The annual congress started with an opening evening held at the Munktell Museum, which belongs to Volvo CE. Marking the start of the annual congress in Eskilstuna, Sweden, 122 association members gathered, enjoying the opportunity to mingle through an exhibition with many innovative technologies being displayed.

Member assembly

The DA member assembly took place on the morning of 20 September. Located at the Elite Hotel, the managing board and the managing director Andreas Pocha provided information about the activities of the individual DA committees since the last member assembly was held at the end of 2022. The managing director of DA Service GmbH, Viola Ridderbusch, gave an outlook on the next major events, the Fachkongress Sprengtechnik (Specialist Congress on Blasting Engineering) to be held on 14 November 2024 in Cologne and the Fachkongress Recycling (Specialist Congress on Recycling) on 12 and 13 February 2025 in Stockstadt. In addition, she announced the Fachtagung Abbruch 2025, which will take place again at Station-Berlin on 14 March 2025. Six months before the event, many sponsors have already been secured for Europe's largest conference for the demolition industry. The keynote speaker, Wolfgang Grupp from Trigema W. Grupp KG, has also already confirmed his participation and exhibitors will be able to register shortly. 

Volvo Demo Show and Swedish evening

Following the assembly, participants of the annual conference had the opportunity to experience an impressive demonstration show at the Volvo Customer Center. They were then able to try out an excavator and test the technical innovations themselves. At the same time as the demonstration show, some participants were able to explore the old town of Eskilstuna on a guided tour. The day ended with a Swedish evening where the participants enjoyed Swedish and international dishes at dinner at the Elite Hotel. They then discussed, celebrated and danced in the bar with colleagues from the industry until late into the night.

Closure and boat trip 

The congress closure event was a cruise lasting several hours through the Swedish fjords from Mariefred to Stockholm. Here, too, participants had plenty of time to network and enjoy the beautiful Swedish coast. The DA would like to thank all members who made their way to Sweden for participating. A very special thanks goes to Volvo for the kind invitation to the Munktell Museum and the Customer Center.

The next DA Annual Congress will take place in Magdeburg from 17-19 September 2026.