Hitler and the Volkswagen
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Although Volkswagen plays down the connection (who wouldn't?), the company got its start during the Third Reich. Based on the Fuerher's desire to rebuild Germany into a rich nation where all families could own a car, the company turned out several very recognizable Volkswagen beetles.
Soon, though, World War II forced the factory to start producing war material instead--including lightweight, dependable cars (Kubelwagens) used for transport in North Africa and along the Russian Front.
Inspiration Strikes
Accroding to the Hitler Museum, Adolf Hitler created the first design of the Volkswagen, sketching out a small car while he sat at a restaurant in Munich in 1932. If it is authentic, the sketch is quite prescient.
(Caveat: I don't know how reliable the Hitler Museum is. Other websites use this sketch and credit Hitler, but I do not see it in the library's books about Volkswagen's history, so I'm suspicious.)
Every agrees that Hitler tasked Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche with the design of his car. You can even read about it at Porsche's website. At that time--1933--one in five Americans had a car, but only one in fifty Germans did.
Porsche had just opened his own automotive design company when he was invited to meet with the new Chancellor of Germany--quite an honor. Hitler told Porsche he wanted a car that would seat a family of four, go up to 100 kilometers per hour, and get at least 14 kilometers per liter of gasoline.
Porsche agreed that it could be done. He wasn't sure that he could produce the car for the 1,000 reichmarks apiece that Hitler wanted, though. That price would make it even cheaper than Ford's most economical car. In fact, over the next few years Porsche traveled to the US to tour car factories, including several of Henry Ford's plants.
Histomobile gives more detail about the earlier designs behind the VW.
Happy Germans Buy Their Cars
In the 1930s, Hitler had forced all Germans to enroll in the German Labor Front, and made them pay membership dues. 10% of those dues went to a branch of the front called "Strength Through Joy," or "Kraft dutch Freude." The branch was in charge of recreation and sports. In Hitler's view, that covered motoring, so funds from Strength Through Joy (KdF) were funneled to build an automobile plant.
To raise more funds, Hitler came up with a prepayment plan. Employed Germans signed up for a car, and paid five reichmarks a week into an account. By the time the factory was operating, their car would be paid for--and they got two years' free insurance, gas, and maintenance as well! That was the idea, anyway.
Of course, none of those savers ever saw a car. 350,000 Germans paid $67 million for nonexistant cars by 1945. Believe it or not, the money was held in a special fund that still existed at the end or the war, but according to stories, the invading Russian army looted the account.
The Factory
Hitler wanted his "Volksauto" built. An ideal spot was found: 10,000 acres that belonged to Count Werner von der Schulenberg. The Reich simply took over the Count's property, including his Castle Wolfsburg. On May 26, 1938, 70,000 people celebrated the opening of Volkswagen City with the Fuehrer.
The few Volksautos built before 1941 actually came from a Daimler plant. The first KdF wagons, as the cars were called, did not roll off the assemply line unitl 1941. Only 630 were built before the factory switched over to producing war material. The plant was targeted by bombers from 1940 through 1944, and was two-thirds destroyed by the end of the war.
Of those early cars, one was given to Emperor Hirohito of Japan.
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After the War
How did Volkswagen recover?
Many German companies switched to building bombs and weapons during the war. The Opel car company had done so, and its head, Heinrich Nordhoff, was very successful. After the war of course, that made him unpopular and he was fired as head of Opel.
The British put Nordhoff in charge of the old Volkswagen City, now renamed Wolfsburg. Much to everyone's surprise, Nordhoff made the company successful. He used the original blueprints to produce cars, and by 1948, 20,000 'beetles' were on the roads of postwar Europe.
And the rest is another story, to be told another time.
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VickeyK, what a great hub! The Volkswagen Beetle was one of the most reliable little cars to ever hit the roads. Great hub, well researched and well written. Thanks.
Thank you both. It's so much fun to find out these semi-forgotten stories!
What an interesting part of automobile history. I had no idea of the connection between Volkswagen and Hitler.
Interesting. I should also write an article on WW in the future.
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My family owned 4 VW bugs going back to 1959.
This car has always provoked comment. Yes, it's cute. Yes, it was a wonderfully engineered machine of its time. It went through snow before front-wheel drive was invented. It was amazingly fuel efficient. And it looked great when you plastered vinyl Peter Max flowers all over it in the 60s. It was a car of the hippie generation.
But it was also a car that inflamed the fury of Jews who came to this country after WWII. This car captured the imagination of the American people, and at the same time drove thorns of hateful remembrance into the hearts of immigrant Jews, because this car was the Volks Wagon, the German "car of the people", "people" being those of German descent.
Most don't know the connection between the Porche and the VW. So today, we look at the Porche and the VW as luxury and high-performance cars, and we never think about their history.
In the 60s, I drove my Beetle with joy, and did not understand why my Jewish friends would not ride in my car with me.
That was long ago.
Thak you for a very thought-provoking hub.
Aloha,
Absolutely appalled at the connection as a once proud owner of two (2) Passats--I now own a Cadillac--American made sine 1903. I will never own another VW vehicle in honor of our Jewish Friends !! Mahalo!
DA
I have owned four beetles in the last 20 or so years, I absolutely love these cars! They are dependable and economical as well as fun to drive. It is very unfortunate the ties these iconic cars have with Nazi Germany. Machines cannot be held responsible for what their creators do. What about the Mitsubishi planes that bombed Pearl Harbor? I know many good Americans that own Mitsubishi products, I am a proud American and have never been offended by this fact. My point is, a good product is a good product. As far as boycotting VW to honor a person or people is an ignorant statement. It would be easy to find evil in any country or its inhabitants, so unless you are a perfect person, shut the fuck up and don't talk shit about VW or the Beetle!
I'm surprised they didn't end up like the Krupp Family.
DETROIT (AP) - Some soccer moms will have to give up hulking SUVs. Carpenters will still haul materials around in pickup trucks, but they will cost more. Nearly everybody else will drive smaller cars, and more of them will run on electricity. The higher mileage and emissions standards set by the Obama administration on Tuesday, which begin to take effect in 2012 and are to be achieved by 2016, will transform the American car and truck fleet."
History repeating?
who was the first owner in vw and where she or he was born
Proud owner of a VW Jetta
Heil
Get over it.
Sure, how many jobs has VW (including Audi, SEAT, Lamborghini, Bentley, Skoda, and Bugatti) have they created all over the world. I have had German cars, American cars and Japanese cars, and quite frankly, none of them have tried to murder me. I don't like the Taliban, but that doesn't mean I wont buy rugs from Afghanistan. I didn't like the mass murder the atomic bomb did to innocent Japanese citizens in WWII, that doesn't mean I don't like fried twinkies.
Its the differences that we keep alive that actually keep us all apart.
Peace...
J
Ah Volkswagen. The People's car. Interesting look at its history.
It is because of Hitler & Porsche the world loves enjoying a ride in a car called Volkswagwen Bettle (people's car)
hahahahahahhahahahahah jews dont like them
One clarification on the "lay-away" plan Hitler used. The Russians may have raided that account, but the people that had paid into it, for the most part, DID receive their automobiles: although it took several decades before the last claim on the VW was paid out with a brand new car.
I read this a few years back and was searching for that article when I stumbled upon this on. Good luck finding it, as this is only my second page in this search.
Thanks, very interesting HUB that fits right in with my:
The Architecture of Doom
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Architecture-of-Doom-A
so I have linked it.
Hitler just wanted his finger in every pie. He wanted total control over everything about Germany, as if he were playing some enormous board game. Designing the car that every pawn would drive and making sure every one of them got one (for the appearance of it) fits right in with the way he designed and manipulated everything.
If you haven't seen The Architecture of Doom, I hope you will see it. It really illustrates Hitler's pathological need to control, design, and plan everything around him.
I am rating your HUB up and look forward to reading more from you! :)
Im a post ww2 (48) baby. Grew up among the Japanese (American Born)who had their families sent to camps, while the men went to Germany to fight the Germans.What a deal!I don't recall that being done to the the Germans, Italians, or any number of others! Have driven most american autos at one time or another, own multiple vw's, did 20 yrs Army (US), I believe I have the right to talk. For those who HATE non-american cars, GET OVER IT. What have YOU done for your country lately? Where do you think our parts come from? Probably China (RED)by now. Now that I don't like.(I'm still Army)We'll be face to face w/them AGAIN (Korea)some day. Im done...........
How did I not know this? I feel like I know everything!
wat a retarded hub stupid people
Any newcomers to the VW scene looking to buy one of these amazing vehicles should read my hubpage first to avoid a bad decision!
beetles are for woman and homosexuals
Ferry {Ferdinand Anton Ernst) Porsche was the son of Ferdinand Porsche who designed the Beetle. They are NOT the same person. Ferry was only part of the team.
The person in the picture is Ferdinand, not Ferry.
Rmnathan 4 years ago
VickeyK, Very good hub. I like these types of information. Thank You.