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The wild history of Volkswagen: From Nazi Germany to hippie vans to one of Elon...

 1 year ago
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The wild history of Volkswagen: From Nazi Germany to hippie vans to one of Elon Musk's top electric vehicle rivals

Hannah Towey
Wed, November 30, 2022, 5:54 AM·8 min read
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The wild history of Volkswagen: From Nazi Germany to hippie vans to one of Elon Musk's top electric vehicle rivals
Adolf Hitler lays the foundation stone for the Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben in 1938 (left) / Blue and white Volkswagen Transporter (right).
Adolf Hitler lays the foundation stone for the Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben in 1938 (left) / Blue and white Volkswagen Transporter (right).Hulton Archive (left), Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images (right)

  • Alyssa Milano said she swapped her Tesla for a VW, renewing discussion of Volkswagen's dark history.

  • The German automaker was founded in 1937 as a state-owned enterprise during the third reich.

  • Here's how Volkswagen went from Hitler's pet project to one of the world's top electric vehicle makers.

In 1937, Volkswagen was founded in Germany as a state-owned enterprise under Adolf Hitler's rule.

Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) admires a model of the Volkswagen car and is amused to find the engine in the boot. He is with the designer Ferdinand Porsche (left), and to the right are Korpsfuhrer Huehnlein, Dr Ley, Schmeer, and Werlin
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) admires a model of the Volkswagen car with the designer Ferdinand Porsche (left). To the right are Korpsfuhrer Huehnlein, Dr Ley, Schmeer, and WerlinHeinrich Hoffmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Source: History.com

Developing an affordable "people's car" was a pet project of the fascist dictator, who championed Volkswagen as "a symbol of the National Socialist people's community."

Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) gives a speech after laying the foundation stone of the new Volkswagen works at Fallersleben, 27th May 1938.
Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) gives a speech after laying the foundation stone of the new Volkswagen works at Fallersleben, 27th May 1938.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

But when World War II began, Volkswagen had to give up its goal of creating a car for the masses and switched to military production.

Adolf Hitler stands behind the cars in a dark coat, preparing to dedicate the new factory.
Adolf Hitler stands behind the cars in a dark coat, preparing to dedicate the new Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Volkswagen plant in Fallersleben used forced labor including Soviet prisoners of war and Jewish concentration camp prisoners — at one point accounting for an estimated 60% of its workforce.

"Ostarbeiter" workers (Nazi term used to describe foreign slave workers from Eastern Europe) in an armaments factory in South Germany.Ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

In 1944, a VW engineer enlisted 950 Jewish prisoners from Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration camp and killing center, to work at the Fallersleben complex.

Adolf Hitler overlooks a model of the Volkswagen factory and 'Kraft-durch-Freude-Stadt' city.dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Four concentration camps and eight forced-labor camps were located on Volkswagen company grounds, in addition to a "nursing facility" that separated pregnant workers from their newborns. The program is believed to have killed over 300 children of Volkswagen laborers.

VW's Fallersleben facility was a "subcamp" of the Neuengamme concentration camp, where 43,000 people died.Noe Falk Nielsen/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

At the end of the war, Allied forces freed the plant workers and renamed the factory town "Wolfsburg." The city remains home to Volkswagen's headquarters today.

Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on March 26, 2021.
Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on March 26, 2021.RONNY HARTMANN/AFP via Getty Images

Source: Volkswagen

The British military temporarily took over Volkswagen in 1945, instructing the company to produce 20,000 "saloon" models.

The Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany circa 1945.
The Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany circa 1945.Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Source: Volkswagen AG

Soon, the first VW Beetles were exported to foreign markets like France, Switzerland, and Sweden. The first models reached American soil in 1950.


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