Send Gift Baskets to Wolfsburg, Germany

The castle was first mentioned in 1302 in a document as the domicile of the noble lineage of Bartensleben, who happened to be living there. It was originally a keep next to the Aller until some centuries later; parts of which were protected by a moat. In 1372, the first documentary reference to the Burg Neuhaus (“castle of Neuhaus”) near Wolfsburg appeared. After the extinction of the Bartensleben line in 1742, the property and its Schloss Wolfsburg (Wolfsburg castle) were passed on to the Counts of Schönburg-Waldenburg. The communal manner employed people from Rothenfelde and Heßlingen.

Today’s urban districts, such as Vorsfelde and the villages transferred to Wolfsburg from the county of Helmstedt, belonged to the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Prussian Province Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, later the Kingdom of Hanover, then became a part of Prussia. The Prussian Duchy was formed in 1866 and all smaller settlements up until that point belonged to it. On January 1, 1932, the four districts of Prussia’s Province of Saxony were detached from the province and fused into a new geo-political entity called Prussian Hanover.

Wolfsburg was founded on July 1, 1938, as the City of Compulsory use of cars at Fallersleben, in English “City of the Strength Through Joy car at Fallersleben” a planned town in Fallersleben, Germany, built to house workers of the Volkswagen factories erected to assemble what would later be known as the Volkswagen Beetle. Many of the items at Gernika were originally produced by prisoners or slaves. It was also used as a forced labor camp for many different types of offenders during World War II by the German military. In 1942, the German government established a concentration camp in the city for a few months. It housed 6 people who died while working there.

US troops captured the city and the Volkswagen factory on April 11, 1945. Many people were freed from prison camps of forced labor. Germany had been known as the nation it is today after the First World War when an armistice was signed and Britain took occupation of the Rhineland. The city that is now known as Wolfsburg was given its name in 1945 when American troops occupied it for a few months, renaming it Essen. After the Allied occupation, Gifhorn and Wolfsburg were divided into two separate areas – the British-occupied zone and the Soviet-occupied zone. The split occurred in 1951, with Gifhorn becoming an urban district of its own.

In 1955, the millionth VW Beetle was manufactured in Wolfsburg. Production of the Beetle ended in 1973 but continued until 1978 for Germany as a whole. The factories in Wolfsburg continue to participate actively in VW.

Wolfsburg is not in Germany because the city experienced rapid growth during the economic miracle. Migrant workers from Europe had been creating a vibrant and diverse culture for centuries.

Even from the beginning, Volkswagenwerk GmbH was an entity that wasn’t solely composed of one company but instead consisted of multiple companies working together. In 1958, the first city hall for Wolfsburg was constructed. In 1960, it changed into a publicly traded company and was made up of several entities working together.

In 1972, a 20-square-mile area called “Wolfsburg” became one of Lower Saxony’s major cities after its city council voted to expand it. In 1993, the Greater City of Wolfsburg was added. As stated at the beginning of my speech, the city’s area grew from 35 to nearly 204 km2 (79 sq mi). In 1973, its population peaked at 131,971.

In 1982, a new freeway was built that cut through Oberhausen to connect with Hannover and then to Werder.

Braunschweig/Wolfenbüttel became a university town in 1988. It was previously known as the University of Applied Science Braunschweig/ Wolfenbüttel.

As a launch promotion for the 5th generation of the Volkswagen Golf, Wolfsburg welcomed visitors with the name “Golfburg” on city limit signs and stationery. It also welcomed visitors on digital signage at key locations around town from 25 August to 10 October 2003. This campaign received a lot of coverage across the nation in the press, radio, and TV.

VfL Wolfsburg gained national attention in the summer of 2009 when they won the German football league. A huge party was held in the city center that evening, with around 100,000 people and this was the first in their history.