Wolfsburg is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the River Aller northeast of Braunschweig (Brunswick). Wolfsburg is bordered by the districts of Gifhorn and Helmstedt. Population: 122,800 (1999).
Car registration symbol: WOB.
The city is very young, since it was planned by the Nazis in order to build a town for the workers of the Volkswagen factories. It was founded in 1938 as Stadt des KdF-Wagens ("City of the KdF Car") around the village of Hesslingen in the District of Gifhorn. Kraft durch Freude (abbreviated KdF and meaning "strength through joy") was the German state-controlled leisure organization; one of its projects was the KdF-Wagen, which would later be known as the VW Beetle.
During World War II there were also jeeps, airplanes and other military equipment built, mainly by forced workers and POWs at these factories.
After the war, in 1945, the city got its present name after the Wolfsburg castle located in the city, which was founded about 1300 on the bank of the Aller river. 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 a district-free city.
Wolfsburg lacks historical buildings, and the sights include new attractions like the Autostadt (a huge open air museum about automobiles, owned and operated by Volkswagen), a planetarium, and an art museum.
Some neighbouring towns were incorporated into Wolfsburg in 1972, e.g. the city of Fallersleben, which is now a quarter of Wolfsburg. Fallersleben was the home of August Heinrich Hoffmann (commonly known as Hoffmann von Fallersleben), who wrote the lyrics of the German national anthem (Das Lied der Deutschen).
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