This Motor Cities chapter is the darkest of the lot. It involves slave labour, missile production, bombing raids and a World War. Its protagonists include the 20th century’s most notorious dictator, the most famous name in sports cars, a British major and arguably Germany’s pre-eminent postwar industrialist.
Wolfsburg means wolf castle. The city that would become the home of Germany’s, Europe’s and the world’s biggest car maker – and the world’s biggest car factory – is named after its 13th century castle, built by the noble Von Bartensleben family. A leaping wolf was prominent on their coat of arms and, in those days, numerous wolves prowled the surrounding lowlands. Nowadays, that castle – long ago converted into the Renaissance style – remains the city’s major cultural landmark. But the biggest tourist attraction is the Autostadt, the giant museum and theme park that pays homage to Volkswagen, the company that created the city of Wolfsburg.
The site, east of the small town of Fallersleben, was chosen because it was centrally located in the heart of the German Reich, had good transport links to the huge Ruhr industrial area, was located on the well-travelled Mittelland canal and was very near the Hanover to Berlin rail line. The project was confirmed by Adolf Hitler when he opened the 1937 Berlin Motor Show. In May 1938, Hitler laid the foundation stone in a lurid swastika-waving ceremony.
