The Volkswagen Kübelwagen that was used during the Second World War by both the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS was a light military vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche. It was heavily based on the Volkswagen Beetle, which was to be “the people’s car.”
Kübelwagen is an abbreviation of the German “Kübelsitzwagen,” meaning “bucket-seat car.” All German light military vehicles that were without doors were fitted with bucket seats to prevent passengers from falling out.
Because the first VW test vehicles had no doors it was fitted with bucket seats, thus it was first named VW Kübelsitzwagen which was later shortened to Kübelwagen.
The Kübelwagen was for the Germans what the Jeep and GAZ-67 were for the Allies.
Northern-France, June 21st, 1944. Four German soldiers with their Kübelwagen. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
North Africa, Tobruk, August 1942. Soldiers in a Kübelwagen near a No Entry sign. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Germany, 16 October 1944. Generalfeldmarschall Model visits the headquarters of the 246 volksgrenadier division near Aachen. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Russia, 21 June 1943. A German soldier reads a book in a Kubelwagen. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Northern-France, 21 June 1944. Soldiers in a Kubelwagen look at a burning convoy. The soldier in the back seems to be on the lookout for allied airplanes. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
North-Africa, 1942. German soldiers drive their Kubelwagen through the desert. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
North Africa,1942. Leutnant Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert (left) and Feldwebel Maximilian Volke (right) stand next to the kübelwagen of Hans-Joachim Marseille, which he had named “Otto” – Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Yugoslavia, 1943. Soldiers march past a Kubelwagen during an anti-partisan operation. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Yugoslavia, 1943. Soldiers and a kubelwagen loaded on a ferry during an anti-partisan operation. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
North Africa, Tunisia, Sidi N’sir, February 1943. German Soldiers at a railway station in use as an aid station for wounded prisoners of war. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
North Africa, August 1942. German soldiers pass an improvised road sign. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Yugoslavia, September 1943. A Kubelwagen in a convoy, the vehicle behind the Kubelwagen is s Raupenschlepper Ost (RSO) with a trailer – Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Russia, 1943. A Luftwaffe propaganda unit in a Kubelwagen. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Balkans (probably), 1941. Waffen SS troops with a 5cm PAK 38 anti-tank gun accompanied by an MG-34 machine gun on a street. Note the swastika on the Kübelwagens spare tire. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
Russia, 22 December 1943. A Mark VI Tiger tank with its tracks blown off in the snow, parked behind it a Kubelwagen. Bundesarchiv – CC-BY SA 3.0
North Africa, Tunisia, 1942. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Yugoslavia, September 1943. Motorized troops pose with a section of their vehicles. – By Bundesarchiv- CC-BY SA 3.0
