Setting Up a Business in Germany

An in-depth guide for foreign entrepreneurs and companies looking to enter the German market — Europe’s largest economy, prized for its industrial base and legal predictability, and genuinely strong in deep tech, health, and green energy alongside its traditional manufacturing strength.
This guide covers legal structures (GmbH, UG, AG), business taxation — an honest, three-layer combined burden of roughly 29-33%, not the headline 15% figure alone — company formation via notarial deed and the Handelsregister, the cost of labor (roughly 40% social charges and codetermination requirements), and immigration routes for executives, investors, and entrepreneurs, including the EU Blue Card and the Chancenkarte. Includes a dedicated chapter on Germany’s industrial power (the Mittelstand and its “Hidden Champions”) and its strength in deep tech, health, and green energy, a section on Germany’s key regional economic hubs — Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, and the Ruhr — an operational checklist, and useful contacts.
Available in English.