Wolfsburg - History

History

In 1302 the castle "Wolfsburg" was first mentioned in a document as the domicile of the noble lineage of Bartensleben. At the beginning this used to be a keep next to the Aller which obtained its well-fortified character as a moat not until later centuries. In 1372 the first documentary reference to the Burg Neuhaus (castle of Neuhaus) near Wolfsburg followed. After the extinction of the noble lineage of Bartensleben in 1742 the property, including the Schloss Wolfsburg (Wolfsburg Castle), was passed on to the Earls of the Schulenburg. The communal manor was an important employer for the near-by settlements Rothenfelde and Heßlingen.

Some of today's urban districts, including Heßlingen, used to belong to the Duke of Magdeburg during the 18th century. In 1932 these districts were outsourced from the Prussian province Saxony and integrated in the administrative district of Lüneburg belonging to Hannover. Other urban districts, like Vorsfelde and the villages transferred to Wolfsburg from the county of Helmstedt, belonged to the later Duke of Braunschweig (Brunswick) for centuries. Fallersleben and other villages belonged to the Electorate of Braunschweig - Lüneburg or the Kingdom of Hanover.

Wolfsburg was founded on 1 July 1938 as the Nazis' Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben (English: City of the KdF Car at Fallersleben), a planned town around the village of Fallersleben to house the workers of the new Volkswagen factories, which were built to assemble the Volkswagen Beetle "people's car" and remain there today, although Beetle production there ended in 1978 (it was transferred to Mexico for the final 25 years).

During World War II, there were also military cars, aeroplanes and other military equipment built, mainly by forced workers and POWs at these factories. The railway station of Wolfsburg was built by order of Adolf Hitler to transport and receive parts for military equipment.

Due to the urge of the British occupying power the city was renamed as Wolfsburg on 25 May 1945, after the eponymous castle located there, which was founded about 1300. Today, there is another castle at the place, which was built after 1600. 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. During the years of the economic miracle Wolfsburg experienced a large influx of immigrant workers, especially from Italy. In 1958 the city hall was inaugurated. 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 suburbanized to the city through the so-called "Wolfsburg-Act". Thus the population exceeded 100,000 and so Wolfsburg gained the status of major city with nearly 131,000 inhabitants. The expanse of the city grew from 35 to nearly 204 square kilometers. For the new suburbanized districts eleven directly voted councils with a mayor each were established. In 1973 the highest population of the city was reached with a number of 135,000.

With the A39, the city got a direct highway junction as a side road of the A2 (Oberhausen - Hannover - Werder) in 1982 and in 1988 the city became a university location for the University of Applied ScienceBraunschweig/ Wolfenbüttel(today: Ostfalia University of Applied Science) established a facility.

As a demonstration of sympathy 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 through the avail of the German football championship of the VfL Wolfsburg. The party was celebrated in the city centre with about 100,000 people and was unique in the history of the city.