Hitler and the Volkswagen

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By VickeyK


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.


Hitler's sketch of a "car for the people" in 1932, from the Hitler Museum at Hitler.org
Hitler's sketch of a "car for the people" in 1932, from the Hitler Museum at Hitler.org

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.


May 1938; Hitler and Porsche inspect the KdF at the new factory--definitely a VW
May 1938; Hitler and Porsche inspect the KdF at the new factory--definitely a 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.

Ferry Porsche stands outside while Adolf Hitler inspects the new KdF in May, 1938 (credit Ullstein bild, Granger Collection)
Ferry Porsche stands outside while Adolf Hitler inspects the new KdF in May, 1938 (credit Ullstein bild, Granger Collection)

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.

Comments

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Rmnathan profile image

Rmnathan  says:
2 years ago

VickeyK, Very good hub. I like these types of information. Thank You.

wajay_47  says:
2 years ago

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.

VickeyK profile image

VickeyK  says:
2 years ago

Thank you both. It's so much fun to find out these semi-forgotten stories!

Angela Harris profile image

Angela Harris  says:
2 years ago

What an interesting part of automobile history. I had no idea of the connection between Volkswagen and Hitler.

thecounterpunch profile image

thecounterpunch  says:
2 years ago

Interesting. I should also write an article on WW in the future.

TheVWFLAGman profile image

TheVWFLAGman  says:
2 years ago

  Hi Everyone if you still have the VW FEVER...Telescopic poles from Pachawk, Zebco, Spirit, Flags of the World. Also A Good Range Of  Windspinners, Windmills, VW Windsocks, VW Flags, VW Bunting, VW Banners, Twisters, Turbines and Spinsocks of every colour. Childrens Kites, Jackites, Stunt Kites, Powerfoils, Pole Bungees, Bunting, Polestakes, and so Much Much More.http://www.TheVWFLAGman.co.uk

Sally's Trove profile image

Sally's Trove  says:
2 years ago

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.

denise sanborn  says:
16 months ago

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

Joe Woodmancy  says:
11 months ago

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!

RKHenry profile image

RKHenry  says:
7 months ago

I'm surprised they didn't end up like the Krupp Family.

Deputy Jay  says:
6 months ago

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?

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090519/D989J3F00

nkosana  says:
3 months ago

who was the first owner in vw and where she or he was born

Noreligion  says:
3 months ago

Proud owner of a VW Jetta

Heil

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