Hannover, 06.04.14: On Sunday evening Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the world's largest industrial fair
"Industry 4.0" is a focus of this year's Hannover Messe. Angela Merkel recommended that the business commmunity remain open to the merging of traditional industry and the digital world.
The Netherlands are this year's partner country. Prime Minister Mark Rutte accompanied the Chancellor at the opening ceremony.
Afterwards there was a reception for the Dutch Prime Minister at the guest house of the state government of Lower Saxony.
And the opportunity for a private conversation with the Chancellor.
Hannover, 07.04.14: The next morning the Chancellor and the Dutch Prime Minister undertook the traditional tour of the fair.
First of all the Chancellor visited exhibitors from this year's partner country. At the Holland High Tech stand a robot in traditional Dutch costume presented her with a tulip.
At the NXP stand the Chancellor discovered how networking vehicles could improve the management of traffic flows and prevent accidents.
Bosch exhibited an assembly line without overarching steering. Each station along the line recognises which processing step is required for the individual product.
With a view to this sort of self-organising factory of the future, Angela Merkel stressed, however, that it is important not to lose sight of the human factor.
Changing energy systems were another focus of the Hannover Messe.