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Research guide · Source evidence and limits

How to find industrial customers in Germany

Short answer: build the German list from public sources in layers:

  1. Companies: viewing the Handelsregister and Unternehmensregister has been free since 1 August 2022.[1][2] One exception: balance sheets that the smallest companies have filed for deposit rather than publication still cost €1.00 per retrieval, plus German sales tax.[2]
  2. Activity: WZ 2025 codes, Germany's version of NACE Rev. 2.1, introduced on 1 January 2025.[3]
  3. Products: export and trade-fair directories.[4]
  4. Plants: thru.de and the EU Industrial Emissions Portal.[5][6]
  5. Buying signals: tenders on TED.[7]

Then note which plant-level functions own the decision, not just the head office, for each account.

01 / 1 know the german company landscape

1. Know the German company landscape

  • Legal forms. GmbH and AG are the usual operating companies. A GmbH & Co. KG is a limited partnership whose general partner is a GmbH. Record the operating entity and the group.
  • Head office vs plant. Many Mittelstand groups run several plants (Werke) under one legal entity. The register shows the registered seat, so you have to find the plants from websites, permits and PRTR data.
  • Language. Register entries, permits and many technical pages are in German. Plan your keyword lists in German, for example Pumpen, Armaturen, Abwasserbehandlung, Instandhaltung.
02 / 2 the free and low cost sources

2. The free and low-cost sources

Source What it gives you Notes
Handelsregister / Unternehmensregister Legal entity, seat, officers, filings Register data and register documents free to view since 1 Aug 2022[1][2]
Destatis WZ 2025 Activity classification Runs in parallel with WZ 2008 during transition[3]
BDI German export database Manufacturers by product Free directory[4]
thru.de (UBA) German PRTR: large installations, operators, releases National view of E-PRTR data[5]
EU Industrial Emissions Portal EU-wide large installations See our portal guide[6]
TED Public contracts above EU thresholds Search with CPV codes[7]
Trade-fair exhibitor lists Active companies by product area e.g. Hannover Messe, ACHEMA, IFAT, SPS
03 / 3 step by step

3. Step by step

  1. Define the segment with WZ 2025 / NACE Rev. 2.1 codes. See our NACE Rev. 2.1 guide for the changes.
  2. Pull plants from thru.de or the EU portal for process industries, and companies from the export database and exhibitor lists for discrete manufacturing.
  3. Resolve each one in the register. Confirm the legal entity, seat and group.
  4. Find the plant-level roles: Werkleiter (plant manager), Leiter Instandhaltung (maintenance), Technischer Einkauf (technical purchasing) and Leiter Technik (engineering).
  5. Add a trigger: a new permit, a hiring wave for maintenance engineers, a TED tender or a published expansion.
  6. Log everything in the free account research template.

Fictional example: A fictional Irish maker of industrial heat exchangers targets German food and drink plants. It filters the EU Industrial Emissions Portal for food and drink installations in two German states, resolves each operator in the Handelsregister, and finds that one fictional dairy group runs three plants under one GmbH. It then contacts each plant's maintenance lead rather than the group head office. This example is fictional and only illustrates the method.

04 / 4 common mistakes

4. Common mistakes

  • Using only head-office data. In Germany, buying influence often sits at plant level.
  • Ignoring WZ 2008 vs WZ 2025 differences when combining datasets.
  • Translating keywords literally. Use the German technical terms buyers actually use.
06 / how demand range helps

How Demand Range helps

Demand Range builds verified German and wider EU account lists for industrial suppliers, covering plants and operating companies, with the public evidence for each row. Named contacts and outreach are separate scopes, not included by default.

Request a written scopeSee how account research works

Prefer email? Write to partners@demandrange.com.

07 / sources

Sources

  1. Handelsregister, common register portal of the German federal states
  2. Unternehmensregister: Kosten (register information free since 1 August 2022)
  3. Destatis (Statistisches Bundesamt), Klassifikation der Wirtschaftszweige 2025 (WZ 2025)
  4. BDI, German Export Database
  5. Umweltbundesamt, thru.de (German PRTR)
  6. European Environment Agency, European Industrial Emissions Portal
  7. Tenders Electronic Daily (TED)

This guide is researched and published by Demand Range, an Irish industrial lead and account research business serving Ireland, the UK and the EU. About Demand Range