“ROBOTICS MEETS OPERA!”

This was the motto of the inauguration ceremony of the new assembly hall in Kohlfurth on December 6, 2024. Almost 500 guests celebrated the inauguration of the new hall and the expansion of the production facility in Wuppertal to 9,000 m² with the Berger Gruppe.

After a construction period of just eight months, the Berger Gruppe inaugurated its new assembly hall on December 6, 2024. With the additional 650 m² of production space and 350 m² of office space, the Wuppertal-based company now works on a total of 9,000 m². The 200 m² roof terrace is a nice bonus that the company’s employees will benefit from when the weather is nice.

Last Friday’s celebration was held under the motto “robotics meets opera”.

For the highlight of the evening, the company was able to attract the Wuppertal Opera Ensemble, which performed a piece from Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” and two songs by Fassbinder under the direction of Ulrich Zippelius. The performance was accompanied by two robots “armed” with two hammers that set the beat. A third robot mimed the weightlifter of the Verdi piece with two grinding wheels on a pole.

Combining opera singing with robot technology – what an idea! But it worked and the almost 500 guests were thrilled by the performance.
Other musical highlights of the evening were the performance by the rock band “Rosatones”, who encouraged the guests to sing along with their song “raise your voice”. The two musicians Oliver Hanf and Sebastian Eichmeier from the Jim Rockford Band provided musical accompaniment to the event with classics and songs from the charts.

“It was a great evening,” said Dr. Stefanie Lemaire, who hosted the program together with her colleague Robin Bohn. “With all the negative news from the steel and automotive industry, it is simply great that we are continuing to expand with a new assembly hall. For us employees of the Berger Gruppe, this is a hopeful sign that our jobs will remain secure in the future!” And if that’s not a reason to celebrate …!