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Weser watershed with Wolfsburg (right centre)
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Wolfsburg is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the River Aller northeast of Braunschweig (Brunswick), and is mainly notable as the headquarters of Volkswagen AG. Wolfsburg is bordered by the districts of Gifhorn and Helmstedt.
History
Wolfsburg was founded in 1938 as Stadt des KdF-Wagens (English: City of the KdF Car), a planned town around the village of Hesslingen in the District of Gifhorn in order to house the workers of the Volkswagen factories. During World War II, there were also jeeps, airplanes and other military equipment built, mainly by forced workers and POWs at these factories. The train station of Wolfsburg was built by attorney of Adolf Hitler in order to transport or receive prefabricated parts for military equipment.
In 1945, the city was renamed Wolfsburg after the castle of the same name located in the city, which was founded about 1300 on the bank of the Aller river. Today, there is another castle at the place, which was built after 1600. In 1951, Wolfsburg was separated from the District of Gifhorn, and became an urban district. In November 2003, Wolfsburg was renamed "Golfsburg" for one week to celebrate the 5th generation of the Volkswagen Golf.
Main sights
Centre of Wolfsburg lacks historical buildings, and the sights include new attractions like the Autostadt (a huge open air museum dedicated to automobiles, owned and operated by Volkswagen), a planetarium, the Phaeno Science Center, the largest hands-on science museum in Germany, and an excellent private art museum (Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg) specialised in modern and contemporary art.
The old part of the city Alt Wolfsburg shows some manor buildings in traditional framework style.
With the opening in 2000 of Autostadt and that of Phaeno, as well as restaurants and a Ritz Carlton Hotel, tourism increased.
Sport
The most famous professional sports club in the city is VfL Wolfsburg, a football club that was established in 1945. They are the reigning German champions, having won the 2009 Fußball-Bundesliga. Hockey team EHC Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams is also based in the city.
International relations
Twin towns — sister cities
Wolfsburg is twinned with:
 Luton, United Kingdom, since 1950 Marignane, France, since 1963 Province of Pesaro e Urbino, Italy, since 1975 Halberstadt, Germany, since 1989 Changchun, People's Republic of China Togliatti, Russia, since 1991 Bielsko-Biała, Poland, since 1998 Taubaté, Brazil Puebla, Mexico
Associated cities:
Wolfsburg panorama at dusk, viewed from Schillerteich-Center. The red-lit chimneys left of the center belong to the Volkswagen plant.
See also
External links
 Urban and rural districts in the state of Lower Saxony in Germany  |
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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1985
Toyohashi, Japan since 2002
