Playmobil: Former Production Plant to Be Converted into Data Center Campus

The Horst Brandstätter Group plans to convert the former Playmobil production site in Dietenhofen, Middle Franconia, Germany, into a data center campus. The approximately 18-hectare site is to be equipped with a power supply capacity of initially 100 megawatts. The group plans to invest hundreds of millions of euros in the project.

With its new business division, "Playmobil digital", the group intends to provide infrastructure for data centers in the future. The planned campus will cater to both regional companies and international data center operators and major cloud providers. Particular emphasis will be placed on artificial intelligence (AI) applications and other computing-intensive IT processes.

Advert

According to the company, the former industrial site offers favorable technical conditions. The location already has a 110-kilovolt grid connection with two independent power feeds. Energy supplier N-ERGIE has reportedly confirmed the availability of the required grid capacity.

Development is planned to take place in stages. Existing production halls could be used to accommodate the first data center modules, while additional buildings are to be constructed on the site. The business model provides for various forms of use, ranging from leasing fully serviced plots and providing equipped data center buildings to offering ready-to-use computing capacity.

According to the company, the energy supply concept will focus on renewable energy sources and its own photovoltaic installations. Plans also include using the waste heat generated by the data centers to supply regional district heating networks.

The conversion follows the end of Playmobil production in Germany. At the end of June 2026, the toy manufacturer ceased production in Dietenhofen and relocated manufacturing operations to Malta and the Czech Republic. Around 350 employees lost their jobs as a result.

The Horst Brandstätter Group intends to retain ownership of the site and invest hundreds of millions of euros in developing the data center campus over the coming years. No specific date has yet been announced for the start of operations, and no information is currently available on the number of jobs expected to be created.

More information:
www.horst-brandstaetter-group.com, www.playmobil.de, www.lechuza.de

Horst Brandstätter Group, Zirndorf, Germany

back to news list