Home to the headquarters of Volkswagen, Wolfsburg is a modern city on the banks of the River Aller in Lower Saxony. Its thriving auto industry has made it one of the richest cities in Germany, with the modern architecture of the Autostadt juxtaposed against the traditional framework buildings of Alt Wolfsburg.
Things to do in Wolfsburg
Adjacent to the Volkswagen factory is the Autostadt, which is all about “people, cars and what moves them”. Begin your visit at the ZeitHaus where you’ll find around 250 vehicles of various makes, including a Ford Model T and an early Volkswagen Beetle. Get behind the wheel on the safety training course and learn about the role of sustainability in the future of automobile manufacturing in the Level Green exhibits.
Occupying a futuristic building designed by Zaha Hadid is the Phæno Science Center, which is packed with interactive and hands-on exhibits. Its main exhibition level is supported by huge columns and raised eight metres above the ground to create an atmospheric covered plaza. The museum’s experimental stations explore everything from the forces behind tornadoes to the geology of geysers.
Art enthusiasts shouldn’t miss a visit to the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, which showcases an impressive collection of modern and contemporary artwork. Since it opened its doors in 1994, it has presented more than 130 temporary exhibitions, including large-scale retrospectives featuring the work of Fernand Leger and Bart van der Leck. Also represented in the collection are works by Olafur Eliasson, Anselm Keifer and Christian Boltanski.
Getting around Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg is around an hour’s drive from Hanover and 2.5 hours from Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which has flights to destinations across the globe. Regular trains connect to the Wolfsburg railway station and buses travel throughout the city. Most of Wolfsburg’s attractions can be accessed on foot.