Wolfsburg
City
VW power station at night
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Wolfsburg in Lower Saxony
Wolfsburg Show map of Germany Wolfsburg Show map of Lower Saxony
Coordinates: 52°25′23″N 10°47′14″E / 52.42306°N 10.78722°E / 52.42306; 10.78722
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Urban district
Subdivisions	16 Ortschaften, 40 Stadtteile
Government
• Lord mayor (2021–26)	Dennis Weilmann[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	204.02 km2 (78.77 sq mi)
Elevation	63 m (207 ft)
Population  (2021-12-31)[2]
• Total	123,949
• Density	610/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	38400–38448
Dialling codes	05361, 05362, 05363, 05365, 05366, 05367, 05308
Vehicle registration	WOB
Website	www.Wolfsburg.de

Wolfsburg (German: [ˈvɔlfsbʊʁk] ^ⓘ; Eastphalian: Wulfsborg) is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about 75 km (47 mi) east of Hanover and 230 km (143 mi) west of Berlin.

Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's headquarters and the world's biggest car plant. The Autostadt is a visitor attraction next to the Volkswagen factory that features the company's model range: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, MAN, Neoplan, Porsche, Scania, SEAT, Škoda Auto and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Wolfsburg is one of the few German cities built during the first half of the 20th century as a planned city. From its founding on 1 July 1938 as a home for workers producing the "KdF-"Wagen" until 25 May 1945, the city was called Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben. In 1972, the population first exceeded 100,000. In 2019, the GRP was €188,453 per capita.^[3]

Geography

Wolfsburg is located at the Southern edge of the ancient river valley of the Aller at the Mittellandkanal ("Midland Canal"). It is bordered by the districts of Gifhorn and Helmstedt.

History

Wolfsburg Castle

The "Wolfsburg" Castle was first mentioned in 1302 in a document as the domicile of the noble lineage of Bartensleben. Originally a keep next to the Aller, it was protected by a moat some centuries later. In 1372, the first documentary reference to the Burg Neuhaus ("castle of Neuhaus") near Wolfsburg appeared. After the extinction of the Bartensleben line in 1742, the property and its Schloss Wolfsburg (Wolfsburg castle) passed on to the Counts of Schulenburg. The communal manor was an important employer for the nearby settlements Rothenfelde and Heßlingen.

Some of today's urban districts, including Vorsfelde and the villages transferred to Wolfsburg from the county of Helmstedt, belonged to the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Fallersleben and other villages belonged to the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, which later developed into the Kingdom of Hanover and became a Prussian province in 1866. Other urban districts, including Heßlingen, belonged to the Prussian Duchy of Magdeburg. In 1932, these districts were detached from the Prussian Province of Saxony and integrated into the Province of Hanover.

Wolfsburg was founded on 1 July 1938 as the Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben, in English "City of the Strength Through Joy car at Fallersleben", a planned town centred around the village of Fallersleben, built to house workers of the Volkswagen factories erected to assemble what would be later known as the Volkswagen Beetle. During World War II, military cars, aeroplanes, and other military equipment were built there, mainly by forced workers and prisoners-of-war. In 1942, German authorities established the Arbeitsdorf concentration camp in the city for a few months. A minimum of six individuals died while working at this camp.

The city and Volkswagen factory were captured on April 11, 1945 by US troops and about 7,700 forced labourers were liberated from the Volkswagen factory. The US troops occupied the city until the end of June, during which time the city was renamed Wolfsburg on 25 May 1945, after the eponymous castle located there. The American occupation ended at the end of June 1945 when the region became part of the British occupation zone. In 1951, Wolfsburg was separated from the District of Gifhorn, and became an urban district.

In 1955, the one-millionth VW Beetle was manufactured in Wolfsburg. Postwar Beetle production ended in Wolfsburg in 1974, though Beetle production continued within Germany at Emden until 1978. The factories in Wolfsburg remain a key part of Volkswagen's production capacity.

During the German economic miracle Wolfsburg experienced a large influx of immigrant workers, especially from Italy.

In 1958, the city hall was built. In 1960 the Volkswagenwerk GmbH (limited partnership with a limited liability) was changed into an AG (public limited company).

In the course of a land reform in Lower Saxony in 1972, 20 localities were added to the city through the "Wolfsburg-Act". Wolfsburg gained the status of major city with nearly 131,000 inhabitants. The city's area grew from 35 to nearly 204 km² (79 sq mi). In 1973, the city's population peaked at 131,971.

In 1982, the A39, a side road of the A2 (Oberhausen - Hannover - Werder), was built as a direct freeway to Wolfsburg.

In 1988, the city became a university town with the establishment of the University of Applied Science Braunschweig/Wolfenbüttel. Today its name is Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences.

As a launch promotion for the 5th generation of the Volkswagen Golf the city of Wolfsburg welcomed visitors on the internet, on the official stationery, and on every city limit sign with the name "Golfsburg" from 25 August to 10 October 2003. This campaign gained the nationwide attention of press, radio, and TV broadcasting.

In the summer of 2009, Wolfsburg gained nationwide attention when their football team, VfL Wolfsburg, won the German football league. A party was held in the city centre with about 100,000 people, the first in the history of the city.

Culture and attractions

The Autostadt

The centre of Wolfsburg is unique in Germany. Instead of a medieval city centre, Wolfsburg features a new and modern attraction called the Autostadt. The old part of the city Alt Wolfsburg (de) shows some manor buildings in traditional framework style. Atop a hill by the River Aller is the Wolfsburg Castle.

The Autostadt is an open-air museum-theme park dedicated to automobiles owned and operated by Volkswagen. In the center of the park are the pavilions featuring Volkswagen's major brands: Volkswagen and Audi to the north, further south are SEAT, Škoda Auto, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, and the Premium Clubhouse. Right next to the lagoon is the Porsche pavilion. The striking Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles pavilion is in the south-east of the park. The Autostadt also includes: a planetarium, a Ritz-Carlton hotel, the Phaeno Science Center, the largest hands-on science museum in Germany, a water skiing resort, and a private art museum (Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg) specialised in modern and contemporary art.

Another major attraction is the Wolfsburg Water Show, the world's largest water-flame-laser-video fountain show with its up to 70 meter high fountains which was in the Autostadt complex in 2014. The event sometimes can be seen when there are special events in the complex.^[5]

Besides the Autostadt, another best known and most distinctive is BadeLand. It's a beautiful wellness and relaxation centre with a bathing area and various saunas.^[6][7]

Population development

From about 1,000 inhabitants in 1938, the population of the city increased to 25,000 in 1950 and doubled to 50,000 until 1958. On 1 July 1972, the population of Wolfsburg first went beyond the mark of 100,000 because several adjacent suburbanized villages were incorporated into the city with the "Wolfsburg law" which made Wolfsburg a major city ("Großstadt“). In 1973, the population reached its highest level: 131,971. At the end of December 2010, 121,451 people were registered with their principal residence in Wolfsburg. By the end of 2012, this number had climbed to 123,144.

Rank	Nationality	Population (31.12.2018)
1	Italy	5,506
2	Syria	1,469
3	Poland	1,349
4	Turkey	682
5	India	563
6	Iraq	521
7	Tunisia	475
8	Romania	450
9	Russia	450
10	China	403
11	Kosovo	326
12	Afghanistan	310
13	Mexico	308
14	Portugal	261
15	Spain	259

Organization

The city of Wolfsburg is organized into 41 districts. One or more districts make up one of the total of 16 localities which are represented by their own councils. Every council has a local official as its mayor.

First the councils were only established in the 11 localities annexed in 1972. They partly took over the functions of the former city councils of each of the districts. In 1991 and 2001 some of the localities were split into smaller areas so that today there are 16 localities, each with its own council which are directly elected by the citizens.

The only exception from this organization is the Allerpark (Aller Park), a local recreation area surrounding the Allersee lake, and the area of the Volkswagen factory which are both located in the central city area.

The administrative area of Wolfsburg includes six nature reserves. Five of them are located in the ancient Aller river valley.

Politics

The city hall

Head of the young "Stadt des KdF-Wagens" became the government assessor Karl Bock on enactment #145 of the chief president of the government of Lüneburg effective from 1 July 1938. His followers were also deployed by the government.

In 1946, the military government of the British zone of occupation established a communal constitution following the British example. After this, citizens voted for a council which elected a volunteer mayor/ lord mayor as the city's leader and representative. After 1946, the council elected a full-time director to lead the city council. In 2001, the city council's dual leadership was abolished. It is led by a full-time lord mayor who is also the city's representative. Since 2001, citizens directly elect the lord mayor. The council still has its own chairperson elected by the council's constitutive conference after every local election. The current "Bürgermeister" of Wolfsburg Dennis Weilmann.

The city has been described as a “social democratic utopia”.^[8]

Architecture

Alvar Aalto Cultural Centre (1958–62)

Church of the Holy Spirit, Alvar Aalto (1958–62)

Sport

The Volkswagen Arena

The most famous professional sports club in the city is VfL Wolfsburg, established in 1945. The men's football team won the Bundesliga in 2009, the DFB-Pokal in 2015 and the DFL-Supercup in 2015. The women's football team has been even more successful, winning six Bundesliga titles and seven DFB-Pokal titles. The women's team has also succeeded in winning the UEFA Women's Champions League in two consecutive years, 2013 and 2014.

Wolfsburg is also the home of the ice hockey team Grizzlys Wolfsburg, which since 2007 has made it to a leading position in the first-tier Deutsche Eishockey Liga, where it was runner-up in 2011, 2016 and 2017.

Also based in city is the tennis tournament Volkswagen Challenger, which has been held annually in Wolfsburg since 1993.

Twin towns – sister cities

Wolfsburg is twinned with:^[10]

Notable people

Hoffmann von Fallersleben painted by Schumacher, 1819

• August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874), poet, writer of the German national anthem
• Hanns Kerrl (1887–1941), politician (NSDAP)
• Liane Winter (1942–2021), marathoner
• Rolf-Dieter Postlep (born 1946), economist, president of the University of Kassel in 2000–2015
• Gabriele von Lutzau (born 1954), artist and sculptor, stewardess during the kidnapping of the airplane Landshut 1977
• Wolfgang Müller (born 1957), artist
• Siegfried Reich (born 1959), footballer
• Peter Bialobrzeski (born 1961), photographer
• Karin Janke (born 1963), sprinter
• Sascha Grabow (born 1968), traveler, writer and photographer who visited every country in the world
• Edward Berger (born 1970), film director and screenwriter
• Dero Goi (born 1970), musician
• Sascha Paeth (born 1970), musician
• Heidi Schmidt (1972–2010), novelist, children's author
• Jan Schanda (born 1977), footballer
• Stefanie Gottschlich (born 1978), footballer
• Amanda Somerville (born 1979), musician
• Janne Schaefer (born 1981), swimmer, grew up in Wolfsburg
• Anna-Katharina Samsel (born 1985), figure skater, model and actress, grew up in Wolfsburg

Gallery

Wolfsburg panorama at dusk, viewed from Schillerteich-Center. The red-lit chimneys left of the center belong to the Volkswagen plant.

See also

• Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wolfsburg.

• City of Wolfsburg
• Autostadt
• Wolfsburg Art Museum
• Wolfsburg travel guide from Wikivoyage