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Ich bin ein Wolfsburger ! By Dirk Bansch During my travels I am often asked the question "Where are you from?" and with a smile on my face, I answer "I'm from Wolfsburg !" and with a quizzical look on their face, they ask "Where?". So I take out my pictorial history of Wolfsburg and fill in their knowledge gap. Easy enough, but it's still 25 minutes I could use for other things. Therefore I figured it would be useful to create a quick guide that I can direct people to when they ask me where I'm from: Located about 110 miles to the west of Berlin, Wolfsburg is the second-largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony. Wolfsburg was founded in 1937 by an Austrian painter who wanted to build a new car factory in the open and gave the new settlement the poetic name "City of the Strength-through-Joy-Car" (Stadt des KDF-Wagens). The name was quite descriptive because the factory was built to produce the famous Strength-through-Joy car, also known to some of you as the VW Beetle. After the war, the British occupied the factory and the city and one of their first acts (after ensuring that the factory would produce cars for the British army) was to rename the city after the nearby castle that had been around since the 13th century, the Wolfsburg. And as a Wolfsburger, I will always be grateful to the Brits for not being a City-of-the-Strength-through-Joy-Car-er.

Images

Wolfsburg coat of arms

Volkswagen Beetle

Wolfsburg Castle

Germany map

Contributed by Dirk Bansch on January 22, 2011, at 3:14 PM UTC.

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One Point of Light liked this intel. Feb 8, 2011

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It is a great pity that Fallersleben was not adopted as the name since the village was absorbed by the town being built around it. Although not a particularly attractive town by German standards, it is home to the Phaeno Science Centre which is one of the dream destinations of little boys and old men.

theoldcoot Jan 22, 2011 16:36

I loved reading about the city of Wolfsberg and how it came about. Thanks Brits!

Barb Jan 22, 2011 16:39

hi Dirk,
that's one of the best funniest facts I've heard recently.
Wolfburg thanks to the Brits! Ha!
By the way, Rocky has a good point saying that Fallersleben might have even been a much better option.

tozcal2008 Jan 22, 2011 17:37

Hallo hallo, Ich bin auch ein Wolfsburger.
Lebe seit 30 Jahren in Australia. Im July werde ich wieder nach WOB gehen , meine Familie besuchen. Gruesschen Uschi

Ursula Jan 23, 2011 04:45

CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY

I like Wolfsburger better too. Glad they did not change VolksWagen to WolfsWagen though.

Brian Reynolds Jan 23, 2011 19:15

CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY

Nice piece of intel, everyone reading it will now remember Wolfsburg and where it is! I'd like to think there are still wolves around the area, but sadly probably not.

Foolonthehill Jan 24, 2011 07:08

Hi, There are no wolves anymore, but we have a lot of rabbits hopping around.
I was born in 1945 and than it was still called
"Stadt des KDF- Wagens ". Just imaging having that name in your passport.

Ursula Jan 24, 2011 07:36

Interesting story. At least it's not called Beetlesburg!

Poddys Jan 24, 2011 07:53

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This intel was contributed by Dirk Bansch Dirk Bansch

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