Egbert Rühl has worked as a cultural and artistic facilitator throughout his career - in many different genres and functions. Since 2010, as Managing Director of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft GmbH, he has been responsible for business development for the creative industries in Hamburg, from start-ups to the self-employed to established companies.
With a steadily growing team of currently around 60 employees, numerous funding projects have been realised under Egbert Rühl's leadership. These include the EU-funded (ERDF) Cross Innovation Hub, which operates across all sectors of the economy, and the development of three incubator programmes for different submarkets of the creative industries.
Milestones in the company's development were the integration of the location initiatives Gamecity, nextMedia.Hamburg and the Hamburg Design Centre and their further development under a common umbrella. Added to this are the diverse property and site development activities. The best-known examples are the Oberhafenquartier, the creative warehouse M28 with the innovation space SPACE and the lighthouse project for the development of the inner city, the cultural department stores' "Jupiter", as part of "Frei_Fläche - Programm für kreative Zwischennutzung", which has also received widespread attention beyond the region.
in 2024, he launched the German Creative Economy Summit with the aim of driving the overall economy forward and promoting the future through innovation. As a platform for the entire creative industry, the GCES will take place in Hamburg for the third time in spring 2026.
In numerous networks, Egbert Rühl exchanges ideas about the development of the sector beyond the Hanseatic city, both nationally and in the European context, and helps to shape it with his ideas and experience. He is also (almost) always available for anyone who has a suggestion, a problem or a good idea.