VW Transporter factory in Hannover turns 60 today

[beetlepower]

On 8 March 1956, production began in Hanover for the legendary Bullis, as the VW bus was endearingly called. The Historical Museum of Hanover is organising a retrospective on the beginning of Transporter production with a special exhibit that runs from 9 March to 26 June 2016. Exceptionally beautiful vehicles from the factory’s own Bulli collection can be seen as well as video reports by eye witnesses to that time period, as well as in photographs and exhibits that depict the plant’s very interesting history. On three work days per week, Volkswagen apprentices will show visitors the latest production processes at interactive and presentation stations and offer information about their vocational fields.

Professor Thomas Schwark, Director of the Art History Museums of Hanover: “The exhibit shows living industrial history, which began when the Bulli came on-line and also shows the effects the plant had on the development of the state capital in the post-war time period. The Bulli is indispensable, especially in our historic museum, because it is an expression of the role and importance of the VW Transporter plant for Hanover and the entire state of Lower Saxony. We have brought together many exhibit items to create an interactive exhibit that is very fitting to the anniversary year “775 years of Hanover”.

Hanover’s mayor Stefan Schostok is also aware of the importance of Transporter production to Hanover: “60 years of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles – that stands for 60 years of secure jobs for Hanover and the region. It stands for 60 years of exciting automotive history, for an every growing group of fans for the VW Bulli and for employees who contributed with their dedication and continual readiness to come up with innovations for the models and production systems.

The VW Transporter has not only safeguarded the jobs of many thousands of people at the plant and in the region. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has also been an important partner of the city in coming up with transportation strategies for the future, which we wanted to develop together with them.

For Hanover and for VWN it was stroke of good fortune that the state capital won out over more than 230 other towns in the search for a production site six decades ago. This led to a success story which proved that plants in Germany could still be competitive in automotive production.”

“The VW bus is as much a part of Hanover as Leibniz cookies, the Pelikan fountain pen and Continental tyres,” stresses Dr. Eckhard Scholz, Chairman of the Management Board, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand. To date, around nine and one-half million vehicles of the T-Series have been produced in the state capital of Lower Saxony.

This not only includes a highly capable factory, but above all a workforce of very special people – the Bulli builders. “Our employees handle this challenging job with pride and passion. With a love for this special vehicle,” says Scholz. Transporter production in Hanover is characterised by tradition and expertise. And this is often passed on within families: “Bulli-building DNA has definitely been inherited in these families – and there are several at the plant. In one case, a great grandfather helped to build the factory, and his great grandson is currently training to be a mechatronics specialist,” says the Chairman of the Management Board.

Production of the vehicle that would become the “workhorse of the economic wonder” began in 1950 in Wolfsburg. When the hundred thousandth Bulli came off the assembly line in 1954, it was clear that the Transporter needed its own dedicated plant. Production capacity at the main Wolfsburg plant was no longer sufficient to cover demand. Alongside Beetle production, it was possible to manufacture 80 Bullis per day, but 330 were needed.

Prof. Heinrich Nordhoff, General Director of Volkswagenwerk GmbH, chose Hanover for the production site. Initial construction work began in mid-February 1955 – in the middle of an ice-cold and very snowy winter – at the north of the city, south of the Mittelland Canal and right next to the autobahn at Mecklenheidestraße in the city district of Stöcken.

Simultaneously Volkswagen was already training its new employees in Transporter manufacturing. An extra train was added to the train schedule, and these employees took the 4:10 am train from the main train station to Wolfsburg where they were instructed in production of the Bulli.

After just one year of construction time, the first Bullis came off the assembly line of the just built Transporter plant on 8 March 1956. Bertina Murkovic, Vice-Chairwoman of the Works Council of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: “The production launch of the T1 in Hanover-Stöcken was the start of a decades long success story that has lasted right up to today. In an extremely short period of time, a pioneering production site was created from scratch, and it would develop into one of the main pillars of the corporate group with the great commitment of many thousands of employees. What distinguishes this site are the experience and passion of its employees who believe in their plant, because they have secure jobs here and can shape their own future.”

Jobs at the new Volkswagen plant were highly coveted. They paid more than twice the typical wage in other jobs: an average hourly wage of 2.50 German Marks instead of 1.20 German Marks. In 1955, a kilogram of coffee cost around 10 DM – and a kilogram of bread just 68 pfennigs. In the 1950s, many people quit their secure jobs in order to build the Bulli at the new Transporter plant in Hanover. In general, courage, expertise, inventiveness and self-confidence were required – attributes that applied to each one of the Bulli builders.

Eyewitness accounts are presented in the exhibit. Heinz Hilbich and Gerd Mogwitz, who would both later serve consecutive terms as Chairman of the Works Council, organised the first strike of Hanover commuters to obtain reimbursement of half of employees’ travel costs from the company – and with success. Then there was Günter Noltemeyer, who – to the horror of his parents – gave up his secure job as a bank clerk to start at Volkswagen. The family told him: “To go to such a car plant, it would be much better to just forget about it.” And then there was Noltemeyer’s wife Hanni, whom he met at Volkswagen and to whom he has been happily married for 39 years. “In 1957, I earned 200 German Marks take-home pay, of which I paid 50 Marks in basic living expenses. That left me 150 Marks, and I took ten Marks of that money to buy a large can of Nivea Creme – a luxury wish fulfilled!” reports Hanni Noltemeyer.

At first, 4,000 employees worked at the Hanover plant in March 1956 – including 25 women. And they produced 230 Transporters per day. By the end of 1956, there were already 270 women employees on the team, and in 1959 1,044 women. An eyewitness account is given by Margot Krey who was hired in 1959 as a general labourer in engine manufacturing, was later voted trade union steward and finally served as the employee representative for women’s issues from 1964 to 1993. “I implemented maternity rooms at the Hanover plant in 1974 against much resistance. Back then it was a unique facility both at Volkswagen AG and in the Federal Republic!” Krey happily recounts today.

The Bulli developed into a successful model far beyond the domestic market. In 1962, the workforce celebrated production of the millionth VW Transporter, 'Made in Hanover'. After the T1, production of the successor model, the T2, began in 1967. In turn, it was followed in 1979 by the T3, by the T4 in 1990 and by the T5 in 2003. The sixth generation of the successful model has been coming off the production line in Hanover since 2015 and continues successful model line. Today, the production site is the largest industrial employer with 14,500 jobs, and it is the largest training operation in the Hanover region with 750 apprentices.

Scholz stressed that the production site has every reason to be optimistic about the future. “The order books for the T6 are well filled,” he said and noted that in past years Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has specifically invested in new facilities such as the largest press shop in Europe and in “new assembly processes for the future” as well as in new technologies such as 3D printing and the future use of lightweight robots. “We have done everything we can to continue to build Transporters that are ‘Made in Hanover’ over the next 60 years,” said Scholz.

[fig]

I think you mean the Hannover VW factory turns 60 today.

The first VW Transporters were built in November 1949, with full production starting in Wolfsburg in January 1950.

[beetlepower]

Yes, sorry, I tried to edit title but my system is not playing the game

[Pine]

Thanks for posting, Reuben!

Always wondered if no-one is ever going to take a pic of their Bus next to a road sign to Hanover in SA?

Hanover, a small town in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, is named after Hanover in Germany. The town was established in 1854.



Much of the farming in the area is with Merino sheep.

Hanover claims to be the country's most central place. It is equidistant from Cape Town and Johannesburg, centrally positioned between Cape Town and Durban as well as Port Elizabeth and Upington and it is the hub of an arc formed by Richmond, Middelburg and Colesberg.

Historic figures were at the centre of life here, people like Olive Schreiner, author and women's rights champion, and the tempestuous Rev. Thomas Francois Burgers. Among its residents were the wealthy and eccentric. The town's chief constable was the grandson of Lord Charles Somerset, the magistrate's clerk a son of Charles John Vaughan, Dean of Llandaff, well-known churchman and devotional writer of his day, and the local doctor was the son of a former Solicitor-General of Jamaica.

Well-known people of today hailing from Hanover includes Zwelinzima Vavi, the General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

The country's first observatory once stood proud at the top of Trappieskop, but it has been moved and is now part of the observatory at Sutherland.

Today the busy Karoo N 1 route cuts through the veld between the town and its cemetery. But during the last century all roads converged in Hanover and all travellers passed through the town. It was on an important stop for stage coaches carrying passengers to the Diamond Fields, and the Free State mail was carried through by post cart. Daily life bubbled with people ever on the move. But then in 1884, the advent of the railway deprived the town of much of its through traffic and its character slowly changed.

Early history

Farmers moved gradually northwards and settled in this area in the 18th century. One of the early farms was Petrusvallei which in time became Hanover. The farm was originally granted to W. L. Pretorius in November 1841, but things did not go all that well with him and by February the following year he sold to Jan J. Smook. Frederick von Malditz later acquired the property and later still Petrus J. Botha, who sold it to Gert Johannes Wilhelm Gouws, the grandson of Sterren Gauche, a German who had come to Africa in search of his fortune. Petrusvallei was part of an outlying district of Graaff-Reinet and simply known as Bo-Zeekoeirivier (Upper Hippopotamus River). Farmers had to undertake long and arduous journeys to Graaff-Reinet for church, communion or nagmaal services, marriages and baptisms. But in time they felt the need for a religious, administrative and educational centre of their own, so they petitioned the Government for a town.

On 17 July 1854, a six-man committee bought the farm for the sum of 33 333 Rixdollars. Their intention was to start a settlement and church farm. Gouws was retained as manager and J. J. Swart was in charge of finances. Survey work started almost immediately, and early in 1856 forty plots were sold. Soon a town mushroomed at the foot of a cluster of hills near a strong natural spring called The Fountain. It delivered over 200,000 litres of fresh water a day, and still does. By 13 October 1856, the affairs of this fledgling town were placed in the hands of a church council. At Gous's request it was agreed to name the village Hanover as his grandfather had come from that city in Germany.

A municipality was established and P. Watermeyer elected mayor. He also served the town as Member of Parliament until 1888. District boundaries were firmly established by January 1859, the same year the first church, a typical tiny cruciform thatched-roofed building, was completed.

When the first erven were sold, prospective residents were instructed to build directly on and parallel to the edge of the road with gardens at the back. In later years when verandahs came into fashion, these structures were allowed to encroach on the pavement. For this privilege home-owners paid a special tax of one shilling a year. They still pay for the privilege, but in 1994 the fee was raised to R10. The irrigation furrows, or leivoortjies, were built from The Fountain to take water to village vegetable gardens. The system started working in 1870, and has never changed, water flowing in the furrows day and night. All the original plots still get two irrigation turns a week, strictly according to the distribution chart drawn up in 1870.

Hanover was declared a magisterial district on 13 November 1876, and Charles Richard Beere was appointed magistrate. A man of foresight, Beere insisted residents plant trees so their descendants would have shade. With the help of prisoners he built an easy-to-climb, stepped foot path to the summit of the hill now called Trappieskop. Beere wanted visitors to share the superb views from its summit. He loved the Karoo and could often be found on the summit of Trappieskop watching the sun rise or set. When he died in 1881, a stone pyramid was erected on its summit to his memory and to honour his contribution to the development of the town.

Hanover grew rapidly. By 1881 a jail was built, but a courthouse only came in 1897. The town had a post and telegraph office, a bank, several general dealers, a hotel and a school. Its list of tradesmen included a mason, a farrier and groom, painter, miller, dam builder, brick maker, scab inspector, carpenter, wagon maker, butcher, a post rider and carriers to the railway station 18 km away. The original farmstead is today a national monument. It houses a small cultural history museum, and on display are old bottles, clothes, glassware, kitchen utensils and implements. There is also an intriguing model of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Boer War executions

In the cemetery on the outskirts of town a pyramid of stone marks the grave of three young men executed during the Anglo-Boer War. The people of Hanover were deeply touched by this event. A train had been derailed and plundered at Taaibosch, 20 km from town. Shortly afterwards several young men sleeping in the outside rooms of a nearby farm were taken into custody. They were charged with ‘maliciously assisting Boer forces,’ robbery and the deaths of passengers. Tried on somewhat dubious authority by a military court at De Aar, three, Sarel Nienaber, J. P. Nienaber and J. A. Nieuwoudt, were shot. They protested their innocence to the end.

In H. J. C. Pieterse's book on General Wynand Malan's Boer War experiences, the general states that his commando was responsible for the derailment. The general says the young men were not involved at all. The British, in fact, had sent them to the farm to collect fodder for horses. After the war General Malan joined Olive and Cron Schreiner in a lengthy campaign to have the names of the three cleared. The pyramid of stone over their grave bears this inscription: ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord’.