Georg Brunnhuber bids farewell after four and a half years - 4.3 million visitors at the exhibition - The Stuttgart-Ulm e.V. rail project association has a new chairman.

Bernhard Bauer was unanimously elected by all members of the association on Tuesday, July 30, 2019, replacing Georg Brunnhuber at the helm. Numerous well-wishers and speakers bid farewell to Mr. Brunnhuber and welcomed Mr. Bauer. Among the well-wishers were Ronald Pofalla, Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Bahn AG responsible for infrastructure, Dr. Uwe Lahl, Managing Director of the Verband Region Stuttgart, Dr. Nicola Schelling, Peter Pätzold, Mayor of the City of Stuttgart responsible for urban development and the environment, Walter Schoefer, Managing Director of Stuttgart Airport AG, and Gunter Czisch, Lord Mayor of Ulm.

Bernhard Bauer is familiar with the project from his previous work as a top civil servant in the state; he also serves on the project company's technical advisory board. His career in the Baden-Württemberg administration began in 1972. After studying law in Tübingen, Bauer held various management positions, including at the Stuttgart Regional Council, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of State. As head of office, he worked at the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport.

From 2009 until the change of government in 2011, Bauer actively participated in the association as a representative of the state, as well as in the 2010 mediation. In the run-up to the referendum in November 2011, he successfully campaigned for the project with the "Pro S21" association as its executive director. In the end, almost 60 percent of all Baden-Württemberg residents voted in the referendum for the state to remain in the financing agreement. Bauer used to be involved in the Bundesliga as a handball goalkeeper, and later also served as president of the German Handball Association.

Brunnhuber is retiring at his own request after four and a half years as chairman of the association. As a proven expert in state, regional and local politics in Baden-Württemberg as well as Deutsche Bahn, he was unanimously elected chairman of the association by all members in February 2015. During his time, several innovations and records were set within the association's work:

• 4.3 million guests have visited the exhibition since it began (June 1998)
• In 2016 there was a record 260,000 visitors to the exhibition
• The first "Construction Site Open Days" also fall within the tenure with a record year in 2018 when 40,000 visitors came to the site over the three days
• More than 2,000 guided tours (year 2018) in the exhibition and across the construction site testify to an unbroken high interest in information on the project

The closure of the exhibition on July 28, 2019 was a caesura within the public relations of the association. However, all members of the association were in favor of the construction of a new exhibition building and financed the new building and the new conception. Like the old exhibition, the new exhibition will also offer a direct view into the construction site and will open in spring 2020.

The association continues to offer guided tours around and on the construction site during the transition period. Interested parties can find out more about the offers at www.its-projekt.de and register at the e-mail address Baustellenfuehrung@its-projekt.de.