World War II Bombs Found at Volkswagen Headquarters in Germany
car&bike Team
1 min read
Jul 10, 2016, 08:04 PM
Key Highlights
- Construction workers found the bombs during the plant's expansion work
- An evacuation of the Sandkamp district is possible
- Production at the facility will remain unaffected by the evacuation
Germany's participation in World War II is known to the world and a part of this bygone era continues to live in the country underneath all the settled dust. In this instance, remains of the bygone era managed to make it to the surface when construction workers at Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg found metal fragments, which turned out to be unexploded bombs from the second world war.
The bombs were found during an expansion work at the massive manufacturing facility and led to a thorough search for more explosives. It is also possible that all 700 residents of the Sandkamp district in Wolfsburg will be evacuated when removing the unexploded devices safely. The unexploded bombs were found last month at the VW plant and work continued until the end of last month in four areas, until they reached for a scheduled break in production, allowing experts to check the unexploded bombs.
Interestingly, Volkswagen's facility is no stranger to World War II bombs. The plant was commissioned in 1938 to build a people's car by Germany's then Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. While the car later became the Volkswagen Beetle, the plant was converted during the second world war to produce Jeep-style military vehicles in addition to aircraft supplies and repair warplanes. As a result, the factory was on the receiving end of air raids from the allies.
There have been many unexploded devices found at the factory over the years as the Wolfsburg site, which was repeatedly bombarded during the war. In fact, there are several places across Germany that still carry remains of the war concealed under the debris, but make it back to the surface at some point or the other. In terms of production delays, a Volkswagen representative suggested that production won't be affected by the possible evacuation.
The automaker usually does not run shifts on Sunday and plant operations have been phased down at present since workers departed for the three-week summer shutdown period on July 1. On its peak days, the Wolfsburg facility is capable of manufacturing up to 3800 cars per day of the Golf, Tiguan and Touran. The Wolfsburg plant employs about 60,000 people in a town with a population of 1,25,000. It is almost three times the size of the city of Monaco and builds about 8,15,000 cars per year.
The bombs were found during an expansion work at the massive manufacturing facility and led to a thorough search for more explosives. It is also possible that all 700 residents of the Sandkamp district in Wolfsburg will be evacuated when removing the unexploded devices safely. The unexploded bombs were found last month at the VW plant and work continued until the end of last month in four areas, until they reached for a scheduled break in production, allowing experts to check the unexploded bombs.
The Wolfsburg plant was commissioned in 1938 to build a people's car
There have been many unexploded devices found at the factory over the years as the Wolfsburg site, which was repeatedly bombarded during the war. In fact, there are several places across Germany that still carry remains of the war concealed under the debris, but make it back to the surface at some point or the other. In terms of production delays, a Volkswagen representative suggested that production won't be affected by the possible evacuation.
The automaker usually does not run shifts on Sunday and plant operations have been phased down at present since workers departed for the three-week summer shutdown period on July 1. On its peak days, the Wolfsburg facility is capable of manufacturing up to 3800 cars per day of the Golf, Tiguan and Touran. The Wolfsburg plant employs about 60,000 people in a town with a population of 1,25,000. It is almost three times the size of the city of Monaco and builds about 8,15,000 cars per year.
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