The city is very young, since it was planned by the Nazis in order to build a town for the workers of the Volkswagen factories. It was founded in 1938 as Stadt des KdF-Wagens around the village of Hesslingen in the District of Gifhorn. Kraft durch.
View and book hotels in Wolfsburg. Click here.
After the war, in 1945, the city got its present name after the
Wolfsburg castle located in the city, which was founded about 1300 on the bank of the
Aller River. Today there is another castle, which was built after 1600. In 1951,
Wolfsburg was separated from the
District of Gifhorn, and became an urban district.
Wolfsburg lacks historical buildings, and the sights include new attractions like the
Autostadt (a huge open air museum about automobiles, owned and operated by Volkswagen), a planetarium, and an art museum.
Some neighbouring towns were incorporated into
Wolfsburg in 1972, e.g. the city of
Fallersleben, which is now a quarter of
Wolfsburg. Fallersleben was the home of
August Heinrich Hoffmann who wrote the lyrics of the German national anthem (Das Lied der Deutschen).
