At the end of January, the “Internationale Grüne Woche” (International Green Week, or IGW) takes place in Berlin in the exhibition halls near the Funkturm (Radio Tower). It is the most important international convention for the food industry, agriculture, and horticulture. Companies from around the world showcase their agricultural products, defined in the most broad sense. What that means is that you’ll find agricultural equipment, plants and flowers, and lots of food.
The Beginning in the 1920s
The Grüne Woche took place for the first time in 1926, from February 20 til February 28. It was conceived by Hans-Jürgen von Hake, a farmer and an employee of the Tourist Information (Fremdenverkehrsamt) in Berlin. The members of the Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (German Agricultural Society) met in Berlin for their winter conference. There were street sales of agricultural products going on during that conference, so the idea was to combine the conference with an agricultural fair.
The first show took place on 7000 m^ (~75,000 sq. ft.) and saw 50,000 visitors, people from the industry and the interested public. At the time, a fifth of Berlin was used for gardening and agriculture. Tens of thousands of pigs, cows, horses, and chickens lived in the city, 200.000 of Berlin residents had a Kleingarten (allotment garden). The interest of the ‘normal’ people in an agricultural fair is therefore not surprising.
Throughout the years, the exhibition area was expanded, and in some years, like for the first time in 1954, the Green Week had as many as half a million visitors.
The name Grüne Woche comes from the green loden coats which were the preferred coats worn by the men who attended the conference of the German Agricultural Society. By the time, the fair was added to the conference the name stuck and the convention was called Grüne Woche or “Green Week”.
During National Socialism and WWII
When the NSDAP and Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933, the Green Week exhibition tied itself to the Nationalsocialist ideology. The following photo of 1937 shows Hermann Göring, who opened the show that year, trying a spread made of raw vegetables (Rohkost) presented at a special show “Die sparsame Hausfrau” (The frugal housewife). The special exhibition was organized by the Deutsches Frauenwerk (German Women’s Welfare), an organization of the NSDAP.
The Green Week was canceled in 1938 because of hoof-and-mouth disease (Maul- und Klauenseuche), and didn’t take place in the years from 1940-1947.
The role the Green Week and its organizers played during National Socialism and World War II has not thoroughly been dealt with or worked through (aufgearbeitet).
After WWII and today
The Grüne Woche started again in the late summer of 1948 under precarious circumstances and with many difficulties. The three Allied Forces, USA, Russia, and Britain, were still occupying the city, supplies were short, electricity unreliable.
But they endured and during the 1950s, more and more visitors came from abroad. So many indeed, that the Green Week was renamed “Internationale Grüne Woche” in 1962. Of the 669 exhibitors nearly half of them came from abroad, mostly from Western European countries but also from the US, Canada, Morocco, Israel, and Lebanon.
After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1990, even more companies joined the yearly convention. The new product markets beer, milk, meat/sausage, tea/herbs/spices, and seafood were very successfully introduced. Starting in 2005, the fair focused on one particular Partnerland (partner country). During the Green Week, attendees can visit lectures, symposiums, and seminars, and often special exhibitions like “Käse aus Deutschland” (Cheese of Germany) and “Vom Korn zum Brot” (From grain to bread) and are showcased. There are also play areas for the youngest visitors.
Since 2003, people have gathered in Berlin during Green Week and protested against factory farming (Massentierhaltung) and the usage of antibiotics in the feed for stores (Masttiere). They used the slogan “Wir haben es satt!” (We’re fed up!).
Because of the pandemic, the convention took place virtually in 2021 and 2022.
