Trade fairs and exhibitions have a long tradition in Düsseldorf, dating back to a first trade show in 1811. At the beginning of the 20th century, the trade fair grounds were located in what is now the Ehrenhof on the Rhine, and after the Second World War on Fischerstraße. This was also where the first trade fairs took place, on which the newly founded Nordwestdeutsche Ausstellungs-Gesellschaft relied instead of the previous large industrial shows - the right strategy, as became apparent in the first few years of business. The demand from the exhibiting industries was so great that the Düsseldorf site could not keep up with the wishes of the exhibitors - especially those of the important world-leading trade fairs drupa, K and interpack. At K 1967, 20 per cent of exhibitors' requests could not be met due to lack of space. The associations threatened to move to other cities, and the city council had to act to maintain the competitiveness of Düsseldorf as a trade fair venue.
On 20 September 1968, after careful consideration, the city council unanimously decided to relocate the fairground to Stockum. One year later, on 26 August 1969, the foundation stone for the new fair was laid. In just under two years of construction, the core of the exhibition centre as we know it today was built on the northern outskirts of the city. In the first stage of development, the site had 108,000 square metres of usable hall space in 12 halls (65,000 square metres were available on Fischerstraße). On 20 August 1971, Düsseldorf's mayor officially handed over the new exhibition centre to NOWEA. This was followed by two very well-attended open days for "interested citizens".
When the grounds were being built, the principle that still underlies all Messe Düsseldorf construction projects today applied: The optimisation of the quality of stay for the customers as well as the consistent orientation of the infrastructure to the needs of the exhibiting companies and visitors. The task of the architect, Heinz Wilke, was to "give the modern Düsseldorf trade fair and exhibition concept the appropriate space, the packaging, so to speak", as the industry magazine m+a report wrote in its special edition on the occasion of the opening of the grounds. It was important that the grounds themselves were designed to be flexible and neutral, because Düsseldorf's leading trade fair portfolio at that time already included such diverse topics as fashion and foundry technology.
Levelness and easy accessibility of all halls were just as important a prerequisite as the heavy-duty suitability of the floor and the technical supply of the stands from the "underground". In addition to the technical supply, the range of services and supplies for the customers was also taken into account in the concept right from the start. Thus, the halls were clearly arranged as a circuit and pedestrian bridges covered with Plexiglas at a height of five metres between the halls created an area of short distances. These characteristic "tubes" of the Düsseldorf exhibition grounds with a total length of 1,000 metres were a real unique selling point and included the longest moving walkways in Europe at the time. The overall concept of the grounds also included restaurants with a total of 5,000 seats and offices for authorities such as the police, customs and fire brigade as well as service providers such as the post office, forwarding and cleaning companies, pharmacy and banks and even an indoor swimming pool. The ultra-modern "lecture centre", the CCD.Süd, was laid out at that time directly next to the main restaurant and the banks of the Rhine, so that smaller trade fairs could be held parallel to lecture events. "With its exemplary, well thought-out overall concept, the exhibition centre in Stockum set new standards in terms of architecture, technology, infrastructure and service. It rightly served as a model for numerous exhibition centres around the world, such as Paris Nord, Birmingham or Osaka, which were built in the years that followed," explains Wolfram N. Diener.
