Whether Berlin, Brandenburg or Tübingen – wherever tech visionary Elon Musk appears, there is excitement in Germany too. His visit attracts journalists and fans, but also opponents of his gigafactory. Musk's visit to vaccine manufacturer Curevac is a topic of conversation.
Tech visionary Elon Musk caused a stir with his visit to Germany – on Wednesday in Berlin, but above all before in the otherwise tranquil Tübingen. Dozens of men of all ages stand in the way of the headquarters of the biotech company Curevac when Musk walks through the door. The fans take photos, shout expressions of love to the entrepreneur, who is poorly masked with a scarf, and one of them even claims to have given him an application.
Tübingen is only the first of several stops on the tech star's short tour of Germany, which continues in political Berlin and Grünheide in Brandenburg – where Musk wants to build a new electric car factory. Actually it is just a business visit from an economist – but the perception is far from being so simple and plain for many. Because the hype about the US-Canadian dual citizen Musk and his company Tesla is also considerable in this country, not only in front of the Curevac doors.
The 49-year-old multi-entrepreneur is not only celebrated by his supporters and many stock marketers as a dazzling electric car pioneer, but also starts numerous side projects in all areas; with his company SpaceX he even builds rockets for space travel. Musk's fans see him as one of – perhaps even the – great visionary of today. And at least in terms of zeal for work, the stock market high-flyer is actually an exception.
Musk accumulates projects like other postage stamps. And with one of them, Curevac – made known to a broad German public through its corona vaccine candidate – is part of the party. The Tübingen-based company and the Tesla subsidiary Grohmann, a mechanical engineering company based in Prüm, Rhineland-Palatinate, have been cooperating for a long time on a project on so-called mRNA technology, which is more than ever the focus of attention in view of the search for a corona vaccine. Put simply, it is about portable production facilities for the development of new vaccines and drugs. Special printers that function like small mini-factories should soon be able to produce vaccine candidates and other mRNA-based therapeutics fully automatically. mRNA is a kind of messenger molecule that contains the building instructions for making proteins.
Musk deal with Curevac: it's all nonsense!
Curevac is by no means the only manufacturer working on a vaccine against the sometimes deadly and economically devastating corona virus. But the company is definitely considered a beacon of hope. For example, the EU Commission had already secured up to 405 million doses of one of the company's vaccines. One thing is clear: if you can bring a vaccine to market the fastest, you will win big.
The fact that Musk, the billionaire from distant America, traveled to Tübingen especially, was still a surprise. Speculations quickly made the rounds that there was more to the game than a simple work visit. It was asked whether the Tesla boss might want to participate in Curevac. Or whether he even wanted to take over the German company? All nonsense, says a Curevac spokesman. The meeting with company representatives was only about the project. There was, however, no question of a possible involvement of Musk in Curevac during the conversation.
In Grünheide on Wednesday everything looked like waiting for a pop star, and it wasn't even clear whether the Tesla boss would come to the construction site of his new electric car factory. Journalists, fans, but also opponents of the factory are standing at the entrance to the site this Wednesday afternoon. Numerous cameras were positioned. The main actor was missing and there was no red carpet. Instead, Brandenburg sand and numerous construction vehicles that drive in and out and give an impression of the construction progress. From July next year around 500,000 vehicles are to be produced there per year. The plant in Brandenburg may be finished sooner than the one in Shanghai – Tesla built the plant there in eleven months.
Tesla has had foundation work in Brandenburg since the end of May. It is said that the topping-out ceremony for the paint shop in Grünheide should take place on Friday. Tesla is still building at its own risk with preliminary partial approvals, the final green light from the state is pending.
In Berlin, Musk held talks on the sidelines of a retreat of the Union faction leadership. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier promised Musk further support in his ventures in Germany. Musk recognized the collaboration between Tesla and the biotech company Curevac. He referred to a machine developed by Tesla Grohmann Automation and Curevac in the foyer of the exam building that produces vaccine fully automatically. The Tesla boss spoke of a really revolutionary technology.
Protests against Gigafactory
According to the Brandenburg state government, the opening of the Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin is still planned for summer 2021 despite the Corona crisis. The State Chancellery announced that this was discussed at a meeting between Tesla boss Elon Musk and Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke in Berlin. Woidke emphasized: "There is still a lot of work ahead of us." The planned car factory already has a "pull effect".
In Grünheide, however, not everyone in the region is enthusiastic about the planned factory. Many fear negative consequences for the environment. The banners of the citizens' initiative against the Gigafactory Grünheide read: "No industry in the water protection area" and "Stop overexploitation of nature and groundwater immediately!" A public hearing of objections to the Tesla factory is planned for September 23. As in Tübingen, there are also real fans who are waiting for Musk. This includes a student who shoots videos of the factory premises every weekend. He was also there in Grünheide and came by bike. He hoped to see Musk: "It would really be my greatest wish!" But that didn't happen at first – Musk didn't show up on the construction site until dark. There may be hope if Musk stays for a few more days.
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