The city of Cologne and the car manufacturer Ford are closely connected. Konrad Adenauer, at that time still the mayor of the city, stuck the American company to Cologne almost a hundred years ago, founder Henry Ford even laid the foundation stone. The Ford works were symbol of Germany’s economic miracle, which was also created with the hands of guest workers. More than 20 different series were made in the Ford works: from the “Model A”, the successor to the legendary black “Tin Lizzy”, to the Ford Capri sports car to the Fiesta small car. The production facility for the company’s attempt to switch on electromobility: The Americans have invested two billion euros so far. Ford has been in the crisis in this country for a long time, but the strategy chew has tightened it, there is no longer back. The protest is loud, a strike should put pressure on the management. This in turn refers to economic constraints and the bitter reality that cars have only been produced with loss in Cologne for more than ten years. Ford is waning, the prospects are cloudy. The winged Ford Fiesta by the artist H. A. Schultflorian Sunday Farewell from Cologne would also be a blow for the city, the Ford works stand not only for 125 hectares of production space, but also a tradition. Ford motorizes the Rose Monday parade, a winged Fiesta is enthroned as a work of art on the roof of the former city museum. Cologne does not depend on an industry alone, with the proximity to the Rheinische area, the connection to the river, airport and motorway and the structure as a university and media city there are many economic factors. An industrial wasteland must nevertheless be avoided. Bochum has shown more on the topic: At least 100 hectares of the old Opel plant have settled in various industries ten years after the factory closes, from logistics to start-ups to cybersecurity. In Saarlouis, where Ford’s farewell is already sealed, the pharmaceutical family company Vetter wants to take over many areas-but what will become of it still has to be shown.
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