After Google announced their plans to buy the Munich Postpalast last year and create 1,500 new jobs, Apple is now following suit and will also be significantly increasing its presence in Munich.
In its “Bavarian Design Center,” Apple already employs 300 engineers from 40 countries in Munich. As reported by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the tech company from Cupertino is planning major expansion for its Munich branch. The company plans to move 1,500 employees into the office building “Karl,” which is currently being built on the former Mahag site on Karlstraße, after its planned completion in 2021. According to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Californians have leased the entire 30,000 square meters (approx. 323,000 square feet) of the building. When asked by Munich Startup, a spokesperson for the “Karl” owners neither confirmed nor commented on speculation about Apple moving into the building.
Clemens Baumgärtner, Head of the Department of Labor and Economic Developmen, City of Munich, however, has already remarked on the planned Apple office in Munich. He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung:
“I’m pleased that Apple will be expanding its presence in Munich. That will secure and create new high-quality jobs in our city.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook: “Munich is a great city”
Apple’s commitment to Munich as a location doesn’t come as that much of a surprise. Tim Cook visited the Oktoberfest last year and gave the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung an interview. The Apple CEO had plenty of positive things to say about the Bavarian big city:
“If you move to Munich, you can feel that it is a great city, that people like to live here. Not everyone wants to live in Silicon Valley. Anyway, I can’t imagine a better place.”
It’s possible to “have a team here that we couldn’t put together elsewhere in the world. We find talents here that we wouldn’t find anywhere else. We have the greatest interest in this location.”
