The Saturday briefing

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

- by CAROLINE FORD

Is there anything you’re yearning to know? Send your questions, on any subject, to the contacts given below, and we will do our best to answer them...

I was astonished when a friend told me recently that the Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Adolf Hitler. Is this really true?

Elaine Bedford, via email

Seen as a symbol of freedom and individuality in the 1960s and 70s, the Volkswagen Beetle’s iconic shape, affordability and reliability made it a global success.

It cemented its place in popular culture with arguably the most famous VW Beetle — Herbie, which featured in The Love Bug films.

A bestseller up until the late 1990s — the Beetle wasn’t always so beloved. The British initially thought it was noisy and hideous and the Americans were hesitant to support anything even remotely connected to Hitler or the Nazis.

However, the car wasn’t truly invented by the Nazis, in the sense that they didn’t design or build it, but it was a collaboration between Adolf Hitler and automobile engineer Ferdinand Porsche.

At a meeting in May 1934, at the Kaiserhof Hotel in Berlin, Hitler outlined his demands for a “People’s Car” (Volkswagen), one that German families could afford.

Porsche was tasked with coming up with a car under the motto “Strength through pleasure”.