The future doesn't wait – it's shaped! And at wire Düsseldorf, we have been rewriting this future for 40 years: faster, smarter, more intelligent, more sustainable – always in tune with the global market and its rapidly changing requirements.
The success story of wire began back in 1967 with the first ‘wire style exhibition’ in London. When wire took place for the second time in 1970, it was already clear that there was enormous growth potential here. The number of exhibitors grew rapidly, with visitors coming not only from Europe but also from the USA and Asia to London to experience the latest machines and systems for wire and cable manufacturing and processing.
International interest in the wire and cable industry grew, and so wire moved again in 1972, from the island to the mainland, to Basel in Switzerland. When the exhibition centre there reached its limits after twelve years, the decision was made in 1986 to move wire to a new, even more centrally located site: Düsseldorf. Here, at the international hub of Europe, the wire and cable industry found its new permanent home – and developed into the leading global trade fair that it is today!
What began in Düsseldorf in 1986 with 488 visionary exhibitors and 21,000 trade visitors became the driving force for an entire industry. Today, wire has over 1,500 exhibitors on around 67,000 square metres and 60,000 international visitors who come to Düsseldorf as movers and shakers and forward thinkers. Here they present solutions to the major challenges of our time: sustainable transformation, digitalisation, the mobility revolution, intelligent energy management and resilient supply chains.
And because development never stands still, we are setting a new benchmark in 2026: together with Tube, which has been appearing alongside wire in Düsseldorf since 1988, we are expecting over 2,500 exhibitors on 120,000 square metres of concentrated innovation space. The world's most important hotspot for the wire and cable industry is becoming even bigger, even more international and even more dynamic.
For innovation drivers and start-ups in particular, wire Düsseldorf is more than just a trade fair. It is a springboard for new ideas, a network for partnerships and a stage for innovative technologies. With forward-looking initiatives such as ecoMetals and High Potential Day, we are driving forward the green transformation, demonstrating how resource-efficient production and sustainable materials can revolutionise the industry and how the best skilled workers can be found.
With the new special area World of Cables, we are also creating a platform for the first time that puts finished wire and cable products, i.e. end products, in the spotlight and shows how these essential components are changing entire industries.
Since 1988, wire and Tube have formed a network in Düsseldorf that interlinks industries and technologies, creates synergies and sets global standards.
It's about the energy transition, where intelligent cable systems form the backbone of new energy infrastructures, and about the mobility of the future, which requires new materials, new energy sources and new production processes. And it's about sustainability, which ranges from recyclable materials and CO₂-optimised manufacturing processes to new circular economy models.
Anyone who thinks innovatively and wants to actively shape the future will find the stage, the network and the partners they need at wire Düsseldorf, now in its 40th year. 40 years of wire Düsseldorf means 40 years of entrepreneurship in action.
Together with our exhibitors, partners and visitors, we want to usher in the next era of the wire and cable industry – with passion and unbridled innovative strength.
All the latest information and updates on wire 2026 can be found at: www.wire.de.
