Block, Siteadmin, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, delete, edit, move, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, protect, rollback, Administrators, template
295,525
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 20:
Line 20: − +
→History
==History==
==History==
On May 26, 1938, [[Nazi]] dignitaries gathered near Fallersleben in northern Germany to lay the foundation stone for the Volkswagen Works. The [[Führer]] himself was present, predicting that this Volkswagen, initially known as the Kraft-durch-Freude-Wagen, or KdF-Wagen, would be “a symbol of the [[National Socialist]] people's community." The Volkswagen plant eventually became a massive complex known as the “City of the Kdf-Car” [“Stadt der Kdf-Wagen”] and was expected to produce at least 1.5 million cars annually. In reality, the plant had only just started small-scale production of what would become the Volkswagen Beetle when the company halted [[civilian]] production with the onset of [[World War II]]. The vast majority of Germans who completed their savings books never received their long-awaited People’s Cars, as Volkswagen went into military production.
On May 26, 1938, [[Nazi]] dignitaries gathered near Fallersleben in northern Germany to lay the foundation stone for the Volkswagen Works. The [[Führer]] himself was present, predicting that this Volkswagen, initially known as the Kraft-durch-Freude-Wagen, or KdF-Wagen, would be “a symbol of the [[National Socialist]] people's community." In a country where car production still focused primarily on luxury models and where only one German in fifty owned an [[automobile]], the car would cost just 999 German Reichsmark, while the program offered a savings plan to make such a vehicle affordable. The Volkswagen plant eventually became a massive complex known as the “City of the Kdf-Car” [“Stadt der Kdf-Wagen”] and was expected to produce at least 1.5 million cars annually. In reality, the plant had only just started small-scale production of what would become the Volkswagen Beetle when the company halted [[civilian]] production with the onset of [[World War II]]. The vast majority of Germans who completed their savings books never received their long-awaited People’s Cars, as Volkswagen went into military production.
===Volkswagen and Forced Labor===
===Volkswagen and Forced Labor===