"Parlez-vous français?"

France is Hamburg's third most important trading partner after the United States and Britain, as aviation is a pillar of international trade relations. In 2024, goods worth around EUR 4.6 billion were exported from Hamburg to France. Apart from the aviation sector, these included mainly pharmaceutical, chemical and petroleum products. Imports consisted mainly of food and luxury goods worth a good EUR 5.75 billion. Only the U.S. and China imported more goods. Airbus innovations are thus a top priority for Hamburg, which is the largest Airbus centre in Germany, and with some 12,500 employees, the largest industrial employer in the metropolitan region. The Airbus Summit also highlighted innovations in sustainable propulsion i.e., larger engines that consume less fuel and, if installed without shrouds (open-fan engines), would also reduce drag. This development would affect another French company, Safran Nacelles, which has been based in Hamburg since 2014 and supplies and assembles engines for Airbus.

Hamburg Airport operates direct flights from Hamburg to Paris, Nice and to Nantes since 2024. This coincided with the start of Hamburg's strategic partnership with Nantes to boost  bilateral talks on the maritime sector, renewables and ramping-up a hydrogen economy. The HamburgAmbassadors, Katharina Scriba in Paris and Jean-Marc Dessapt in Toulouse, serve as honorary "ambassadors" to raise Hamburg's global image.

Hamburg is now home to several French companies. And the property and investment firm Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has just opened the Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier in Hafencity. The company has invested a whopping EUR 2.446 billion in the complex of 14 buildings on 419,000 square metres. The mixed-use project combines living, working, restaurants and hotels, shopping and leisure. One of the latest cultural attractions is the Port des Lumières, north Germany's largest exhibition centre for digital immersive art, and is managed by the Paris-based Culturespaces. Other French companies in Hamburg include Sopra Steria, a management and technology consultancy specialising in digital transformation, the market research company IPSOS and ALD International, a provider of vehicle pools. The French shipping and logistics company, CMA CGM, also has a branch in Hamburg and operates more than 650 ships that serve 521 commercial ports worldwide. "The Port of Hamburg is hugely important to France - especially for transporting heavy industrial goods to other continents," said Stefan Matz, Head of International Investments at Hamburg Invest.

CMA CGM, the world's third largest shipping company, is also aiming for green shipping. To this end, it is experimenting with alternative fuels to cut CO2 emissions. This is in line with Hamburg's sustainability strategy of lending support to greentech scaleups that want to set up shop in the city. Scaleup Hamburg, a service offered by Hamburg Invest, puts potential, in their home country rapid-growth startups in contact with Hamburg-based companies to boost sustainable innovations in the region and collaborations. The French startup Releaf Paper, which produces paper from old leaves, and Sopht, which specialises in decarbonisation strategies for IT departments, are now benefiting from Hanseatic backing.

This year's OMR Festival will showcase lots of clever startup ideas. The Startup-Unit Hamburg is enabling seven French startups to attend OMR and gain access to more than 800 speakers, over 1,000 exhibitors and around 67,000 delegates - and thus a multitude of potential partners and customers. "France is a very exciting market for us. There are a lot of innovative startups there, some of which have already set up shop in Hamburg," said Veronika Reichboth,. Director of Startup-Unit Hamburg. "We would like to expand our relationships and are delighted to be working with OMR to invite seven French startups to the festival in Hamburg."

The reception on May 5 will coincide with the launch of te "La Tech Hambourg" network of French and German entrepreneurs, tech enthusiasts and investors in the city. The aim is to build a vibrant Franco-German ecosystem and to raise the visibility of French innovations. Together with Hamburg Invest, the Région Occitanie and TPlusC, La Tech Hambourg has invited seven French startups to pitch their business models at the French Consulate General in Hamburg. Conversely, the Hamburg Economic Development Agency will attend the upcoming Viva Technology in June. As one of Europe's largest technology and innovation events, the Paris event brings together startups, investors, technology companies and executives who will present all their latest innovations.

City twinning has proven a recipe for success when it comes to linking regions, and Hamburg and Marseille were among the first to form a partnership. The solemn "twin oath" predates the the Élysée Treaty, signed by German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and French President Charles de Gaulle in 1963 to seal Franco-German friendship. The rapprochement sought to bring together the former World War enemies and foes in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 and during Napoleon's occupation of German territories. The "French period" in Hamburg lasted from 1806 to 1814. Napoleon's embargo of English goods hit merchants in Hamburg hard and triggered an economic crisis in the city. On the other hand, the 1811 Code Civil placed everyone on an equal legal footing.

Almost 20 years earlier, Daniel Louis Jacques, who had fled the turmoil of the French Revolution, opened a wine bar on the Elbe and created a lime tree terrace for his guests, which was made famous in a painting by Max Liebermann in 1902. Thus, a Frenchman prompted one of the most important works of German Impressionism, and an excellent advertisement for the luxury hotel Louis C. Jacob.

Several Franco-German relations were founded in Hamburg shortly after World War II including the Société Franco-Allemande de Hambourg (German-French Society Cluny e. V.) in 1947 to hold cultural and social events. Four years later, the Institut français de Hambourg was set up in Hamburg-Rotherbaum and has housed the Consulate General of the French Republic since 2004.

The Club d'Affaires Franco-Allemand de Hambourg, (CAFA) has fostered Franco-German business relations since 1964. CAFA has twelve business clubs in France and eight in Germany, and almost 2,000 members. The club holds regular lectures and debates on Franco-German topics and will host the Congress of Franco-German Business Clubs from September 25-27, 2025 in Hamburg. The official Business France Deutschland government agency promotes the French economy abroad and attends international trade fairs and events such as the 2024  Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology (SMM) trade fair in Hamburg. Business France will also held the nine-month Impact Germany-Austria 2025 scheme for French digital companies keen on doing business in Germany. Hamburg Invest is co-operating with this year's funding scheme to ensure French interest in Hamburg. "There are some very exciting startups in the scheme and we will do our utmost to convince more French companies to come to Hamburg," said Ole Christiansen, Project Director of International Investments at Hamburg Invest.
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