VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE'S 75 YEARS
December 27th, 2020 marked 75 years since serial production of the Volkswagen Beetle began. The model had originally been planned as a prestige project of the National Socialists, but from 1939 onwards the Wolfsburg plant had produced armaments instead of vehicles, and up to the end of WW2, only 630 units of the model – which had been renamed KdF-Wagen in 1938 – left the Volkswagen plant. It was only after the British Military Government had assumed trusteeship in June 1945 that the unique success story of the VW Beetle began
The British intended to use the Volkswagen Type 1 to perform urgently needed transport tasks within their occupation zone, and it was this British pragmatism that finally protected the plant against impending demolition. Senior Resident Officer Major Ivan Hirst played a key role in this development. It was his farsightedness and talent for improvisation that made it possible to start automobile production in the years of rationing under conditions dominated by shortages. With his enthusiasm for technology and cars, his purposefulness and distinct attitude, he succeeded in transforming a former armaments plant into a civilian industrial company in an impressively short time.
The British Military Government had already issued an order for 20,000 vehicles in August 1945, and the start of production was a visible sign of a new beginning and hope at the factory which had been largely destroyed. This solution was in line with later British policy for Germany, which saw financial security and future prospects for the population as key elements in the development of democratic structures.
Nevertheless, there were considerable problems in supplying the workforce with food and living space, and production was hampered by raw material and energy supply bottlenecks. Despite these difficult conditions, the first Volkswagen sedan left the production line shortly after Christmas, and by the end of 1945 some 55 vehicles had been produced. The Beetle went on to become a record breaker in terms of production duration and volume – VW only discontinued production of it in Mexico in 2003 after 21,529,464 had been built, including about 15.8 million in Germany.