The track-laying company Willke welcomed over 700 guests to the grand opening of its new centre of excellence in Ludwigslust at the end of June. In the run-up to the event, ORCA van Loon worked with representatives from Willke, an events agency and other professional service providers to plan and organise the event.

Under the theme ‘Lulust & Leidenschaft’, even the journey to the location on a historic train was an experience in itself. The varied programme featured an AI keynote by Dr Florian Ilgen, a live graffiti show, a handcar challenge combined with a fundraising campaign, a ‘Hau-den-Lukas’ station, a food court, a photo booth, as well as live music from two bands and DJ sets, with the party continuing until 11.00 pm.

“The success of the event demonstrates just how important it is to bring technical milestones to life in an emotional way,” explains Hendrik Schulze van Loon, Managing Partner at ORCA van Loon. “We are proud to have worked with all the trades to organise an event that went far beyond a traditional opening ceremony.”

Modern infrastructure creates new capacity

The family-run business invested around 12 million euros to modernise its Ludwigslust site, which is situated on the strategically important Hamburg–Berlin railway line. The new facility comprises a 2,050 m² workshop and maintenance hall. With this investment, Willke is significantly expanding its maintenance and repair capacities. Comprehensive training opportunities, such as track-laying simulations, will in future be possible on the company’s own 2,500-metre-long track layout. As part of this, Willke will also become a training provider for the first time.