. In 1986 the ICC Berlin was the scene of a victory by Boris Becker, who won the world title at the Young Masters' Tournament by beating the Swede Mats Wilander in the final. The central stage between Halls 1 and 2 provided an unusual setting, with spectators on both sides of the court. The crew at the ICC Berlin were in world championship form too. Halls 1 and 2 and the stage were converted into a tennis arena overnight on 1 January, following the "Explo '85" conference on New Year’s Eve in Hall 2 and an enthusiastically received performance of the operetta "Die Fledermaus" by a Czech ensemble in Hall 1.
A historical occasion
A few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall even the massive capacity of the ICC Berlin was strained to its limits by the meeting of entrepreneurs, the "Inter-German Market Place", when an unexpected total of more than 12,000 congress attendees arrived on the morning of 13 February 1990, consisting mainly of visitors from Eastern Germany. A total of just 2,000 participants had been expected. Nevertheless this event took place successfully.
The largest "classical" event
The highlight of the Festival of European Music in 1986 was provided by the concerts featuring choral symphonies. The performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony, with an orchestra and chorus of 1,000, provided a memorable experience for those who witnessed it. The orchestra was accompanied by the inclusion of organ music being played one kilometre away at the Canisius Church.
The most magical event
Six fabulous performances were given by the world-famous magician David Copperfield at the end of November 1998 at the ICC Berlin. At his eagerly awaited show "You!" this artist, renowned for his precision and his charm, managed to make 13 members of the audience disappear and two more to simply float away. Or was it all just a masterful illusion?
The largest general meeting
In 2001 over 18,000 shareholders, shareholders' proxies and journalists attended the annual general meeting of DaimlerChrysler AG, the largest shareholders’ meeting yet held in the ICC Berlin. For security reasons admission was regulated in a similar way to airport check-ins.
The oldest jubilee event
The ICC Berlin already has a long tradition of staging jubilee events. Congress societies and business associations frequently use their conferences as an occasion to celebrate the 50th or 100th anniversary of the founding of their organisations. But even the 150th anniversary event held by Siemens AG in 1997 and the opening event of the celebrations commemorating the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin could not compete with the Order of St. John, one of the leading humanitarian organisations, which celebrated its 900th anniversary at the ICC Berlin on 15 May 1999.
A medical world premiere
For once science shook off its rather dry image and produced something sensational: in 1987 the international symposium CAR, the world’s leading conference on the application of information and communication technology in computer-assisted radiology and surgery attracted widespread attention with a world first, the transmission of digitalised patient data via satellite from Los Angeles to ICC Berlin. Ten years later the "OP 2000" project at CAR '97 provided impressive evidence of the possibilities for the establishment of global networks using interactive conference links.
The most outstanding sporting event
At the International German Gymnastics Festival in 2005 the ICC Berlin was one of the main event venues hosting more than 50,000 gymnasts, spectators and participants at seminars. At the Welt-Gymnaestrada 1995 which attracted 30,000 participants, the ICC Berlin was also the venue for an intercontinental meeting of sportsmen and women, which also featured numerous presentations, seminars and conferences.
The new communication age
At the end of 1997 the ICC Berlin became one of the world's first conference centres to begin operating a fully functioning ATM network (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). The advantage of this high performance communication network is that speakers and exhibitors can transfer and use the data required for their presentations rapidly, securely and without any delay, using the intranet and internet. The first practical application took place in November 1997 at the International Internet Symposium staged by the American systems company Sun Microsystems, involving 5,000 users from 40 countries. Moreover in 2003 the ICC Berlin was the world’s first conference centre to be provided with a comprehensive wireless LAN system, which provides wireless communication via numerous hot spots.
Image: ICC Berlin
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