History

It is only right to say that the history of GSG was first of all a success story written in West Berlin. Even if, or maybe because the reasons for its establishment were more the result of scarcity. After all, in West Berlin in 1965 there was pretty much a lack of everything and not least of all of prospects. Shortly after the building of the Wall there was a mass migration of people and companies from the island city to the western Germany, despite the Berlin-Hilfe-Gesetz (Berlin Support Law). Nevertheless, affordable rooms were difficult to find for the companies which chose to remain. The city was suffering from decreasing tax revenues and a job draining. The existence of many small, primarily industrial companies was threatened and this in turn threatened the general economic status of the half-city. To turn this around, on 21 July 1965 the State of Berlin, the Berlin Chamber of Trades and the IHK founded the Gewerbesiedlungs-Gesellschaft.

The objective – to provide industry with reliable economic prospects by offering inexpensive and well-equipped industrial rooms, by developing fallow inner-city spaces or existing industrial buildings.

Although the GSG's first factory, Blücherstraße 22 in Kreuzberg acquired in 1966, was from the art nouveau era, the restoration and restructuring of the factory buildings from the Wilhelminian period is a GSG specialty. In the first years, Kreuzberg tended to be the primary and natural area of interest for GSG. This is not surprising, for the "Kreuzberg mixture" of residential and industrial zoning is where the largest number of unrenovated factory buildings are to be found.

In the 80s, a new attitude began to take hold and supported this approach. A fundamental and ongoing change in the concept of urban development began - a shift toward "cautious urban renewal" which favors the restoration of existing buildings over demolition.

Starting in 1980, GSG also began to construct new buildings. The first was a factory for Ford in Zehlendorf's Wupperstraße, in 1982 the first new GSG-HOF in Sophie-Charlotten-Straße. Since the fall of the Wall, and especially since the middle of the 90s, young IT companies from the New Economy have been the focus of economic development. Even now, technology companies represent, along with the traditional trades and near-production service providers, the majority of GSG's tenants.

The 90s also mark the beginning of the GSG commitment to eastern Berlin. Industrial centers are constructed on vacant property, generally for the purpose of replacing the loss of major industries with smaller offerings for small and medium-sized companies. The kick-off for this new approach was in 1995 with the GSG-HOF Wolfener Straße 36 in Marzahn.

GSG is not "just" a provider of commercial/industrial space and an urban renovator, but also an instrument for Berlin's economic development.

As early as the end of the 90s, GSG had already developed into a comprehensive service provider for its tenants. Whether with the continuous expansion of additional services, for instance, favorable procurement conditions or corporate consulting or through the Service Center which relieves companies of administrative tasks. Whether it is through the Haus der WirtschaftsPartner in the GSG-HOF Wolfener Straße or with the WirtschaftsPartnerTag, which has advanced to become the largest regional economic trade fair. All these examples serve to demonstrate how GSG continues to expand its role as an economic developer, helping tenants to reduce costs and simplify and expedite business processes, in other words to increase the economic power, and therefore the competitiveness, of every individual tenant.