Gewandhaus Orchestra

Classical music is promoted by Porsche in the form of support for Leipzig's Gewandhaus Orchestra. Since the 2011-2012 season Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG has been the global partner for the symphony orchestra's tours and concerts. The cultural partnership between the sports car manufacturer and the prestigious orchestra has now been extended until 2023.

Since 2014, Porsche and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig have been involved together for implementing the charity concert in Rosental which contributes to youth development in Leipzig. The proceeds of the concert support the foundation “Leipzig hilft Kindern”, which help young people in need. This is especially for campaigns and associations located in Leipzig.

„Klassik airleben“ at Rosental

Every year, thousands of picnickers listen with fascination to the sounds of the Gewandhaus Orchestra at the end of the season during "Klassik airleben". "The concert series in the Rosental makes culture accessible and tangible for everyone. Porsche wants to be actively involved in social life as part of the city of Leipzig. It is a matter close to our heart to support "Klassik airleben" as a presenter for the eighth time this year," says Gerd Rupp, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Leipzig GmbH.

At the fourteenth edition of "Klassik airleben", the Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Andris Nelsons, will interpret (late) romantic works, which this year are dedicated to rhythm in music: Ballet music by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky as well as the percussion concerto entitled "Inferno" by Daniel Bjarnason. The encores - which remain a surprise - promise rousing musical highlights that will transport the audience to the dance hall and the jungle. The Icelander Daniel Bjarnason composed the percussion concerto "Inferno" for the virtuoso skills of Martin Grubinger.

The Leipzig Opera Ball

Porsche fulfils its social responsibility in the Leipzig region in various ways. In addition to its social and sporting commitment, the sports car manufacturer also supports cultural city life. Since 2013, Porsche has accompanied the annual Leipzig Opera Ball as a presenter. Part of the commitment is the provision of an attractive main prize in the raffle - a brand new Porsche. The raffled models are always under a certain Porsche motto. For example, for the "70 years of Porsche sports cars" anniversary, a 718 Boxster was configured to model the Porsche 356 "No. 1" Roadster- this was the first sports car built under the Porsche name in 1948. The following year, the Leipzig Porsche plant celebrated the production of the 500,000th Macan. A 245 PS Macan in mamba green metallic with black interior was entered into the raffle.

The social idea is at the center of the commitment. The proceeds from the raffle go to the "Leipzig hilft Kindern" foundation, which supports a large number of social projects in Leipzig. "The good cause of this event is our main focus," says Gerd Rupp, Chairman of the Management Board of Porsche Leipzig GmbH. "We would like to use the main prize to boost ticket sales in order to use the proceeds to support as many projects in Leipzig and the region as possible in their work with children and young people". In total, more than 260,000 Euro have been collected so far. "It fills us with pride and joy to see how the proceeds from the Opera Ball raffle have developed over the years to support such projects," says Vivian Honert-Boddin, Managing Director of Opernball Leipzig Production GmbH. "We are grateful that our long-standing partner Porsche has made a generous donation to make the Leipzig Opera Ball raffle so unique".

Another highlight of the raffle is the "lucky draw fairy". Actor Sonja Kirchberger, crime scene investigator Richy Müller and even Hollywood star and Porsche brand ambassador Patrick Dempsey played this important role.

Regional commitment

In addition to partnerships with the Gewandhaus and the Opera, Porsche is also committed to contributing towards the preservation of historically significant locations and buildings in Leipzig. A donation from Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG has contributed towards the restoration of the 'Mendebrunnen' fountain, a prominent landmark in the city which was built between 1883 and 1886 and was badly damaged during the Second World War.

Thanks to the support of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG it has also been possible to restore Saxony's largest church organ - the 152-year old Ladegast organ in Leipzig's St Nicholas' Church with its unique sound qualities. St Nicholas' Church has always been a place of significant historic moments. It was here that Johann Sebastian Bach worked and performed for the first time on a large number of his organ compositions from 1723 to 1750. In the autumn of 1989 the 'Church of the Peaceful Revolution' became the centre from which the movement for German reunification received important political stimulus.

Turbo for Talents. Porsche promoting junior players.

With the slogan "Turbo for Talents", Porsche has been supporting young people in various sports for many years at its locations in Stuttgart and Leipzig. Since 2014, this also includes the forward-looking partnership between Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG and the German top league football team RB Leipzig. The main focus of the cooperation is the promotion of regional youth.

"Promoting young talent at Porsche is a priority in all areas", stated Gerd Rupp, CEO of Porsche Leipzig GmbH. Sport helps to strengthen team spirit and imparts essential skills, such as self-confidence and fairness, which also play an important role in later professional life. It is therefore an important concern for Porsche to be engaged socially, and to inspire children for sports. The record participation of more than 1,000 children at the 'Leipziger Viertelfinale' in 2017 shows that our cooperation with RB Leipzig has established itself."

As the official main partner, Porsche has launched a special award: the "Porsche Talent Team". This award honours the best youth team from RB Leipzig. Not only football talent, but also team spirit, fairness, outstanding commitment, and good school performance are among the selection criteria.

The "Leipziger Viertelfinale" also underscores the common task of promoting the next generation of football players. The tournament, which was jointly initiated by RB Leipzig and Porsche, offers all football-loving children from the Leipzig region the opportunity to compete in self-organised teams. In the age groups U11 and U14, the young talent compete to win.

The goal of the cooperation between Porsche and RB Leipzig is to create memorable moments - whether walking out in the stadium hand-in-hand with the Bundesliga stars or sitting on the Porsche coaching bench directly on the sidelines. At the same time, Porsche is particularly concerned with regional clubs, social institutions, and also Leipzig's sports enthusiasts in general.

Support for universities

For Porsche AG the company's extensive educational support for children, teenagers and students is aimed not only at getting them interested in subjects such as mathematics, engineering, science and technology, but also has the objective of helping socially underprivileged young people and giving them equal opportunities.

In the field of education and science Porsche AG is therefore planning to significantly expand its cooperations with universities, for the purpose of acquiring well-qualified new personnel for the future and to obtain practical research findings and experience for its own product developments. A significant part of the company's support for universities takes the form of grants which Porsche AG has been distributing to more than ten selected universities throughout Germany since 2012. In addition, on 9 July 2013 the "Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG Chair of Strategic Management and Family Businesses" („Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG Stiftungslehrstuhl für Strategisches Management und Familienunternehmen“) was founded at the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management.

Porsche Erlebniswerkstatt

Learn. Experience. Understand.
A wide range of STEM courses at the Porsche Erlebniswerkstatt 

The Porsche Experience Workshop at the "VDI-GaraGe" Technology Centre in Leipzig's Plagwitz district offers exciting courses on the topics of automobile production, mobility of the future and drive concepts. For example, the focus is on what production may look like in the future, how to design mobility sustainably or what automotive engineering and digitalisation have to do with each other. The participants learn how a Porsche is made and what is behind combustion and electric drives. The children and young people will be guided by Porsche Leipzig trainers. In cooperation with the VDI-GaraGe, school classes and after-school groups in grades three to nine as well as children and young people aged eight to 15 can attend the nine courses of the Erlebniswerkstatt. The educational programme in the modern adventure world deals with current topics from the curriculum and practice. From Smart Factory to sustainability to metal workshop: With exciting challenges and interesting insights into the world of science, young people are inspired for technical topics in a playful and practical way. As a team, children and young people can immerse themselves in various projects and deepen their knowledge. All information on offers and course booking can be found at www.g-a-r-a-g-e.com/porsche-erlebniswerkstatt.

With the Erlebniswerkstatt, Porsche is further expanding its commitment to education and youth development. The sports car manufacturer is a sponsor of the Saxon state competition "Schüler experimentieren" (Pupils Experiment) and offers insights into the biodiversity of the off-road site at the Leipzig location with the environmental education project "Porsche Safari".

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Honey bees - “Turbienchen” the honey of Porsche Leipzig

Protecting the environment takes top priority at Porsche. In the area outside of our Leipzig factory only economical LED lamps are used, which enables a further 927 tons of CO₂ to be saved annually. In addition, Porsche is currently planting greenery and 1,100 new trees on an area of 74,000 square metres. This is a part of the site which has for the most part been left in its natural condition and is home to 27 wild horses, 75 aurochs and 3 million honey bees living in harmony with one of the world's most cutting-edge automobile factories.

The automobile plant as a biotope

Protecting the environment takes top priority at Porsche. In the area outside of our Leipzig factory only economical LED lamps are used, which enables a further 927 tons of CO2 to be saved annually. In addition, Porsche is currently planting greenery and 1,100 new trees on an area of 74,000 square metres. This is a part of the site which has for the most part been left in its natural condition and is home to 27 wild horses, 75 aurochs and 3 million honey bees living in harmony with one of the world's most cutting-edge automobile factories.

Energy-efficient car body building

The energy efficiency body shop is optimised by a photovoltaic installation on the roof which annually generates up to 800,000 kWh of electricity from solar power. With this volume of regenerative energy an electrically-powered Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid, which by the way is also produced in Leipzig, could theoretically travel a distance of almost five million kilometres entirely emission free.

At Porsche we always use energy as efficiently as possible – not just in our cars but also in our production facilities and factory site. For example, in the body shop of the Porsche factory in Leipzig an innovative cooling system for robot welding tongs creates annual power savings of over 365,000 kWh.

Sustainable paint shop operations

Our paint shop also sets benchmarks with regard to the energy which is applied in the operation of the facility. The reason for this is that Porsche makes use of the exhaust heat generated by a biomass facility located close to the factory. At this plant, which is fuelled by wood chips, electrical power is produced by co-generation, with the exhaust heat being made available to Porsche as process steam or thermal heat. The wood chips are produced from regenerative waste wood which is sourced from sustainably managed forestry and provides CO2-neutral fuel. Thanks to this alliance 80% of the paint shop's heating requirements are covered from a CO2-neutral source, which saves more than 8,000 t of CO2 per year.

In addition Porsche filters excess paint particles from the fine paint spray. The paint-filled air flows through a cloud of stone dust which filters out the particles. The stone dust with the particles bound in it is later used for the production of cement. The process of dry separation using stone dust requires neither water, chemicals nor additional electricity, which enables Porsche to save approximately 80% of the energy used in conventional solutions.