City of Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg Castle is “a medieval lowland and moated castle first mentioned in documents in 1302, which later transformed into a Renaissance castle” (Wikipedia). In 1938 it gave its name to the city of Wolfsburg, which until then was still called “City of the KdF-Wagen”.

It is definitely worth a visit for the following reasons:

landmark of the city

Castle park (gardens and parks)

Houses the Heidersberger Institute (famous photographer who photographed Wolfsburg)
Link: https://www.heidersberger.de

Schlossremise (restaurant & events)
Link: https://schlossremise.de

The headquarters of the Volkswagen Group with the following brands is located in Wolfsburg:

• Volkswagen PKW
• Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge
• Audi
• Porsche
• Cariad (not a vehicle brand, but produces software for the company vehicles)
• Skoda
• Seat / Cupra
• Bentley
• Lamborghini
• Ducati
• Traton (Scania, MAN & Navistar, VW Truck & Bus)
• VW Group Technology (batteries, charging technology)

Volkswagen AG employs around 60,000 people in Wolfsburg alone. With a total area of ​​6.5 km² (building area 1.6 km²), the factory was the largest factory in the world with an area of ​​around 10 km² until the construction of the Tesla Gigafactory 5 in Texas in 2022.

An absolute highlight and a must when visiting Wolfsburg is a factory tour: Link

The city center of Wolfsburg is often criticized for its appearance, unfortunately sometimes rightly so. However, the city leaders have recognized this and announced urban development measures. The city center also has beautiful corners that a visitor should see:

City-Galerie, a spacious shopping center owned by the ECE Group. An attached parking garage is available.

Piazza Italia, a street with Italian flair and Italian gastronomy, such as Vini D’Italia, Trattoria Incontri. By the way, the Italian consulate is also located here. Wolfsburg is considered the largest Italian municipality north of the Alps.

The wolf group. A bronze casting by the artist Peter Lehmann. The Wolf Group is considered a landmark of Wolfsburg’s pedestrian zone.

Bars and restaurants in the northern area of ​​the pedestrian zone are particularly inviting when the weather is good because there is good seating in the outdoor area on Porschestrasse.

Celona Wolfsburg

Sausalitos

Italien’s

Seat Grill & Bar

Tapas & Wine: A tapas restaurant in a beautiful half-timbered house. An insider tip.
However, a 10-minute walk from Porschestrasse is necessary.

The Designer Outlets Wolfsburg are the first inner-city designer outlet center in Germany. The three elliptical main buildings of the center symbolize two ships that docked on the banks of the Mittelland Canal (Wikipedia).

The building ensemble was designed by the architect Gerd Graf from Montabaur. It opened on December 15, 2007.

The Autostadt is a delivery center for new cars, a museum and a theme park of Volkswagen AG in the immediate vicinity of the Volkswagen factory (Wikipedia). As Brandland, the Autostadt serves the Volkswagen Group as a communication platform between companies, in this case the individual group brands, and existing and future customers (ibid). In addition to exhibits from the group’s historical and current model range, numerous experiences are on offer.

Tip: Concerts take place there in the summer months and a beach with lounge music and bars is set up. In December, the Autostadt hosts the Winter Wonderland (ice skating and toboggan run with a Christmas market).

The Autostadt also has excellent restaurants, such as the Lagune, the Beef Club or the AMano family restaurant, where children can make their own pizza.

The Wolfsburg Art Museum is located in the southern area of ​​the pedestrian zone and was opened in 1994. It shows modern and contemporary art.

Es werden vier Aspekte der erst 1938 gegründeten Industriestadt Wolfsburg aufgegriffen (Wikipedia):

• modernity
• urbanity
• internationality
• Quality

It was planned by the Hamburg architects Schwager & Partner as a building with a city loggia with a wide-spanning glass roof on Hollerplatz.

Planetarium

The Wolfsburg Planetarium was opened on December 1st, 1983 and is one of the ten largest facilities of its kind in Germany (Wikipedia). In addition to the sun, moon and planets, a central projector projects over 9,000 stars under the domed roof, giving the viewer the realistic impression of a starry night (ibid.).

phæno – The experimental landscape is a science center that opened in 2005. The building was designed by the Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hamid. Over 350 interactive experimental stations make science and technology tangible with different senses (Wikipedia). The approximately 9,000 square meter exhibition is divided into the main themes of “life, vision, energy, dynamics, instinct, math”.

The 588 meter long WakeParc in the Allerpark Wolfsburg has been rotating in the WakePark since 2004. According to the operator, the 6-mast system is suitable for everyone thanks to its optimal draft conditions and the island in the middle of the lake, which avoids the formation of waves (source: Wake-park.de).

The water depth of 1.20 m (1.80 m in the starting area) offers sufficient protection in the event of falls and unsuccessful jumps. This means you can stand comfortably throughout the lake and reach the shore without swimming. Another positive effect is that the water warms up quickly and is already at a pleasant temperature in spring (source: Wake-park.de).

The Badeland is an adventure and leisure pool in the Allerpark. The swimming area has a size of 22,000 m² with a water area of ​​3,000 m² (Wikipedia). It also has sports and gaming facilities as well as a sauna area (ibid). With around 790,000 visitors annually, it is one of the most visited leisure pools in Germany and is the largest of its kind in northern Germany (ibid).

Pool:

• Large swimming pool 50m long and 10 lanes.
• Mediterranean pool with a water surface of 800 m².
• Non-swimmer pool with a size of 115 m².
• Water play garden with two pools and 34 degrees
• Hot tub with 36 degrees and a size of 40 m².

Slide:

• Black Hole with a length of 100m completely darkened.
• Rafting Slide, a tire slide, 130m long.

Flow channel and diving tower:

• Current channel with 110m length in the outdoor area and 30 degree water temperature
• Diving tower with 1-meter, 3-meter and 5-meter boards.

Sauna area:

12 saunas, including an outdoor earth fireplace sauna, on two levels and an outdoor area. It is possible to have a Finnish, Roman and Turkish style sauna. The sauna area also includes a “sanarium” as a circulatory-friendly sauna variant, a caldarium, a “flower steam bath” with around 95% humidity, a banya and a solionarium (ibid).

The Volkswagen Arena opened in 2002 and was named after the Volkswagen automobile company. The Volkswagen Arena has a capacity of 30,000, including 22,000 seats and 8,000 variable standing areas (Wikipedia). It is also located in the Allerpark and is the home ground of VfL Wolfsburg.

In the photo, the stadium is exceptionally illuminated in yellow and with the black sky this results in the club colors of BVB Dortmund :), but normally the stadium is illuminated in green/white, the club colors of VfL Wolfsburg.

The Eis Arena Wolfsburg is an ice rink in the Allerpark Wolfsburg, where the DEL club Grizzlys Wolfsburg and the teams of the parent club EHC Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg play their home games (Wikipedia).

The ice arena has a capacity of 4,500 spectators. The 4,500 seats are divided into around 3,000 seats, 300 of which are in the comfortable VIP area, and 1,500 standing rooms.

In addition, the hall is open to public ice skating and other events such as ice discos are also offered.

The Monkeyman high ropes course offers a special kind of adventure right in the heart of the city and directly on Lake Allersee. Here, five courses starting at four meters high and ending at 13 meters await their guests. You don’t have to be sporty to be a monkeyman, as the adventure is the main focus.

Fallersleben is a district in the south of Wolfsburg. Fallersleben’s town center has a well-preserved old town characterized by half-timbered houses.

August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, who composed the Deutschlandlied, is Fallersleben’s most famous son. The house where he was born, the Hoffmannshaus, is now run as a hotel-restaurant with a dining room and is owned by the city of Wolfsburg (Wikipedia).

Duke Franz of Braunschweig and Lüneburg had Fallersleben Castle built in the 16th century. The city of Wolfsburg now runs the Hoffmann von Fallersleben Museum, which illustrates the work and life of the writer and addresses the democratic movement in Germany during his time (ibid.).

Near the castle in the castle park is the Old Brauhaus (built in 1765), which has been a bar where beer has been brewed since the 1980s (ibid.).

The St. Michael’s Church shown in the illustration was built in 1805 by Christian Gottlob Langwagen (ibid.).

Tip: The city’s best ice cream parlor “S. Marco” is located in Fallersleben and also has enough seating outside.

At the southern end of the city center at the confluence of Amtstrasse and Langestrasse there is a triangular square called Ütschenpaul. The name is based on an earlier pond with frogs and toads, the Ütschen. In 1990, a water-spewing frog figure was placed on the square as a landmark (illustration; ibid.).

Vorsfelde is a district in the northeast of Wolfsburg. Its center is also a well-preserved old town characterized by half-timbered houses. Vorsfelde and Fallersleben are subcenters of the city center of Wolfsburg (Wikipedia).

Vorsfelde is located directly on the Drömling nature reserve. The Drömling is an approximately 340 km² large and sparsely populated lowland area (ibid.). Today the lowland with the Mittelland Canal and the Aller and Ohre rivers is a refuge for rare or endangered animal and plant species. It consists largely of nature and landscape protection areas.