Heiko Sedlack

The high consumption of snacks and sweets in Germany keeps producers on their toes. In Viersen, consumer giant Mars produces 10 million cookie chocolate bars every day-and each of them must look and taste absolutely identical. In Erdmannhausen, snack pretzels are produced in the first Württemberg pretzel factory, Huober. And the Lübeck-based marzipan manufacturer Niederegger wants to use traditional production processes to produce what it claims is the best marzipan in the world.

Jana Beller won the TV show „Germany's Next Top Model“ in 2011. Today she is a businesswoman and runs two branches in Bochum of one of the most modern backshop chains in Europe. Model measurements and pastries - does that fit together? And how! The young entrepreneur gives insights into the business of sweet and salty snacks. Shock-frozen, the breads and desserts are delivered from a central production to the individual shops and sold to hungry walk-in customers.

The Eurofighter is the Bundeswehr's most modern and powerful aircraft and enables the pilot to move at supersonic speeds. It was developed by Germany, Great Britain, Spain and Italy to dominate the airspace. Manufacturing also takes place at these four different locations. Assembly requires millimetre work and, like regular routine checks lasting several months, is carried out in Germany.

The LTM 1750 from the German manufacturer Liebherr: It's the giant of construction sites, a telescopic mobile crane of superlatives. With a driving weight of 108 tons distributed across nine axles, it is the largest mobile crane permitted to travel on public roads with its telescopic boom attached. With its 52-meter-long metal arm, it can lift up to 800 tons – roughly equivalent to the weight of 400 mid-size sedans.

The Volvo A60 is regarded as the world’s largest articulated hauler. With a payload capacity of up to 55 tonnes, it is capable of transporting even the heaviest materials with ease. When fully loaded, the vehicle reaches a total weight of nearly 100 tonnes. The XXL hauler is manufactured in Braås, southern Sweden, where around 550 employees produce a total of six different hauler models. The A60 is the largest vehicle built at the plant, and due to its enormous weight, most components can only be installed using cranes.

The passion to tinker with historical military technology in your own garage is not only great in the USA. Meanwhile, the trend has also arrived in Germany. The technical performance behind the historical relics fascinates the insiders of the scene. From the Military Technology Festival Finowfurt to the practice lesson in the Panzerfahrschule: The N24 reportage gives insights into the world of military technology fans, into their hobbyists’ rooms and their collector’s showcases. (Text: WORLD)