Head of Messe Berlin must go: Martin Ecknig takes his hat

The head of Messe Berlin, Martin Ecknig, must go. After around two years in office, the CEO’s disputes over the Funkausstellung are likely to have been his undoing. About the exact reasons, however, silence was agreed.

Martin Ecknig resigns as head of Messe Berlin

Business Insider magazine had already announced that Martin Ecknig, head of Messe Berlin, was about to quit. Shortly thereafter, via Twitter followed the official confirmation on the part of Messe Berlin:

“The Supervisory Board of Messe Berlin and Martin Ecknig have agreed to terminate his contract as Chairman of the Board of Management,” the award announcement states succinctly. The provisional chairmanship of the Management Board will take over CFO Dirk Hoffmann with immediate effect. A replacement for the position of CEO now has the highest priority for the personnel and presidential committee.

Martin Ecknig had been CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH since January 2021. The parties had agreed not to disclose the exact reasons for the departure.

According to Business Insider, a previous report had recommended the immediate release of the Berlin trade fair boss. As background the magazine calls apparently alleged misconduct and guideline offences.

In recent months, Ecknig has been caught in the crossfire with a dubious consulting contract for the husband of former RBB director Patricia Schlesinger, in which the then head of the supervisory board of Messe Berlin and chairman of the board of directors of RBB Wolf-Dieter Wolf has also been involved.

However, the turmoil surrounding the IFA consumer electronics trade show probably also played a decisive role in Ecknig’s exit. Long before the start of IFA 2022 in September, things were heating up in the background around the electronics trade show, and at times there was even the end in sight for the trade show in Berlin.

In the meantime, however, about two weeks ago, it was confirmed that the electronics trade show IFA will probably continue to pitch its tents in Berlin.