ARRI opens new company headquarters in Munich

Since its establishment in 1917, ARRI’s historical location in Munich’s Tuerkenstrasse has been the main hub of activity for the business. Now, the globally active company is relocating its headquarters and the entire Camera Systems division to Munich’s Parkstadt Schwabing.

On 6 October 2020, Judith Gerlach, Bavarian State Minister for Digital Affairs and also responsible for the state’s film industry, commemorated the opening with a visit to the new building. She was welcomed by ARRI Executive Board members Dr. Michael Neuhaeuser and Markus Zeiler, the two managing directors of ARRI Cine Technik Stephan Schenk and Walter Trauninger, as well as by the members of the Supervisory Board and representatives of the owner family Dr. Carolin Stahl and Christoph Stahl.

ARRIAL is the new production and office building, offering over 600 workspaces, that has been precisely tailored to meet ARRI’s future needs. Located at Herbert Bayer Strasse 10, in the direct vicinity of many other global players, the name ARRIAL was born out of an internal employee competition. Inspired by the architecture of American film studios, the building consists of two spacious, interconnected building blocks. “Some visitors recognise analog film strips from earlier times or the carbon housings of our digital ARRI cameras in the dynamic looking, almost perforated, black brick facade,” said managing director Walter Trauninger who is responsible, along with Stephan Schenk, for the Camera Systems business unit.

The State Minister for Digital Affairs Judith Gerlach explains: “The history of ARRI is a true Bavarian success story—high tech from our state has become indispensable to the film industry worldwide. I am pleased about this, not only as Minister for Film, but also as Minister for Digital. With the new company headquarters in Munich, ARRI is setting the course for the future. I wish you good luck and success in your new home.”

To an even greater degree than ARRI’s former headquarters on Tuerkenstrasse, ARRIAL was envisioned to become a place of encounter. The structure of the building promotes cross-team cooperation and open exchange. For the new company headquarters, an innovative open-space office concept suitable for ARRI was developed to meet the requirements of tomorrow’s workplace environment.

Colleagues have access to larger offices and numerous retreat rooms for focused, individual work or internal meetings, while customers and other external parties have access to versatile meeting rooms.

Many rooms were named after ground-breaking feature films that were captured with ARRI cameras and where the company played a special role; these include Das Boot, Skyfall, and Easy Rider. Invited visitors will be able to learn more about these pictures and much more in the soon to open ARRI Museum. There on display will be a few of the 19 Scientific and Technical Awards ARRI has received from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recognition of its innovative contributions to the film industry. In the neighbouring ARRI Studio, equipped with state-of-the-art camera and lighting technology from ARRI, virtual All-Hands meetings are produced along with live webinars and other moving image productions.

From the building’s inception, great importance was attached to a pleasant working environment: Beautiful, high ceilings in industrial design create a modern ambience. Most of the workplaces are located near large, wood-clad windows.

Even as a technical structure, ARRIAL is on the cutting edge and not only in terms of its workplace equipment or modern facilities. Solar panels on the roof allow ARRI to produce its own electricity while feeding any surplus energy back into the network.

“With around 1,400 employees and numerous branches worldwide, ARRI is truly a global player,” explains Executive Board member Markus Zeiler. “Still ARRI remains a Munich-based company with a long tradition. With this new building, ARRI is committing itself to Munich as a production and innovation location in the future.”

The company’s founding location in Munich’s Tuerkenstrasse is still owned by ARRI. The ARRI Media division, responsible for postproduction, and the ASTOR Film Lounge at ARRI with three movie theaters, which was newly opened after the renovation, will remain on the premises, as will other private and commercial tenants, including the medical technology company Munich Surgical Imaging, the Munich City Museum, the Muenchner Verlagsgruppe (Munich Publishing Group), parts of the Tropical Institute, and film production companies.

ARRIAL was already operational at the end of 2019, but the grand opening, originally planned for May 2020, had to be cancelled due to the corona pandemic.