ORCO PROPERTY GROUP | Media
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Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Otto Bock Center of Excellence in Berlin Mitte
Ceremony attended by representatives of the German economy, guests from the political level and the media in the presence of the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit
Today the groundbreaking ceremony on the ORCO Germany property in Ebertstrasse for the Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH center of excellence for medical technology will take place. The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Mr. Klaus Wowereit, Rainer Bormann (CEO, ORCO Germany) and Prof. Hans Georg Näder (Chairman and CEO of the Otto Bock Group) addressed the several hundred guests invited to the ceremony.
The elegant new building will be constructed on a site of 850 m2 in size that is situated between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate. The building will have six stories housing three exhibition levels. With this project, Otto Bock, the global market leader in prosthetics and a global brand, will be returning to Berlin, the city in which the company was founded in 1919.
“For us, this is not about building a museum, or about having a place to showcase our products,” stated Prof. Hans Georg Näder. “What we want to do here is help people understand how high-tech solutions can restore mobility to people with physical disabilities or who are in poor health, and give them a new quality of life.”
Rainer Bormann, speaking for the builder-owner ORCO Germany, shared this appreciation of the project. “The move that Otto Bock has made to Berlin merits our respect and praise. At this special location, right in the heart of Berlin, many people will be given the opportunity to visit the center of excellence and to inform themselves.”
In addition to the exhibition area, the center of excellence will also offer spaces for seminars and lectures. Furthermore, areas are being planned in which patients who use the high-end products are served. They can also be used to demonstrate to the expert public what is technically feasible today. In designing its exhibition, Otto Bock is cooperating with the renowned Berlin agency ART+COM.
The exhibition concept will be based on the experiential horizon of generally interested laities. On the first exhibition levels, visitors will find interactive installations presenting basic biological motions such as walking and grasping objects. The items on exhibit will illustrate the marvelous workings of nature behind the sensory impressions we hardly ever notice in our everyday lives.
The research and development work done at Otto Bock are oriented by the evolution of humankind. This informs the company’s objective to protect people’s mobility or, if necessary, to restore it. That is why the two exhibition levels on the upper floors will be dedicated to the analysis of natural sequences of motion and medical-technical aids, with a particular focus on what they mean to people with physical disabilities.
The center of excellence will bring to life the fascination inherent to what is generally believed to be normal and everyday.
ORCO Germany
ORCO Germany S.A. is a real estate company that has its registered seat in Luxembourg and that is listed in the Prime Standard on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The ORCO Germany group, which operates under the uniform registered trademark ORCO Germany, has been pursuing its activities in Germany since 2004 and concentrates on residential and commercial properties as well as on asset management and project development. ORCO Germany currently employs about 210 members of staff in Germany.
In 2006, ORCO Germany strategically reinforced its project development operations by acquiring Viterra Development. Viterra Development was renamed ORCO Projektentwicklung GmbH at the beginning of 2008 and is one of the leading project developers and investors specializing in commercial and residential properties in the core German markets of Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. ORCO Germany expanded its portfolio of properties in Berlin in June of 2007 by taking over Gewerbesiedlungs-Gesellschaft (GSG); the company now manages more than 1 million square meters of developed and undeveloped areas in the German capital.
ORCO Germany S.A. is a subsidiary of ORCO Property Group, one of the leading Central European real estate firms holding a portfolio worth EUR 2.4 billion (as evaluated on December 31st, 2007). Established in 1991, the company has its registered seat in Luxembourg and is listed on the Euronext, Prague, Budapest and Warsaw stock exchanges. It operates primarily in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Croatia, the Slovak Republic and Germany.
Otto Bock HealthCare
Otto Bock HealthCare is the flagship of the Otto Bock group of companies. Technology for people, the highest quality standards and the proximity to our customers all over the world form the foundations for the growth that the MedTech Company has been enjoying. The exceptional products of Otto Bock have set new benchmarks in the care for people with limited mobility, giving them new vitality. As the first leg prosthesis system fully controlled by a micro-processor, the C-Leg® offers above-knee amputees the highest possible security and mobility. A particularly fascinating result of the research and development under way at Otto Bock is the first neurally controlled (thought-powered) arm prosthesis. Otto Bock presented the prototype in 2007 in Vienna. The nerves previously in charge of moving the healthy arm are used to transfer signals from the brain to the prosthesis, which is thus controlled intuitively and directly. – Never before has a prosthesis been so closely modeled on nature.
The objective of restoring mobility to people and protecting those functions that are still intact informs the entire product range offered by Otto Bock HealthCare. This covers two fields: Orthobionics®, providing prosthetic and orthotic solutions, and Bionicmobility®. This is comprised of; on the one hand, the Mobility Solutions offered by a broad range of electrically and manually operated wheel chairs, and neuro-stimulation on the other. As a global company, Otto Bock exports its products into more than 140 countries of the world. The network formed by our own sales and service companies in forty countries is one aspect reinforcing our strong brand image, and it is how we ensure our proximity to clients.
The competence and experience of the Otto Bock orthopedic technicians are of particular importance for the Paralympics, which are the focus of the group’s international sports sponsoring. It all began at the 1988 summer games in Seoul, and Otto Bock has since continually expanded its commitment to the Paralympics. Firmly established as the exclusive service provider assisting athletes from all over the world at the summer and winter games, Otto Bock HealthCare became official member of the Paralympics family in 2005 when it signed a cooperation agreement with the International Paralympic Committee.
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Contact ORCO Germany
Sabrina Eilers
Head of Marketing & Communications
ORCO Germany
Kurfürstendamm 103/104
10711 Berlin
T: (030) 440 123 190
F: (030) 440 123 299
M: (0170) 768 8802
E: seilers@orcogroup.com
www.orcogermany.de |
Contact Otto Bock Joachim F. Hamacher
Director of Corporate Communications / Company Spokesman
Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH
Max-Näder-Str. 15
37115 Duderstadt
T: (05527) 848-1239
F: (05527) 848-3360
M: (0170) 9 20 79 97
E: joachim.hamacher@ottobock.de
www.ottobock.de |