Legend has it that tanks – the Germans call them  Panzer – were introduced during World War I as Britain’s armoured vehicles, now known as tanks. At that time, they were also called landships or water tanks to conceal their true nature from the enemy, the Germans. The name tank stuck.

As a little sideshow to care, Germany’s Volkswagen (VW) did not produce Panzer for Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht. That was done by Henschel, Krupp, Daimler-Benz and Porsche. Yet Volkswagen produced 50,000 off-road cars called Kübelwagen for Hitler’s Wehrmacht – the army. In other words, supporting German militarism is not new for Volkswagen.

Today, Volkswagen’s Zukunftswerk Osnabrück should produce for public transport instead of tanks. Workers at Volkswagen advocate for a civilian future at VW’s Osnabrück location. Today, about 2,300 workers manufacture cars at VW’s Osnabrück plant.

Yet production is only secure until 2027. What comes after that is still open, as management decides – not the works council, workers, and their trade union, IG Metall. Currently, there is talk about using the plant for the production of armaments after 2027. Worse, militaristic superstar Rheinmetall is apparently interested in a factory takeover. Today, Rheinmetall is Germany’s largest arms maker and at the centre of what Eisenhower once called the “military-industrial complex”. The Nazis renamed Rheinmetall into Reichswerke Hermann Göring. Of course, Rheinmetall operated a Gestapo-run on-site concentration camp with workers deemed delinquent by the Nazis.

With or without a planned takeover by weapons maker Rheinmetall, VW Osnabrück is representative of two current trends: firstly, many workers in Germany’s automotive industry are struggling and worried about their jobs. Secondly, Germany is – once again – increasing its military production.

Recently, an environmental group called Robin Wood protested against the militarisation of Volkswagen when activists climbed the plant, demanding public transport instead of tanks – jobs not built on war! Robin Wood is committed to preserving the Osnabrück location and using it for a socio-ecological mobility transition rather than making killing machines.

Meanwhile, VW’s powerful works council is open to armaments at the Osnabrück plant. As Rheinmetall appears not to be too keen, the Dutch armaments group KNDS is showing interest. This has not yet been officially confirmed. However, VW’s corporate bosses have been in talks for some time about a re-entry into arms production – perhaps continuing the legacy of the Kübelwagen.

KNDS might rent parts of the plant to produce transport tanks, as Rheinmetall has seemingly ruled out a takeover of the Osnabrück plant. There was also discussion about producing six-wheeled armoured vehicles, but no additional capacity is currently needed.

Perhaps continuing the historic Porsche-Hitler connection, today’s Porsche-Piëch clan toys with Germany’s arms industry. Volkswagen’s management is considering building military vehicles at the Osnabrück plant in the future.

Meanwhile, recently re-elected works council boss Daniela Cavallo sees this as an option to secure the plant. Military sources expect handsome profits for what in Germany is known as the Porsche-Piëch clan. Perhaps even a return to the good old days of Nazi war production – this time, perhaps, without slave labour. Evil heretics might even claim that the chauvinistic spirit of Nazi militarism seems to live on.

Historically, VW has an inglorious but very long tradition in military production. Originally, Volkswagen was created for the Nazi ideology of the völkische Betriebsgemeinschaft – a kind of mini-Volksgemeinschaft inside a company. VW actively assisted armaments production and war preparations. Since then, the name Volkswagen has been inextricably linked to Porsche.

The war criminal and SS-Oberführer Ferdinand Porsche and his son-in-law Anton Piëch – also a member of the Nazi Party – were responsible for the murderous exploitation of tens of thousands of prisoners of war and concentration camp labourers.

Post-Nazism, and in response to the horrors of corporate concentration camps, Germany’s new constitution included Articles 14 and 15 to limit the power of corporations. It enshrined co-determination – especially through the VW Law.

Today, both Volkswagen and IG Metall are committed to Germany’s liberal democratic order, safeguarding its social and democratic constitution. This demands further democratisation of the economy, state, and society – for peace, disarmament, international understanding, and environmental protection to ensure humanity’s survival.

Originally, the democratisation of Germany’s post-Nazi economy was designed to eliminate neo-fascist, militaristic, and reactionary elements.

Yet, in August 2025, a spokesperson for VW’s works council made clear that entering weapons production was not an option from the workers’ perspective, citing not only strategic and technological reasons but also ethical ones, given Volkswagen’s company history – meaning its extensive Nazi past. SS-Oberführer Porsche would have been proud.

Today, car factories are being closed by the Porsche-Piëch clan – including in Dresden, Brussels, and Nanjing. Meanwhile, new investments are being sought in the arms industry – an industry well known to the clan.

During a recent works meeting at the Osnabrück plant on 5 March 2026, it became clear that the works council and trade union are not necessarily keen on producing armaments. But if jobs were secured, they would support such a move. VW’s works council expressly does not share pacifist criticism that VW should reject arms production. Securing jobs remains its priority.

Yet the rulebook of IG Metall obliges the union to work for peace, disarmament, and international understanding – which should mean not producing weapons. Still, Daniela Cavallo does not rule out entry into armaments production, arguing it could provide a future perspective for the plant. Armament is presented as an option. She also reiterated the now common view that Germany and Europe should become more independent in defence.

Cavallo argues that the world has changed significantly and that Europe must build a counterweight. She also pointed out that VW subsidiary MAN has long produced military trucks in a joint venture with Rheinmetall. Meanwhile, IG Metall Osnabrück – in coordination with its Frankfurt headquarters – is committed to preserving jobs while recognising its anti-militarist mandate.

Worse, IG Metall currently does not consider a shift to civilian production – such as buses or rail – to be realistic. In all this, it remains important to note that works councils have significant power over minor issues and little power over major ones. In short, they can decide when the company bus runs, but management decides whether a factory produces tanks (profitable) or school buses (less profitable).

Yet VW’s works council and IG Metall believe decisions must be made now, not in ten years. Therefore, negotiations should not be disrupted by what IGM defames as spectacular actions. In other words, they do not want anti-war protests interfering with plans to convert a car plant into a tank factory.

Worse still, IG Metall Osnabrück does not even envisage cooperation with civil society to explore alternatives. Tanks and military trucks appear to be a safer bet in Germany – then as now.

Yet Germany’s service workers’ union ver.di and the peak body DGB are discussing increased cooperation with civil society for a sustainable, socio-ecological future for the VW plant. Workers are distributing leaflets promoting the idea that unionism means social responsibility and developing secure civilian jobs.

As the Osnabrück writer Erich Maria Remarque wrote in his seminal masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front (1928):

I see how peoples are set against one another,

and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly,

obediently, innocently slay one another.

Not only Osnabrück and the recent Netflix film (2022), but also Remarque’s words may have influenced union advocacy – the “Zukunftswerk” – and its critical stance on armaments. Yet some voices within IG Metall call this position illusory, arguing the union cannot influence what is produced at the plant. This is not unfounded, as German works council law grants substantial powers over minor matters but extremely minor influence over very substantial issues like production. On the other hand, research conducted by Brown University shows that $1 million on:

  • military arms creates 6.9 jobs, compared to 
  • 10 in sustainable energy, 
  • 14.3 in health, and 
  • 19.2 in education – almost three times more.

Yet IG Metall claims the decision lies solely with Volkswagen – meaning profits (weapons) are likely to prevail over social needs. Critics argue this amounts to a capitulation of union responsibility.

In other words, pacifism must not be reinterpreted. Trade unions should not subordinate themselves to military and corporate interests. They must stand with workers – not with war profiteers. A peaceful, social, and ecological future for the VW plant remains possible, provided militarisation is rejected politically, industrially, and morally.

Meanwhile, a corporate VW press release suggested that unwise ideas – such as people having a say in production – had begun to spread.

This implies abandoning illusions. In the conflict between Volkswagen and union bureaucrats on one side, and anti-militarist forces like Robin Wood on the other, sustainable production is framed as unrealistic.

According to the works council, conversion to armaments production is actively being considered. Internally, it is not seen as a short-term experiment. VW management speaks of a solution for Osnabrück – a euphemism for military production. The project is branded Zukunftswerk Osnabrück – Future Works Osnabrück.

Plans may include producing the MV.1 (Military Vehicle) based on the Amarok and the MV.2 based on the Crafter. Both would carry the label D.E.S. Defence instead of the VW logo – a telling omission.

VW’s studies explore market opportunities – a typical example of managerial language. The MV.1 would be modular, capable of medical, drone, or ammunition logistics roles, with mine protection and mobile command functions.

Making machines to kill is not new for Germany. Nor for Volkswagen, which is already involved in military production through its Traton holding and MAN trucks. Demand for military equipment has risen sharply in Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Daniela Cavallo echoes the logic of Germany’s military-industrial complex, arguing for European defence independence. Activists counter that the plant could instead produce buses, municipal vehicles, or energy-transition components.

At Osnabrück’s Heger Gate war memorial, activists have pasted the words: Kriegstüchtig? – Ready for war? Not with us! The protest highlights the contradiction in a city historically linked to the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which ended the Thirty Years’ War.

And so, as Leo Tolstoy might say, the struggle over war and peace continues. Germany’s trade unions and Volkswagen are wedged between profits and principles, jobs and justice, industry and a 400-year-old tradition of peace.Email