Future-Proof Connectivity at HANNOVER MESSE 2026

As a technology company, we were also at the HANNOVER MESSE during the years to follow. We demonstrated entrepreneurial foresight and a knack for anticipating technology trends and the needs of customers and markets. The production of medical equipment, tape recorders and jukeboxes dominated the next decade. The Han^® connector, patented in 1956, and our subsequent connector innovations began a success story which brought us much attention at the trade fair. Fifteen years after the first industrial trade fair in Hannover, the exhibition stand had evolved significantly. The core business had changed from pasture fencing and useful household products to industrial connectors. To this day, we are the world market leader in the field of industrial connectors. A new era began with the globalization trend starting at the end of the 1970s – the first step towards a global company.

In 1995, the Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl appointed Dietmar Harting, at the time a member of the board of the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI) and Vice President of the European Electronic Component Manufactures Association (EECA), to the Council for Research, Technology and Innovation, which he founded. Until the end of Kohl's chancellorship in 1998, Dietmar Harting was a member of this top-class committee of experts. In the same year, the chancellor visited our HARTING stand at the HANNOVER MESSE for the first time.

Fifty years of the HANNOVER MESSE and fifty years of HARTING's participation: in a small ceremony, Margrit and Dietmar Harting were presented with a certificate by Prof. Dr. Goehrmann (left), the Chairman of Deutsche Messe AG. Among the well-wishers was Ernst Raue (right), head of the HANNOVER MESSE business division.

We have been using this forum for research, technology and industry as a communication platform for 50 years. We have presented many targeted innovative developments: Fieldbus components for decentralized automation technology and fibre-optic data transmission systems for industrial applications, the VS 3000 – a pioneering patch distribution system, the Han R23 – the first circular connector for industrial applications, the world-famous Han industrial connector production, Han Quintax – an industrial connector system for shielded data bus cables, and Han Drive and Han Modular connectors for motor connections.

A great mood at the HARTING stand: Margrit Harting, Maresa Harting-Hertz, Dietmar Harting, Philip Harting as well as Angela Merkel and Barack Obama have every reason to laugh – the day before we won the HERMES AWARD (the "Oscar for Engineers") for the second time since 2006.

"This trade fair will go down in HARTING's history": that's how every one of our employees feels by noon of the first day of the fair, even though no customer has been able to set foot on our trade fair stand until then.

Our colleagues felt this way because of what had happened in the past 24 hours. "It will probably take a few more days to process and appreciate this," Philip Harting admitted.

The excitement began many months before the fair.

After the United States of America had been chosen as the partner country for HANNOVER MESSE 2016, it became clear at the beginning of the year that it would be US President Barack Obama who, together with Chancellor Angela Merkel, would open the world-famous industrial show. The Chancellor's obligatory tour with the representative of the partner country, President Barack Obama, was thus the focus; this meant that there were special security measures for all participants and exhibitors.

"Philip Harting summed up the emotions as follows: "We were tense and very excited.

A few days before the trade fair, the indications were growing that Barack Obama would not only enter Hall 11, where our stand is located, but that HARTING had also been selected for his tour. And so on that Monday at half past ten, a friendly, relaxed and extremely impressive Barack Obama appeared together with Chancellor Angela Merkel at our stand. An indescribable moment. HARTING history was written here. The Harting family received the distinguished visitors. "We were prepared for everything! But not for the president's first question about our shoes, which of course everyone at our stand was wearing," laughs Margrit Harting. Only a few hours before Obama's visit, another exciting decision was made: The winner of the HERMES AWARD 2016. Within a few hours, the news was announced – we had won the HERMES AWARD again, exactly ten years after our first HERMES AWARD in 2006! During their visit, Obama and Merkel were also impressed by our HARTING MICA^®, with which we won the prize. It's inconspicuous at first glance. Installed in the "Etos" concept vehicle from Rinspeed AG, it sums up the description "small but powerful". The HARTING MICA^® is a modular platform consisting of open hardware and software that can be adapted quickly and cost-effectively to fit into many industrial applications. Operating in the "Etos" bright yellow sports car, the MICA^® continuously records and transmits drive and engine data using sensors and RFID tags.