The Transparent Factory is a car factory and exhibition space in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Germany owned by German carmaker

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

and designed by architect Gunter Henn. It originally opened in 2002, producing the Volkswagen Phaeton until 2016. As of 2017 it produced the electric version of the

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, and since 2021 it has built ID3s.

Meaning

The original German name is Gläserne Manufaktur (meaning factory made of glass). Both the German and English names are a

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, ph ...

on the double meaning of ''transparent'' and ''glassy'', referring to both optical transparency and transparency of the production process.

Car factory

The factory originally assembled Volkswagen's luxury sedan, the Phaeton. It used 60,000 magnets in its fully automated assembly line. Spare capacity was also used to build Bentley Continental Flying Spur vehicles destined for the European market until 2006, when all work was transferred to

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

's plant in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Production of the Bentley Flying Spur resumed in late 2013. The factory only handled final assembly. Operations such as stamping and welding and the painting of the steel bodies took place in

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

. Painted bodies arrived at the factory by truck. The other 1200 parts and 34 preassembled components were shipped to a logistics center and are transported to the factory by CarGoTrams that run on Dresden's public transport tracks. All vehicle production at the factory ended in March 2016, before restarting again in 2017. The Volkswagen ID.3 is produced here since 2021, sharing production with the Zwickau-Mosel Plant.

Location

The Transparent Factory is situated in the city center of Dresden, an 800-year-old

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

city known for its arts and craftsmanship. It stands in a corner of the Großer Garten, where a convention center was located before the Second World War. The factory's walls are made almost completely of glass. Its floors are covered entirely in Canadian maple. Its visitor-friendly layout was designed to accommodate up to 250 tourists per day. There are no smokestacks, no loud noises, and no toxic byproducts. Volkswagen planted 350 trees on the grounds.

Current visitor experience

Visitors can test drive VW electric vehicles for 30 minutes, take a virtual tour of Dresden and look at various exhibits relating to VW's electric and hybrid technologies.

Previous visitor experience

The ''Gläserne Manufaktur'' also provided visitors with a series of educational attractions relating to the VW Phaeton. The attractions, designed by BRC Imagination Arts, include Vision World, a multimedia "global theater" that allows visitors to take the pulse of the planet in real time; a Virtual Test drive, featuring a real VW Phaeton combined with motion base technology and computer-generated scenery; a computer-based Car Configurator that enables visitors to design the VW Phaeton of their dreams; an interactive Techwall explaining the workings of the Phaeton's infotainment system; a Virtual Production Tour; and a media-enhanced Delivery Experience for customers taking possession of new vehicles. The German TV channel

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

occasionally filmed a philosophical panel discussion in the Transparent Factory, '' Das Philosophische Quartett'' (The Philosophical Quartet). To stop birds from flying into the glass, an outdoor speaker system emulates bird vocalisations marking the territory as "taken".

Future

The factory is to be renovated to enable it to produce luxury and electric cars.

Gallery

File:VW-Cargotram-Dresden.jpg, CarGoTram delivers parts to the Transparent Factory File:CarGoTram in Dresden - Pirnaischer Platz Dresden.jpg, CarGoTram in Dresden - Pirnaischer Platz Dresden - Delivering parts to the Transparent Factory in 2017 File:Glass manufacture vw phaeton dresden3.jpg, Car tower at the Volkswagen Transparent Factory in Dresden File:Grosser Garten Dresden Karte 2008 05 02.svg, location of the Transparent Factory in the '' Großer Garten'' park File:Dresden-Glaeserner-Manu-nig.jpg, Front entrance of the Volkswagen Transparent Factory in Dresden File:Glaserne Manufaktur.jpg, Volkswagen Transparent Factory in Dresden

References

External links

Gläserne ManufakturPhoto tourMegaworld
{{Authority control Volkswagen Group factories Buildings and structures in Dresden Motor vehicle assembly plants in Germany Tourist attractions in Dresden