Italy

Hamburg's connection to Italy and the Holy See

Hamburg maintains close economic and cultural ties with Italy. Around 9,500 Italians live in Hamburg, many as entrepreneurs or employees subject to social security contributions. The city offers them a wide range of opportunities and supports Italian investments.

Trade includes annual imports of almost 1.5 billion euros, mainly in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food sectors. Exports amount to over 1 billion euros. There are also intensive business contacts in the creative sector.

hamburg companies are also directly represented in Italy and invest locally. Important sectors here are logistics, mechanical engineering and consumer goods; the central locations for business contacts are Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Rome and Trieste. Hamburg's cultural and educational institutions also maintain numerous co-operations with institutions in Italy.

rome is the headquarters of the World Food Organisation, which is important for Hamburg's food industry. As the representative of the 1.3 billion Catholics, the Holy See plays a diplomatic role in future issues such as sustainability, social justice and artificial intelligence, in which Hamburg is also heavily involved.

HamburgAmbassador Paul Nemitz

Paul Nemitz studied in Hamburg and completed his legal clerkship at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court. As a keyboardist in Hamburg, he played with Andreas Dorau, the X-Agents, Ledernacken and the Oklahoma Lone Start Heartbreak Institute (revival planned for spring 2026) during his studies. He was Director and Chief Advisor in the EU Commission and has been an honorary Hamburg Ambassador in Italy and to the Holy See since 2025.

A lawyer with extensive political experience in Germany and on the international stage, he is a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges and a board member of a number of non-profit organisations. Among other things, he is chairman of the Arthur Langerman Foundation at the Technical University of Berlin and the Archivum Apertum Foundation, Dresden, a board member of the Verein gegen Vergessen - für Demokratie e.V., Berlin and a trustee of the Leo Baeck Institute New York. He is a member of the advisory board of the Deutsche Meeresstiftung, Hamburg, and a fellow at the Europakolleg in Hamburg. His last book was entitled "Prinzip Mensch - Macht, Freiheit und Demokratie im Zeitalter der Künstlichen Intelligenz, Dietz Verlag, 2021".

Expertise for Hamburg

A group of professionally dressed people socialising and chatting in a modern indoor setting. — HamburgAmbassador Paul Nemitz with his colleague Rolf Achilles

Paul Nemitz has numerous contacts in politics, administration, justice, culture and science. He maintains links with Italian politics, administration, justice, culture and science as well as with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Holy See. He is a guest of the Pope's scientific academies for discussions on artificial intelligence. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Future Institute of the American John Cabot University in Rome and moderates a discussion group at the Italian College of Magistrates. In his spare time, he plays tennis at the Circolo die Tennis Parioli, the club of Italian team champions in some age groups over 55.