Summary
The Wolfsburg Volkswagen Factory is the worldwide headquarters of the Volkswagen Group,[1] and one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world, in terms of area at just under 6.5 million m² (70 million sq ft).[2] The Wolfsburg plant produced 815,000 cars in 2015. Volkswagen's currywurst is also produced at this facility.
| Wolfsburg Volkswagen | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Classic Industrial |
| Location | Wolfsburg |
| Address | 38440 Wolfsburg |
| Country | Germany |
| Opened | 26 May 1938 |
| Cost | $40 million ($867 million in 2019) |
| Owner | Volkswagen |
| Height | 92m (height of highest chimney) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Concrete and steel |
| Floor area | 6.5 million m² (70 million sq ft) |
History edit
The Wolfsburg Volkswagen plant was built in 1938 as the original factory for mass-production of Adolf Hitler's "Volkswagen", or 'People's car' – before the Second World War also marketed by Nazi propaganda as the "Kraft durch Freude" or "KdF-Wagen" (Strength Through Joy‑car).
The factory was built to a massive size from the beginning, near the small town of Fallersleben, and a planned company town for the factory workers was built nearby, until May of 1945 named "Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben" (City of the KdF-Wagen at Fallersleben).
After World War II, the city was renamed "Wolfsburg" ('Wolf's Castle', after the nearby Wolfsburg Castle[3]), and in 1972, through the 'Wolfsburg-Act', Fallersleben and about twenty other surrounding towns were absorbed as suburbs into a greater Wolfsburg.
The KdF-Wagen was brought into full production over a period of several years, under supervision of British Army officer and engineer major Ivan Hirst, in the British controlled sector of West Germany. After unsuccessfully offering the factory to several British and American car companies, including Ford Motor Company, Volkswagens then became very popular under the nickname 'Beetle', and in many countries and languages.
At the suggestion of the Dutch Volkswagen importer, Ben Pon, the company also started building simple, compact vans, that further built on the Beetle's technology, leading to the VW Transporter, 'Kombi' or 'Microbus' – and officially making it the Volkswagen 'Type 2'.
Cars produced edit
See also edit
References edit
52°26′02″N 10°46′47″E / 52.4338°N 10.7796°E