on may 28th, 1937, the volkswagen car company was established in germany.
it was born as a result of hitler's intentions to have a 'people's car' that the german public could afford. the first car prototype, built to hitler's specifications and obejctives (by ferdinand porsche and his team) was called the 'kdf-wagen', which would later evolve into the iconic beetles.
with the onset of the war, the production turned to military vehicles and used slave labour.
the post-war revival of the company, made possible largely due to the intervention of the british army, is a whole other story.
thus began das auto !
it was born as a result of hitler's intentions to have a 'people's car' that the german public could afford. the first car prototype, built to hitler's specifications and obejctives (by ferdinand porsche and his team) was called the 'kdf-wagen', which would later evolve into the iconic beetles.
with the onset of the war, the production turned to military vehicles and used slave labour.
the post-war revival of the company, made possible largely due to the intervention of the british army, is a whole other story.
thus began das auto !
image provided by the german federal archives to wikimedia commons - Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1988-019-16
Wow. Amazing. Quite interesting to read really.
ReplyDeleteInfact quite a few of car makers were once upon a time involved in some arms mftg. Skoda, Mercedez, Audi and VW...
yeah digging into these facts turn out to be quite interesting to read... i hadn't known that volkswagen had nazi roots and was involved in military production.
DeleteRather, the other way...
ReplyDeleteAll German automobile companies were hijacked during WWII to support the country. This is no different to political machinery doing the collection rounds before a local body election