Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg
| Wolfsburg | |
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 Wolfsburg
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| Coordinates | 52°25′23″N 10°47′14″E / 52.42306°N 10.78722°E |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
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| State | Lower Saxony |
| District | Urban district |
| Town subdivisions | 17 Ortschaften, 40 Stadtteile |
| Mayor | none |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 204.02 km2 (78.77 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 63 m (207 ft) |
| Population | 121,451 (31 December 2010) |
| - Density | 595 /km2 (1,542 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | WOB |
| Postal codes | 38400–38448 |
| Area codes | 05361, 05362, 05363, 05365, 05366, 05367, 05308 |
| Website | www.Wolfsburg.de |
Wolfsburg is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the River Aller northeast of Braunschweig (Brunswick), and is mainly notable as the headquarters of Volkswagen AG. Wolfsburg is bordered by the districts of Gifhorn and Helmstedt.
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History
Wolfsburg was founded on 1 July 1938 as the Nazis' Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben (English: City of the KdF Car at Fallersleben), a planned town around the village of Fallersleben in order to house the workers of the newly opened Volkswagen factories, which were built to assemble the Volkswagen Beetle "people's car" and remain there today, although Beetle production finished there in 1978 (when it was transferred to Mexico for the final 25 years).
During World War II, there were also military cars, airplanes and other military equipment built, mainly by forced workers and POWs at these factories. The train station of Wolfsburg was built on the order of Adolf Hitler in order to transport or receive prefabricated parts for military equipment.
In 1945, the city was renamed Wolfsburg after the castle of the same name 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 an urban district. In November 2003, Wolfsburg was renamed "Golfsburg" for one week to celebrate the 5th generation of the Volkswagen Golf.
Main sights
The centre of Wolfsburg lacks historical buildings, and the sights include new attractions like the Autostadt (a huge open air museum dedicated to automobiles, owned and operated by Volkswagen), a planetarium, the Phaeno Science Center, the largest hands-on science museum in Germany, and an excellent private art museum (Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg) specialised in modern and contemporary art.
The old part of the town Alt Wolfsburg shows some manor buildings in traditional framework style.
With the opening in 2000 of Autostadt and that of Phaeno, as well as restaurants and a Ritz Carlton Hotel, tourism increased.
Sport
The most famous professional sports club in the town is VfL Wolfsburg, a football club that was established in 1945. They won the 2009 Fußball-Bundesliga. Ice hockey team EHC Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams,which since 2007 has made it to a leading position in the German ice-hockey league, is also based in the town. The Volkswagen Challenger tennis tournament has been held annually in the town since 1993.
International relations
Twin towns – Sister towns
Wolfsburg is twinned with the following towns:
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Associated cities:
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Notable people
- Peter Bialobrzeski (born 1961), photographer
- Dero Goi (born 1970), musician
- Stefanie Gottschlich (born 1978), footballer
- August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874), poet
- Karin Janke (born 1963), sprinter
- Wolfgang Müller (born 1957), musician
- Sascha Paeth (born 1970), musician
See also
- Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg
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Urban and rural districts in the state of 