Bavarian Premier Söder Visits BMW Plant in South Carolina
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Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder is in South Carolina to tour BMW’s Spartanburg plant, following a two-day visit to Texas. In Houston he visited NASA’s Mission Control Center, where the Artemis II mission will be monitored, and formalized two cooperation agreements between NASA and Germany’s German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen.
Söder highlighted the success of Bavaria’s aerospace policies, first launched in 2018. Once viewed with skepticism, those strategies have helped the region’s aerospace industry expand to roughly €12 billion in annual revenue and about 40,000 jobs. He also announced a plan to invest €1 billion into Bavaria’s space sector by 2030.
Outside official engagements, Söder visited the George Ranch near Houston, watched a rodeo demonstration and joined a barbecue. He said the first Original Hofbräuhaus in Texas will open later this year in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, marking the Munich brewery’s 11th location worldwide.
Correction: earlier reports mistakenly placed Söder in North Carolina; he is in South Carolina.