Press release 10.12.2021

In the mid-1960s, the topos of Wolfsburg as a "city without history" was widespread. Whether in print, radio or television reports, official speeches or interviews with citizens - the lack of tradition of the young Volkswagen city was emphasized everywhere. This seeming lack of history and tradition of the municipality, for which its founding as a model National Socialist city was willingly ignored, made the Wolfsburg of the economic miracle era into a sheet of paper that was repeatedly erased, on which, although often described with the usual discourses of Federal Republican self-assurance, hardly any interpretation and interpretation caught on permanently. The "city of movement" and "city of Nazis", as Wolfsburg was still referred to after the DRP election of 1948, which was perceived as scandalous throughout Germany, quickly became an "industrial city in the countryside", a "city of youth" and of progress, in which a classless society had become a reality.

The fact that Wolfsburg gradually became the social laboratory of the "Federal Republic" in this way is also due to a special feature of the city's history, as Wolfsburg actually occupied a special position in the democratic reconstruction after the Nazi dictatorship: The "City of the KdF-Wagen near Fallersleben", founded in 1938, was the only city in what would later become the Federal Republic to have no democratic structures to fall back on. The democratic new beginning in Wolfsburg was a literal one. The "long learning of democracy" had to take place in that city, which was often apostrophized as "young", with almost no prior knowledge. But how did the transformation from a model Nazi city to a functioning democratic municipality succeed?

In his book, Alexander Kraus therefore examines the societal, social and cultural conditions that made this transformation possible, the mechanisms at work beneath the surface and the many conflicts that accompanied it. Last but not least, he examines the actors and their cultural appropriation processes that were so central to Wolfsburg's path to democracy. The study does not focus on the most visible indicator of the functioning of a democracy - the free and independent elections held at regular intervals. Rather, democracy is traced as a way of life at the municipal level and Wolfsburg is analyzed as a democratic laboratory. The focus is therefore not on the municipal institutions of the form of government and their actions, but on democratic practice and thus the internalization of the new order, which is difficult to grasp.

On the basis of thirteen studies of urban history, patterns of municipal political action are described, as are the most diverse forms of civic co-responsibility, social participation and the will to shape the community, in which "traditions, conventions and classical role attributions" were broken up and questioned. To this end, events, urban manifestations, media products and the actions of a wide range of actors are examined as expressions and results of democratic ways of life. What all the case studies have in common is that they reveal the most diverse attempts to adapt and internalize democracy as a way of life, regardless of the degree to which they achieve this. It is always about practices of internalizing democracy.

Alexander Kraus, City without history? Wolfsburg as a democratic laboratory of the economic miracle era. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2021; 512 p., 103 illustrations. Retail price: 29.90 euros. The book can be purchased from bookshops.
Telephone: 05361 275741 / e-mail: alexander.kraus@stadt.wolfsburg.de

Press release 09.06.2020

The baroque garden of Wolfsburg Castle

Time and again, it casts its spell over the people of Wolfsburg and their guests from near and far: the baroque garden on the north side of Wolfsburg Castle with its pretty stone pavilion at the front. Whether as a place for concerts and events, a resting place after a strenuous walk, or as a backdrop for a wedding photo, the Baroque Garden is a special place for many Wolfsburg residents.

Of course, in its almost four hundred year history, it has not always looked as it does today. Its current appearance can be traced back to the restoration work of the 1960s and the renovation in 1999 and 2000. Thus, many stylistic elements and furnishings, such as the putti or the wrought-iron gate at the entrance to the garden, date from the time of the restoration. Other fixtures are older. The tea pavilion, for example, was built in 1912.

In its present appearance, however, the Baroque garden bears little resemblance to its original architecture. Although the garden never looked as it does today, it nevertheless provides a glimpse of baroque ideas of a successful garden composition, which still exerts its charm on people of our days.

On the genesis:

The first beginnings of the Wolfsburg Baroque garden are obscure. What is certain, however, is that in 1679 Hans Daniel von Bartensleben had a "pleasure garden," or ornamental garden, built on the north side of the castle. Even then there was a garden house.

In the first quarter of the 18th century, Johann Martin Anhalt drew plans to redesign the garden. He extended the garden in all four directions. The walkable central axis plays a central role in the architecture of the park. A two-story pavilion made of half-timbering is also erected. In its symmetrical design, the park corresponds to the Baroque garden ideal.

Under the Counts von der Schulenburg, the family owning the castle since 1742, the design of the park on the eastern side of the castle became more and more important from the end of the 18th century. The baroque garden loses its importance.

In 1910, a tornado destroys the Baroque pavilion and almost the entire stock of trees and shrubs in this area. Soon after, Countess Frieda von der Schulenburg arranges for a complete redesign of the garden: the former baroque garden is laid out as a geometric hedge garden. The Fallersleben architect Hillendahl is commissioned with the construction of a new garden house. The pavilion, as it can still be visited today, is built.

In 1942, the Counts of Schulenburg leave the family estate. On January 1, 1943, the young "City of the KdF Car near Fallersleben" acquires the castle with the former baroque garden. In the turmoil of the Second World War, the garden becomes visibly overgrown.

But already at the end of 1945 it awakes to new life. A resourceful businessman builds a café. The pavilion receives an extension to the north, which is used as a kitchen. The attic is converted and a window is added. The "Schlosscafé" thus created exists until 1956.

As part of the renovation work on Wolfsburg Castle by the city, which begins in the early 1960s, the original condition of a "baroque garden" is restored.