• Baden-Württemberg is one of the most important locations for optical technologies in Germany. More than 300 businesses specialising in the manufacture of optical and photographic equipment employ over 8,800 people and generate a turnover of around 1.8 billion Euros. As companies from other sectors such as mechanical engineering, production and process engineering, control engineering and medical technology are also intensively engaged in the field of optical technologies, it should be assumed that the sector has considerably more importance in Baden-Württemberg than these figures suggest.

• Baden-Württemberg has one of the most significant clusters in the photonics sector in Germany. Famous companies like the optics group Carl Zeiss, the machine tools manufacturer and laser specialist TRUMPF, the sensor manufacturer Sick, the endoscope manufacturers Karl Storz and Richard Wolf and the measurement equipment manufacturer Polytec are based in the state and are regarded as market leaders in their field throughout in the world. In addition to these major players in the sector, there are a multitude of extremely successful small and medium-sized enterprises in Baden-Württemberg with innovative optical and optoelectronic products and services serving a widely diversified international market.

• IBaden-Württemberg also has the highest density of potential users of optical technologies in Germany. The south-west has a particularly high density of businesses in the automotive industry, mechanical engineering and renewable energy as well as environmental technologies, medical technology and biotechnology.

WZ-Code: 33.4
* Enterprises with at least 17,500 Euros of taxable turnover and/or employees liable for social security contributions
Source: Baden-Württemberg Office of Statistics, Eurostat