Unveiling of a Spectacular Car Sculpture and World Premiere of the New Audi TT Coupe

The events that took place directly in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Thursday evening were extremely revealing. At 19:00 h, AUDI AG, official partner of the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas”, and FC Deutschland GmbH unveiled a giant car sculpture on the “Platz des 18. März”. “The Automobile”, a 2.5:1 scale sculpture, is part of the “Walk of Ideas” which comprises six sculptures at prominent locations in Berlin that will be on show until the autumn. The evening continued in spectacular fashion when the Ingolstadt brand presented the new Audi TT Coupe to the world public for the first time, also in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Around 500 invited guests attended the event in Germany’s capital. As well as a number of international journalists, guests included the German Vice Chancellor and Minster of Labour and Social Affairs, Franz Muntefering, the Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Edmund Stoiber, the Hungarian Economics Minister Dr. Janos Koka, footballers Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane from Real Madrid and Andreas Görlitz from FC Bayern Munich, FC Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and former German football star Gerd Müller, who now trains the FC Bayern Munich amateurs.

The guest list also included Olympic biathlon champions Michael Greis and Ricco Groß, racing driver legend Jacky Ickx, his daughter Vanina Ickx, who will be driving for the Audi team in this year’s DTM, and her team-mate Mattias Ekstrom.

The guests were welcomed by the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, Jürgen R. Thumann, Chairman of the Federation of German Industry (BDI), Mike de Vries, Managing Director of FC Deutschland GmbH, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, and Stephan Gruhsem, Head of Communication at Audi.

The automotive sculpture stands as a symbol for “Germany, the car-making nation”. As Winterkorn explained: “The initiative ‘Germany – Land of Ideas’ fits in excellently with our brand essence ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’. 45,000 highly qualified and motivated employees at our German plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm make our success possible. Audi is committed to Germany as a location. Our commitment therefore fits in extremely well with the objectives of the initiative. After all, we develop and produce fascinating cars here in Germany with a passion and a wealth of ideas.”

With Audi’s assistance, the giant sculpture took just eight weeks to build. The shell is made from the innovative foam Neopor and sits on a steel supporting structure. The sculpture consists of 16 different segments, is 10.20 metres long, 3.25 metres high, 4.50 metres wide and weighs around 10 tonnes. Its surface, which covers 150 square metres, has been coated with a metallic gold-silver paint. A heavy-haulage low loader with police escort took it through the night from Fulda, where it was created, to Berlin.

As far as colour, material and clarity are concerned, it matches the style of the other sculptures in the “Walk of Ideas” – but is more realistic and less abstract. Audi Design was responsible for its styling. Details such as a tank cap or door handles were deliberately omitted, as was a brand logo.

Following the unveiling of the sculpture, Audi had another sensational premiere to offer: the eagerly awaited Audi TT Coupe, which was presented to the world public for the first time. Three examples of this new sports car drove up to the Brandenburg Gate where they were presented to the international media.

Then the guests, including actors Daniel Bruhl, Thomas Heinze, Benjamin Sadler, Gedeon Burkhardt and TV presenter Kai Pflaume were taken by the Audi shuttle service to the “Audi TT Night” which was held at the permanent representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg in Berlin. The evening event there was hosted by Desiree Nosbusch, who conducted interviews with, among others, Audi Chairman Winterkorn, the chief designer of the Audi brand group Walter de’ Silva, the famous designer Richard Sapper and Audi’s head of concept development Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg.

The initiators

“Germany – Land of Ideas” is the joint initiative of the German government and German industry, represented by the Federation of German Industry, which has been set up to mark the occasion of the 2006 World Cup. The objective of the initiative is to communicate an image of Germany, both at home and abroad, as an innovative, cosmopolitan and inspiring country. The patron of this initiative is the German president Horst Köhler. FC Deutschland GmbH, with its managing director Mike de Vries, is coordinating the initiative. The “Land of Ideas” initiative is supported by numerous German companies and by partners from the worlds of science, culture and society.

Partners

adidas-Salomon AG • Adolf Wurth GmbH & Co. KG • Allianz AG • AUDI AG • AWD Holding AG • BASF AG • Bayer AG • Deutsche Bank AG • Deutsche Börse AG • Deutsche Lufthansa AG • DHL • Deutsche Telekom AG • EnBW AG • E.ON AG Fraport AG • Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH • HDI Versicherungen • Heitkamp & Thumann Group • IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG • Roland Berger Strategy Consultants • RWE AG • Voith AG • Wall AG
Further information on the initiative can be found at: www.land-of-ideas.org

Resources: