headquarters
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headquarters
The central administration or most important location of a company, organization, or public authority. The most important decisions are made from here and the business is managed from here.
Der Hauptsitz der Firma befindet sich in Frankfurt am Main.
The company's headquarters are located in Frankfurt am Main.
The word is made up of 'Haupt' (main, head) and 'Sitz' (seat). So it literally describes the 'main seat' or most important place of an organization.
Der neue Hauptsitz des Unternehmens ist ein sehr modernes Gebäude.
The company's new headquarters is a very modern building.
To indicate the location of the headquarters, the preposition 'in' with the dative is almost always used when referring to a city or country.
Die Firma hat ihren Hauptsitz in der Schweiz.
The company has its headquarters in Switzerland.
Common verbs used with 'Hauptsitz' are 'haben' (to have), 'liegen' (to be located), and 'sein' (to be) for the location, and 'verlegen' (to relocate) when the location changes.
Das Unternehmen wird seinen Hauptsitz nächstes Jahr nach Hamburg verlegen.
The company will relocate its headquarters to Hamburg next year.
seat / headquarters
'der Sitz' and 'der Hauptsitz' can both mean the central location of a company, organization, or public authority. 'Hauptsitz' is more precise because it clearly says: this is the most important location. 'Sitz' is shorter and often sounds natural in fixed phrases like 'Die Firma hat ihren Sitz in Berlin' (the company is based in Berlin). They can be confused because they fit in a similar way in many sentences. But if there are several locations and you mean the most important one, 'Hauptsitz' is especially clear.
Der Hauptsitz des Unternehmens bleibt in München, obwohl es viele Filialen gibt.
The company's headquarters remain in Munich, even though it has many branches.
Die Stiftung hat ihren Sitz in Leipzig.
The foundation is based in Leipzig.