History of the Volkswagen Beetle
is directly linked to the recession that plagued Germany in the 1930's and the
Rise of Nazism
Hitler stole idea for iconic Volkswagen Beetle
Ferdinand Porsche (far left) and Adolf Hitler examine a prototype model that will evolve into the Volkswagen Beettle
On May 26th,1938,some 70,000 people came to see Adolf Hitler launch the Kdf-Wagen
Ferdinand Porsche was Adolf Hitler favorite engineer,who designed tanks for the Nazis during World War II and used force labor in his manufacturing faculties.
None of this was a secret
Ferdinand Porsche and Adolf Hitler
Historical pictures identify precisely the relationship with the Third Reich and their influence in the VW Beetle
"German Labor Front" Forcing the German the German workers to join and pay union dues ten % of the quota was allocated to another one of Hitlers projects,a movement named "Strength through Joy" or "Kraft durch Freude",hence the letters for the name of the early name KDF. A sport and recreation program that Hitler determined would fall under the category "Recreation",therefore the funds collected under this program were destined to financing an automotive manufacturing plant.
Another pet project was an idea of a prepayment plan that allowed German workers to register for the purchase of a "Volkswagen" 5 DM per week their slogan "save five marks a week,if you want to drive your own car" the funds would go to a special fund towards the purchase of a vehicle,by the time the plant was built and the car manufactured,the participant would have paid off his car.As a special bonus for participating in this program,the recipient would also receive free insurance,plus free petrol and maintenance for a period of two years
True facts were that none of the German worker that had signed up for this program actually received a vehicle and also over 350,000 workers contributed the equivalent of 67 million Us dollars.This fund was never touched and remained intact to the very last day of the war,when it is said that the money was looted by the Russian Army.
Controversy over the design Volkswagen Beetle
In 1933 Porsche designed a vehicle for the firm NSU type 32.The KDF wagen was so close in design,name, and concept to the Tatra V570,and shared so many mechanical concepts,that Tatra sued Porsche for violation and infringement of patent policy.
The legal claim would have to wait to the end of the second world war when German courts would sustain Tatra's claim and ordered Volkswagen to compensate Tatra a multi-million dollar settlement.
