By Bill Wilson
Business reporter, BBC News, Munich |
 Old meets new Munich: traditional dress in the futuristic Allianz Arena |
Munich bids Auf Wiedersehen to the World Cup after Wednesday night's semi-final between England's conquerors, Portugal, and a rejuvenated France.
But the Bavarian capital hopes the competition will provide the impetus to give it a new lease of life after the last ball is kicked, enabling it to shed, or at least complement, its existing image.
The bustling city of 1.3 million wants to become known as being more than just home to the three Bs - beer, carmaker BMW, and Bayern Munich, Germany's most successful football team.
It hopes the four-week-long global tournament will allow it to project itself as a city that is also home to the arts, innovation, and hi-tech development.
'Enormous expectations'
According to Dr Reinhard Wieczorek, deputy mayor and head of economic development in Munich, this long-term goal is more desirable than any short-term gain.
"There have been enormous expectations regarding the direct economic revenues coming out of the World Cup," he says.
"But from the beginning, I always said, 'Let's not expect too much'."
He said that rather than the 12,000 new World Cup-related jobs predicted in some quarters, the actual number was in the hundreds.
"That's not important - the important thing is about using the World Cup to project the reputation of Munich," he says.
"We want to implant an image of Munich that stays with people, especially business people, who have been in Germany during the World Cup.
"The city has supported the tournament and been enthusiastic, without unpleasant, overly-patriotic overtones. We have taken the opportunity to broadcast a positive message about Munich."
'Backbone of economy'
Dr Wieczorek says he envisages the "new" Munich competing economically perhaps not with London or Paris, but definitely with cities such as Berlin, Barcelona, Helsinki, Vienna and Budapest.
"We are not a low-cost or low-tax centre," he admits, but adds: "There is a quality workforce, close collaboration with research institutes, and modern clusters including technology parks."
 Fraunhofer is working on putting sensors into a variety of sports balls |
As well as being home to big names like BMW, he says, the city also has thousands of small and medium-sized businesses - committed to training and skills for young people.
"These firms are the backbone of our strong economy," he says.
They can be found in the fields of biotechnology, media, information and technology, communications, and electronics, among others.
"We want to stress that we are strong on research and development."
At one of the 58 institutes run by Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, which has its headquarters in Munich, they are developing chip-enabled balls, with a golf ball already created.
These balls can be easily tracked, and in football, may resolve future disputes - such as that in the 1966 World Cup final - about whether a ball crossed the goal-line.
"The best way to meet the challenges of the future is to create them," says Dr Hans-Joerg Bullinger, president of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.
Other projects currently receiving attention in its Signposts To Tomorrow's Market project are miniaturised fuel cells, vibration dampening, simulated realities, human-machine interaction, and lightweight materials and construction systems.
The organisation is one of Germany's leading research bodies, and the place where the MP3 music format was invented.
'Renewable energy'
Meanwhile, US giant General Electric has recently opened a new European Research Centre in Munich, on a 10,000-sq-m site on the campus of the city's Technical University.
"It gives us access to great talent and helps us create a synergy with the European technical community," says Dr Armin Pfoh, managing director Europe at GE Global Research.
"Our main focus is renewable energy systems, and security and health developments. Germany is driven by innovation and Munich is the perfect base for us - it is a great location and offers a great research network for scientists.
 General Electric's purpose built European research centre in Munich |
"Also we find that there is no problem in getting successful scientists to relocate in Munich. It is a city with a very strong research and development feel to it."
Munich's scientific expertise is highlighted by the fact that it is the hub for ensuring that most of the world receives its World Cup coverage.
Data traffic from all stadiums has been flowing to the International Broadcasting Centre in Munich, where technicians have been processing signals for the various broadcasting systems in the world.
The city is also proud of its futuristic Allianz Arena on the outskirts of the city, designed by Swiss team Herzog and De Meuron, who also created Tate Modern in London.
The stadium, which has already hosted two Germany games and will be graced by the likes of Figo and Zidane on Wednesday, opened in May 2005 and has an ethylene facade - partly developed in the city - which can change colour.
"We are the only World Cup host city where the stadium was not built with public money," says Dr Wieczorek.
"After the semi-final is here, there is the final and then the event is over. Life will then have to go on, but Munich has been very lucky from the football - we had the opening game and the Fifa Congress held here."
'Go to work'
Recent data suggests that the World Cup may not give the economic injection to Germany that it was hoping for.
According to a recent TNS Infratest survey, only 9% of restaurateurs and 15% of hoteliers were very satisfied with tournament returns and nearly half of the hospitality industry was dissatisfied.
However, the image of Germany and its host cities, including Munich, looks set to score, with more than 90% of the two million visitors recommending the country for those thinking of visiting.
This is the legacy that Munich hopes to build on, at the same time promoting itself as a hi-tech centre.
But first there is the small matter of the World Cup semi-final, then welcoming the Pope on a visit in September, and finally hosting the Oktoberfest beer festival.
"Then we will go to work on projecting the new Munich and building on the goodwill the World Cup has brought us," says Dr Wieczorek.
"The tournament has given the chance to improve and change our image, move forward as a city and put ourselves forward to the rest of the world."
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
We want to stress that we are strong on research and development
