Good to Know

On May 26, 1938, Adolf Hitler laid the foundation stone for a Volkswagen factory originally intended to produce the KdF-Wagen (Kraft durch Freude — "Strength through Joy"). The city of Wolfsburg was founded for this purpose and initially named "City of the Strength-through-Joy Car near Fallersleben." The later VW Beetle found a home, and Wolfsburg — as the city was only called after the war — was stamped as a propaganda product of the Nazi regime.

The founding stories of the city and the club are well known. What few people know: VfL Wolfsburg nearly dissolved just three months after its founding. In December 1945, practically the entire first football team split from the VfL to independently found 1. FC Wolfsburg. Coach Josef Meyer was not amused — he had to rebuild a squad from scratch.

Also little known outside the city: Wolfsburg did enter the 2. Bundesliga as a founding member in 1974. But in their debut year they went straight back down. A further promotion and relegation followed before the Wolves disappeared from professional football entirely for 15 years in 1977. Only in 1992 did they return to the 2. Bundesliga under coach Uwe Erkenbrecher.

What is often overlooked: VfL Wolfsburg's women's team are considerably more successful than the men. The 2012/13 season was their finest. Having finished second the previous year, the Wolves women entered the Champions League for the first time and wrote history. In their final home match against Bad Neuenahr, Ralf Kellermann's side first clinched the German championship with ease, then won the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League — a historic treble.