The capital city: Potsdam is the capital city of Brandenburg, the seat of the state's parliament and many other state institutions.
Businesses and employment: Potsdam focuses on the creative middle class. There are more than 10,000 companies in the city which employ around 100,000 people. More than 40,000 commute to Potsdam every day from the surrounding area. Potsdam is a center for the service industry. More than 90 percent of the workforce is employed in this branch.
Competence: Beef up the strengths! This motto is the driving force behind the establishment and development of companies in Potsdam. The city's strength lies in the areas of future-oriented industries such as media, ICT, life science, geo-information, tourism and the automotive branch. Businesses in these fields can count on receiving maximum support.
Center of Growth: Potsdam is a growing regional center. There are locations here that have special economic potential and serve as engines in their respective areas. According to the Prognos Future Atlas, Potsdam ranks very high (15th place) when compared to the other 439 cities and districts in Germany.
Science: Potsdam is a center of scientific research. The ratio of scientist-to-resident is one of the highest in Germany. More than 5,300 scientists work here in universities and more than 40 research institutes. The more than 23,000 students in Potsdam enrich the city not only in that they fill the university lecture halls, but also because they put their mark on Potsdam's cultural and social scene.
A family-friendly city: Potsdam's population is young, having one of the highest birthrates in Germany. The percentage of children under 6-years-old to the total population is the highest among Germany's individual state capitol cities. The number of child-care facilities is also among the highest in the country. The Prognos Family Atlas named Potsdam the most family-friendly city in Germany.
A growing city: Potsdam is a growing city. After Munich, Potsdam is the state capitol with the fastest growth in population and at the same time is the leading city in the creation of new housing. By 2020, the population will grow to 165,000.
Tourism: A visit to Potsdam is worthwhile. Millions of visitors each year are convinced that Potsdam is one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. With an average stay of 2.3 days per visitor, Potsdam is the leader among German state capitols in this category.
Transportation: There are five highway access points in a radius of just 10 km around the state capitol city of Potsdam. Berlin's motorway system and the city center are just minutes away, as are 6 national highways, reachable via the Berlin motorway ring. You can also stay mobile with the public transport system in Potsdam and the surrounding area. There is a tightly-knit network of trams and buses inside the city, with day-, nighttime, and express routes. A ferry operates on Potsdam's waterways year-round, and in the warmer months there are water-taxis on the Havel River.
Airport: The Potsdamers fly all around the world, taking off from Berlin's 2 near-by airports (Schönefeld and Tegel). Through those same airports the world flies to Potsdam. Both airports lay practically just around the corner (only 30 km away). This situation will only improve through the transformation of Schönefeld into the newly built Berlin-Brandenburg-International (BBI) airport. As Europe's most modern airport, passengers will able to fly from BBI to around 160 destinations in 50 countries.
Telecommunications: Potsdam has 100% city-wide broadband coverage. The capitol city of Brandenburg was among the first 50 cities in Germany to get fast VDSL broadband technology. Starting in 2011, Potsdam has begun to extend its glass-fiber cable network. This will allow speeds of up to 1 gigabyte per second (Gbyte/s) for downloads, and up to 500 megabytes per second (Mbyte/s) for uploads.
Potsdam - the best place for bright minds
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