As a German born in Germany it's still very surprising sometimes. When looking for IT internships within my area I found so many companies whose names I've never heard that are global leaders with their products. Also every little small village (~5k population) has its own so called Industriegebiet (industry area) that houses lots of such businesses and their suppliers.

I wish this culture had transitioned into the digital age but except for SAP very few German IT companies got big this way.