Arrivare / Wolfsburg: Pictures of a Young City

Heinrich Heidersberger

In early 1962, when Heinrich Heidersberger (1906 – 2006) had just taken up residence in ‘Volkswagen City’, the first Italian workers arrived in Wolfsburg. At the time Heidersberger was at work on the book project Wolfsburg – Bilder einer jungen Stadt (Pictures of a Young City). From his fresh perspective he was asked to create a portrait of the city for its 25th birthday. In a sequence of contemplative and narrative photographs, Heidersberger succeeded in capturing a sensitive, self-assured city in the economic boom years. The theme of the Italian ‘guest workers’ received only marginal attention in the 1963 book. Heidersberger took it up later and showed details of the day-to-day lives of Wolfsburg’s newest inhabitants. Today many third-generation Italians live in Wolfsburg, and have become an integral part of the city. In the exhibition, they and other Wolfsburgers speak in interviews, and offer insights into the life of the former model city.