Wolfsburg

Understand

Wolfsburg hosts the worldwide headquarters of the car manufacturer Volkswagen. It was built and founded in the 1930s as a place to live for the employees of Volkswagen (literally: people's car) and the factory still dominates the scenery. While it was founded by the Nazis and Hitler personally loved all symbolism associated with wolves (he interpreted his first name to be related to the word "wolf"), the town only officially got its name after the war being called "Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben" (city of the strength through joy car near Fallersleben) during the Nazi era. Wolfsburg is a rare case of a German town that was founded in the 20th century (other examples include Salzgitter and Eisenhüttenstadt). It is often ridiculed as bland, generic and without history. The suburb of Fallersleben (the author of Germany's national anthem, Hoffmann von Fallersleben is originally from that town) used to be an independent town and there is a castle, that gave Wolfsburg (literally castle of the wolf) its name. Some of the annexed suburbs predate Wolfsburg proper by centuries and still contain some pretty medieval and early modern buildings. During the 1950s and 1960s Wolfsburg attracted many immigrants and most of them came from Italy, who are still visible in the city today. Some of the Italian quarters have gotten the nickname Castellupo (Italian calque of Wolfsburg) over time. In the 1990s with VW in a difficult economic position and the town still dominated by the car company and little else - not even car parts manufacturers - offering employment or leisure activities the city entered a bit of a slump and both VW and the city government decided to do something about it, founding a jointly owned company ("Wolfsburg AG") to combat the decline, offer jobs in the service sector and pretty up the town. Given that the GDP per capita of Wolfsburg is the highest in Germany (and one of the highest in the EU) and Wolfsburg's population is growing again and has almost rea

Getting there

Wolfsburg is easily accessible by road and rail.

By train The main line rail station is Wolfsburg Hauptbahnhof, Willy-Brandt-Platz 3, and there are regular services to many destinations. There is regular direct ICE service from/to Berlin (in fact some people use the ICE for their daily commute on that route) but for many other connections you'd have to change trains in Brunswick and/or Hanover. Flixtrain serves the city. There are big parking lots next to the train station and you can easily leave your car there for several days.

By road Take junction 5 off of the A39 and head towards Wolfsburg-Morse.

By plane While there is an airport (BWE IATA) close by, it is mostly used by VW and thus chances are for most flights you will fly to Hanover (HAJ IATA) or Hamburg (HAM IATA). Frankfurt airport(FRA IATA) is also often an option worth considering.

By bus

Regiojet serves Wolfsburg, while Flixbus surprisingly doesn't. Flixbus does however serve many surrounding cities which are in turn served by public transit options to get to Wolfsburg.

Getting around

Perhaps surprisingly for a city built on for and by the automobile, walking is the best option. Everything is close to each other in the city and the downtown core is largely pedestrianized. Wolfsburg has a public bus system that will get you to most suburbs and outlying parts of town. There is no light rail or tram, but regular rail service also has stops in Fallersleben (which is part of Wolfsburg, but much older) and several other places.

See

Wolfsburg is quite a modern city having been built, in the main, from 1938 on to house workers from the newly built VW factory. However, its castle dates from 1600 and today houses the Stadtmuseum. It has a rundown of the city's history from 1938, when the VW plant was founded, to the present day. There's also a small regional history museum and two art galleries that host rotating exhibitions.

1 AutoStadt. AutoStadt is the home of Volkswagen AG. AutoStadt theme park is a city in itself and offers entertainment, dining, tours and driving. Includes the Zeithaus, a car museum covering not just VW but other marques as well. 2 Phaeno Science Centre, Willy Brandt Platz 1 (just south of the railway line and the canal opposite Autostadt). Tu-F 09:00-17:00, Sa Su 10:00-18:00, open on some Mondays and most holidays. It is a new building designed by Zaha Hadid and is a breathtaking and revolutionary space. While the architecture was a bit controversial with locals at the time of its construction, the museum - focused on science and the likes - is a good place to take the kids to but also a fun place for adults to "toy around" with their inner child, observing and exploring phenomena as diverse as fire tornadoes, brain waves or vacuum. Adult €14, child €9, senior €11, reduced €10, half the price 90 min before closure.

3 Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. 4 Wolfsburg Castle (Schloss Wolfsburg). (updated Apr 2016) Volkswagen AutoMuseum, Dieselstraße 35. Tu-Su 10:00-17:00, closed Mondays, some holidays and from Dec 24-Jan 1. Apart from all the attractions at the AutoStadt, including the Zeithaus, there is also a separate Volkswagen AutoMuseum in Wolfsburg situated somewhat farther afield from the Volkswagen complex. €3-6. (updated Apr 2016) 5 Planetarium Wolfsburg, Uhlandweg 2, ☏ +49 5361 89025510. The origins of this building are a curious tale of German-German relations during German partition. When VW made a deal to deliver something they produced to the East, the East German regi

Do

Volkswagen Factory Tour, ☏ +49 5361 400, [email protected]. 09:00-16:00, English tour at 12:10, tour lasts 50 min. Factory tours are organized for customers picking up cars directly from the factory, but participation is possible for the general public availability permitting. Tours are only organized during factory work days (M-F) and may be unavailable due to various circumstances. Contact AutoStadt customer care in advance to book, or if already on location, the welcome desk on the Piazza. Guests are transported from the AutoStadt to the factory by boat, departing where the Maritime PanoramaTour does. 1 Maritime PanoramaTour. Five times a day, a canal boat departs for an hour's tour of the canals around some of the most prominent buildings on the Volkswagen campus, including the power plant and factory itself. €4-6. 2 VfL Wolfsburg, Volkswagen Arena, ☏ +49 5361 8903903. Die Wölfe were relegated in 2026 and now play soccer in 2. Bundesliga, the second tier. The stadium has a capacity of 30,000. The women's team play in their top tier at AOK Stadium. (updated Jun 2026) Economy Training. Learn to drive economically with Volkswagen's on-site experts, using less fuel and putting less wear on your car while at the same time becoming more environmentally-friendly. Vehicles are provided for participants on the training course. €17. (updated Apr 2016) Safety Training. A special course featuring obstacles simulating various hazards on the road is in the AutoStadt, and v