A look back at Volkswagen's history. Read the full story here.
1937: Adolf Hitler commissions the construction of a Volkswagen plant as part of the “Kraft durch Freude” (“Strength through Joy”) effort, a state-operated leisure program.
May 26, 1938: Laying of the cornerstone for the Volkswagen plant, which was modeled after the Ford factory in Michigan, and foundation of the “City of the Strength through Joy Car,” which later became Wolfsburg. It was planned for up to 100,000 inhabitants.
September 1939: After the beginning of World War II, production is shifted from passenger cars to armaments.
April 11, 1945: American troops arrive and free the city, including the forced laborers working at the Volkswagen factory.
May 25, 1945: The British occupying power orders the “City of the Strength through Joy Car” to be named Wolfsburg, after a nearby castle. Jan. 17, 1962: The first train with 100 Italian guest workers arrives in Wolfsburg. By the end of the year, 3,500 Italians will have arrived, earning Wolfsburg the nickname “biggest Italian town north of the Alps.”
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Aug. 5, 1955: Company leaders and staff celebrate the production of the one millionth Volkswagen.
Dec. 20, 1962: Volkswagen founds its own real estate company to create housing space for its workers. In 1962 alone, the company invests 40 million German marks for the construction of new apartments.
July 1, 1972: Wolfsburg is merged with the towns of Vorsfelde and Fallersleben, as well as 18 other independent municipalities, making its population grow from 40,000 to 133,000 inhabitants overnight.
June 11, 1997: The local soccer club VFL Wolfsburg ascends to the Germany’s top league.
July 2012: VW makes a $5.6 billion bid to take over Porsche.
Sept. 18, 2015: U.S. officials go public with allegations that VW equipped nearly 482,000 cars in the United States with a “defeat device” designed to cheat on emission tests. VW later admits that 11 million vehicles worldwide were involved in the cheating effort.
Read more:
The town that Volkswagen built is both resigned and defiant amid scandal
The real question: What will VW’s cheating scandal cost car owners?
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