Sports Shoes: The Adidas 1 is the first intelligent shoe. An integrated microprocessor enables it to constantly adapt to surface conditions while running. A sensor and magnet in the heel monitor the properties of the ground and automatically set the optimum level of cushioning using a motor-driven cable system. The end result is a standard of running comfort that is unique. www.adidas.de

Printing Technology: One of the oldest manufacturers of printing machines is also one of the most innovative. In 2004, Koenig & Bauer specialists installed the first newspaper printing machine that works without water and without lubrication oil. The KBA Cortina is not only environmentally friendly, but also fast: it can print 80,000 newspapers an hour. www.kba-print.de

Cleaning Robot: A press of the button is all you need and the 28-centimetre-high Robocleaner will vacuum your apartment. It isn’t stopped by chair legs or steps: thanks to its optical sensors, the Kärcher robot circumvents obstacles and even finds the dirt under your couch. If the battery runs low, the yellow and black helper automatically docks with the charger to fill up with energy. www.kaercher.de

Industrial Robots: They build cars, stack pallets and pour molten metal – KUKA robots can do practically everything. They now even show consideration for other team members. New sensors enable them to take evasive action when they detect someone entering their work area. If they then still bump into a human, they come to an immediate stop. www.kuka.de

Wind Energy: Repower Systems has been building the world’s largest and most powerful wind turbines – with a nominal load of five megawatts and a rotor diameter of 126 metres – since the beginning of 2005. A 5M model record-breaking wind turbine generates enough energy to supply 4,500 three-person households with electricity for a year. www.repower.de

Solar Heaters: The revolution in the boiler-room promises up to 50% lower heating costs and significantly lower emissions. Its name is SolvisMax and it comes from Solvis, the Lower Saxon solar specialists. The ingenious thing about the system is that it combines a solar storage tank and a gas or oil heating boiler for the first time. The sun thus provides energy not only to supply hot water, but also for heating. www.solvis.de

Solar Cells: Although only founded at the end of 1999, today the east German Q-Cells company is one of the world’s top five producers of solar cells – thanks to innovative developments like the Q8. Production of the new high-performance multicrystalline cells began in 2005. They produce 81% more power than conventional solar cells. www.qcells.de

Mobile Fuel Cells: The mobile fuel cells developed by Masterflex supply between 50 and 250 watts of energy. That is enough power to make notebook computers independent of mains electricity for a number of days. The three-wheeled Cargobike, which can transport smaller loads without producing any emissions, will soon be ready to begin mass production. www.masterflex.de

X-Ray Tube: Doctors from all over the world simply describe the new Straton high-performance X-ray system as a milestone. This new generation of equipment allows faster and more precise diagnoses – above all, in heart examinations using computer tomography. www.siemens.de

Heating Units: Goodbye to basement boiler-rooms – the new Ecotec models by Vaillant only require a niche in an apartment or in the loft. These compact boilers are not only economical, but also intelligent: when sensors detect problems, they inform a service technician over the Internet. www.vaillant.de

Medical Lasers: Whenever a kidney stone is pulverized, a cornea corrected or a tattoo removed, the chances are that German advanced technology is involved. Laser technology developed by the Wavelight company is an export success. In May 2005, the Erlangen-based firm presented its latest achievement: the world’s fastest eye-laser, which makes it possible to correct eye disorders even more precisely and quickly. www.wavelight.de

Film Cameras: The German city for Oscar winners is Munich. Arnold & Richter Cine Technik, Arri for short, has already won the prestigious technology award twelve times. Films like The Matrix and the Lord of the Rings trilogy would have been impossible without the company’s state-of-the-art digital cameras and film scanners. www.arri.de

Medical Technology: The C-Leg greatly improves amputees’ quality of life. The first fully microprocessor-controlled artificial leg by Otto Bock Healthcare monitors leg movements and even enables cycling. www.ottobock.de

Technical Fabrics: Without special fabrics “made in Germany”, Christo can’t begin work. The environmental artist relies on extremely weatherproof and nonetheless brightly coloured materials produced by the Schilgen specialist textiles company – also for his most recent project, The Gates, in New York. He transformed Central Park with 104,000 square metres of orange-coloured special fabric from Germany. www.schilgen.de