30.10.2025 The German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka concludes on a positive note – high visitor satisfaction, strong cultural programme and international acclaim
After 184 exciting days, the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, organised on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), closes its doors on a resoundingly high note.
“The German Pavilion impressively demonstrated how well Germany unites innovative strength and design excellence with circular economy,“ says Patrick Specht, Commissioner General of the German Pavilion. “Our performance succeeded in making tomorrow’s topics tangible whilst sending a strong signal for a responsible, resource-conserving future.“
Both the results of the visitor survey conducted at the German Pavilion and the international response confirm the success of the German exhibition under the leitmotif of circularity.
The German Pavilion impressed the public equally with its substantive content, design excellence and coherent overall visitor experience. This success is clearly reflected in the results of the visitor survey:
Thirty per cent of respondents ranked the German Pavilion as the best at the Expo, with a further 18 per cent ranking it second or third. Its thematic implementation likewise earned positive ratings: 65 per cent of respondents rated the presentation of the topics “sustainability“ and “future-orientated ideas“ as “very good“, with a further 29 per cent giving these topics a “good“ rating.
This shows that the German Pavilion successfully fulfilled its central objective of conveying the leitmotif of circularity to a broader public in a compelling and sophisticated manner through its content, design and comprehensibility. Its Circular mascot was particularly popular, with 39 per cent of respondents naming it the best element of the pavilion. In a character competition organised by the Expo, the Circular was also selected as most popular mascot.
Over the 184 days of the Expo, the German Pavilion presented a multifaceted cultural programme with over 2100 hours of live entertainment and 23 artistic groups performing. The highlights included more than 51 magazine articles, 350 dance performances featuring the Camuro Dancers from Osaka in the “Germany by Dance” ensemble. The Association of German Dance Teachers also held 216 WDTU Let’s Dance sessions.
During the Expo, the German Pavilion welcomed around 450 political and 850 business delegations whilst receiving over 450 media representatives. Among the numerous high-ranking guests were German Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who visited the pavilion as part of the German Nation Day, Dr. Johann Wadephul, Federal Foreign Minister, Franziska Giffey, Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises in Berlin, and Michael Kretschmer, Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony.
Even international dignitaries used the German Pavilion for talks and meetings: Those distinguished guests in attendance at the German Pavilion included His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of Japan and Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic. These prominent visits underscored the international charisma and diplomatic significance of the pavilion as a venue for discussion. International media coverage particularly emphasized the architectural concept, the immersive exhibition experience and the strict implementation of the “Circular Economy“ theme.
The German Pavilion was honoured with several awards at the Expo. Of particular note is the Sustainability Award of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) – not only the most important recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of sustainability but also a central concern of Germany’s exhibit. In addition, the pavilion received the Silver Award from the BIE in the category “Theme Development“ (self-built pavilions – type A, larger than 1500 m²) for its creative and coherent implementation of the Expo leitmotif.
The German Pavilion also prevailed in other competitions: At the World Expolympics awards ceremony, it won gold in the “Best Sustainable Pavilion“ category. At EXHIBITOR Magazine’s World Expo Awards, Germany was honoured in the categories “Best Exterior Design“ (winner) and “Best Large Pavilion“ (honourable mention).
Beyond that, the pavilion’s architecture, designed by LAVA Architects, has won multiple awards. The modular, disassemblable and reusable concept was also convincing beyond the Expo: Besides the ICONIC AWARDS of the German Design Council, the German Pavilion also received the Green Good Design Award and the Big SEE Architecture Award.
These honours underline the international recognition of the German presence and its exemplary contribution to sustainability, design excellence and innovative construction.
Background: The Expo 2025 Osaka
Expo 2025 Osaka took place from 13 April to 13 October 2025. With the overarching theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”, 150 countries presented their visions for the future. Japan hosted the World Expo for the third time, following Osaka (1970) and Aichi (2005).
Project responsibility overview
On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Koelnmesse GmbH is responsible for the organisation and operation of the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. The concept, planning and implementation of the German Pavilion are the responsibility of the “German Pavilion Expo 2025 Osaka Consortium”, consisting of the companies facts and fiction (content, exhibition and media design) and GL events Live (building and construction) with the support of the Japanese branch. Laumann / Scheßl / Weismüller are taking over the technical construction supervision of the project. The architectural concept was designed by LAVA Architects (Berlin). The cultural agency VOSS+FISCHER together with Mike P. Heisel are responsible for the cultural programme. The pavilion’s restaurant and shop are run by the catering expert 78degrees.
For enquiries, please contact
Jana Soll
Deputy Head of Communications
German Pavilion Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan
Koelnmesse GmbH
Messeplatz 1, 50679 Cologne
Germany
+49 221 821 2251
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