Hannover Messe

The Hannover Messe (HM; "Hanover Fair") is one of the world's largest trade fairs, dedicated to the topic of industry development. It is organized by Deutsche Messe AG and held on the Hanover Fairground in Hanover, Germany. The fair attracts typically 100,000–200,000 visitors per year.

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.

The most recent Hanover Fair took place from April 22 to April 26, 2024, with Norway as the partner country.