“We are delighted that the Supervisory Board followed our recommendation to appoint Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski as Heads of Division,” says Werner M. Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, and adds: “Their long-standing trade fair expertise at home and abroad, their outstanding sectoral knowledge in Messe Düsseldorf’s portfolios and their leadership experience make them ideal candidates to position our company for the future.” Together with Michael Degen, Head of Division and Power of Attorney for Domestic Trade Fairs, Clemens Hauser, Head of Division and Power of Attorney Technology, and Dr. Christian Plenge, Head of Division and Power of Attorney Digital Strategies and Communication, Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski will join the Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Board of Managing Directors as Heads of Division and Power of Attorney. Lord Mayor Thomas Geisel is also convinced: “In Petra Cullmann and Bernd Jablonowski Düsseldorf trade fair organisers have found an internationally experienced operative team who are a perfect fit to rise to the upcoming challenges in the trade fair business.”
Petra Cullmann has known Messe Düsseldorf for almost 30 years. She started her career as a trainee in January 1991. Following this she worked in the Protocol Department for four years before joining Messe Düsseldorf Asia in Singapore as Corporate PR and Protocol Manager/Foreign Representation in 1996. From 1999 to 2000 she was responsible as the Head of the Sports Marketing Department in cooperation with Deutsche Sport Marketing for the organisation of the “Deutsches Haus” at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney/Australia. 2001 saw her return to Düsseldorf where she built up the Partner and Guest Events division, which she managed for 16 years. In 2007 she also took over management of the K trade fair as a Director before assuming responsibility for the Global Portfolio Plastics & Rubber as the Global Portfolio Director in 2015. In her new position Petra Cullmann will report to the Managing Director Operative Trade Fair Business, Erhard Wienkamp.
This year Bernd Jablonowski celebrates his 25th year of service with Messe Düsseldorf. In 1995 he started as a Sales Manager at Nowea International GmbH. From 1999 to 2004 he went to Russia: first as a Head of the Moscow subsidiary, Nowea International GmbH and then of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH from 2002. At the same time, he also served as the first Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Moscow from 2002 to 2004. 2004 saw him return to Düsseldorf. Until 2008 he worked as a Project Director and then as the Director of interpack until 2015. From 2015 he was responsible for the Global Portfolio Packaging & Processing as the Global Portfolio Director. In his new position Bernd Jablonowski will report to the new President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, Wolfram N. Diener.
