65 years old, but far from retired: The legendary VW Bus, affectionately called the Bulli by fans, has been produced at the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWN) plant in Hanover-Stöcken since March 8, 1956. Since then, more than 9 million Bullis have been built at the plant. Production at the plant is currently being extensively modernized and converted. With the launch of the new Multivan this year and the ID. BUZZ (2022), vehicles with conventional drive systems, plug-in hybrids and fully electric drive systems will be built in Hanover for the first time.
A look back: The Bulli becomes a symbol of the economic miracle
Heinz Rühmann plays "Charley's Aunt" in the cinemas, Elvis Presley's hit "Love me tender" plays from small transistor radios. And the Germans discover their love of the automobile: the so-called economic miracle has arrived. The Volkswagen Beetle is the best-selling car of 1955, breaking the million mark in the course of the year. The Bulli is also in great demand. Production capacity at the main plant in Wolfsburg, where the Bulli has been built since 1950, is nowhere near enough to meet demand. Bread, beer and meatballs have to reach the consumer. Consumer goods such as televisions and refrigerators also need to be delivered to customers as quickly and safely as possible. Business people and tradesmen need the indestructible Bulli for this.
Over 235 towns and municipalities apply to become the new location for the planned Transporter plant. Heinrich Nordhoff, General Director of Volkswagenwerk GmbH and later Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagenwerk AG, wins over the Supervisory Board in favor of his preferred location in Hanover. The main advantages are the immediate proximity to the Mittelland Canal and an existing marshalling yard. But Nordhoff already recognized at that time: "The value of a company is not made up of buildings and machines or its bank accounts. Only the people who work for a company and the spirit in which they do it are valuable."
Initially, 372 employees begin construction in a snowy winter. By the end of March 1955, 1,000 workers are already employed on the construction site. The muddy ground, now softened by the onset of the thaw, has to be secured with plank paths so that trucks can deliver building materials. A small, provisional town is growing up on the site itself - with construction offices, supply and accommodation barracks and canteen tents. Enterprising traders with stalls also quickly set up shop here.
After just 12 weeks, the walls are already over four meters high. 28 cranes are in constant use and 22 large mixing machines are churning out 5,000 cubic meters of concrete every day. A total of 1,750,000 cubic meters of earth are moved - as much as 256,000 truckloads at the time.
From May 1955, around 2,000 workers are employed daily on the huge construction site. 600,000 square meters of formwork timber are used to pour the concrete. For comparison: "You could have built a one-meter-wide wooden footbridge from Wolfsburg to Basel with that," wrote a journalist at the time.
At the same time, Volkswagen is already training new employees for Transporter production. Every day at 4.10 a.m., a special train takes them from the main station to Wolfsburg, where they are instructed in the production of the Bulli. 3,000 employees are to guarantee a smooth start to production. The body shop is set up in just a few weeks, and in February 1956 the multi-track, ten-kilometer-long rail link to the plant is also completed.
On March 8, 1956, series production of a future symbol of the "economic miracle years" starts in Hanover-Stöcken with 4,000 employees. By 1967, the end of production of the first Transporter generation, 1.8 million Bulli had rolled off the production line in Germany.
To date, more than 10 million vehicles have been produced at the VWN plant in Hanover Stöcken. The T6.1 is currently being built at the plant, and production of the new Multivan (with conventional drive and as a plug-in hybrid) will start this year. Next year, the first all-electric vehicle from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will be mass-produced in Hanover: The ID. BUZZ. The story of the Bulli from Hanover continues.
Unique
Carsten Intra, Chairman of the Brand Board of Management at VWN: "We can look back with pride on what we have achieved here in Hanover. The history of the plant is as unique as the Bulli itself - and like the people who have built millions of these vehicles here. At the same time, we are looking to the future at the site: with the launch of the new Multivan this year and the ID. BUZZ from 2022, we are completing our modern and attractive range of vans, vans and leisure vehicles for a broad customer base. The right one for everyone." In addition, premium e-vehicles (D-SUV) for other Group brands will be produced in Hanover from 2024. "The plant thus exemplifies the transformation of the entire brand. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and the Group recently underlined this with the investment of €680 million for the production of the D-SUV."
Bertina Murkovic, Chairwoman of the VWN Works Council: "When we celebrated the 60th anniversary of our plant five years ago, the conditions were truly different: the family party and the Bulli exhibition in the historical museum were great events to say thank you. Thank you to our van builders in Hanover, who breathe life into our products. The van, the Bulli, has made us great as a brand. Precisely because we have diversity in our genes: Products for almost every commercial use on the one hand and every leisure activity on the other. And it is precisely this diversity that is our future: the T6.1, the new Multivan and soon the ID. BUZZ. This is the foundation of our brand and our location and we can be proud of it, Hanover can be proud of it."
Josef Baumert, VWN Board Member for Production and Logistics: "We are fundamentally modernizing the plant for our new products - and we are doing this at full speed without interrupting ongoing production. The body shop for the new Multivan is already up and running, for the ID. BUZZ, it is currently under construction and over 1,300 robots will be used here in the future. From 2022, three vehicles will run on just two production lines in our assembly line, each based on a different platform. We have thus created the basis for a successful future in Hanover." The T7 will be the first vehicle based on the modular transverse matrix (MQB) to be produced in Hanover, the ID. BUZZ is based on the MEB (Modular Electric Drive Toolkit).
In a video message to the workforce, Plant Manager Thomas Hahlbohm looks back on more than six decades and looks ahead to the tasks of the coming years: "Let's take on the challenges. Just as we have always done at VWN in Hanover. For the future of our location and the future of our Bulli. The plant is 65 years old today - but it is far from retiring."
Facts and figures and the Hanover plant
- Plant site: 1.1 million square meters (approx. 152 soccer pitches)
- Number of employees at the site in 2020: 14,800 (incl. Volkswagen Group Components)
- Number of vehicles built:
1956-2021: VW Bus T1 to T6.1: 9,228,000 units
1974-1975: VW Beetle and Type 181: 43,000 units
1975-2003: VW LT 1 and LT 2: 810,200 units
2017-2020: VW e-Crafter: 1,500 units
1989-1995: VW Taro: 61,000 units
2012-2020: VW Amarok: 176,500 units - Number of bicycles on the factory premises: 3,000
