Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg (BW) is Germany's third-largest state and enchants visitors with the Black Forest, Lake Constance, and its spas, wines, and foods.

Hidden behind this romantic picture, however, is a roaring engine of manufacturing and the world's export champion.

The region has relied on ingenuity and invention to get where it is today – at the forefront of global innovation. Although titans of industry – such as Daimler, Bosch, Porsche, and SAP – are based in BW, thousands of small and medium-sized companies thrive here too and really drive the economy. Key industries include automobile manufacturing – as is fitting for the place where the motorcar was invented – logistics, manufacturing technology, health care, and mechanical-, electrical-, and electronic engineering.

The state devotes massive resources to keeping itself on the cutting edge. Four percent of GDP goes to R&D, and the region files more patent registrations than any other state. There are also over 70 institutions of higher learning, including world-famous universities in Tübingen and Heidelberg, and multiple representations of world-class research organizations, such as the Fraunhofer Society and Max Planck Institute. All these factors led a major German business magazine to name BW Germany’s "economically most successful and most dynamic state" in 2007.