Ferdinand Porsche reached the rank of "SS-Oberführer". During the war, Porsche was further decorated with the SS-Ehrenring and awarded the War Merit Cross. As the war progressed his proposed solutions to new developments became more complex and Ferdinand Porsche gained a reputation in certain circles as a "mad scientist" especially with Albert Speer (mainly due to his new found affinity for "pointy" designs). A new city, "Stadt des KdF-Wagens" was founded near Fallersleben for the Volkswagen factory, but wartime production concentrated almost exclusively on the military Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen variants. Mass production of the car, which later became known as the Beetle,
503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion The 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion (; abbreviated: "s.Pz.Abt. 503") was a Nazi German heavy Panzer "Abteilung" (independent battalion-sized unit) equipped with Tiger I and Panzer III tanks. In 1944, it was re-equipped with the new Tiger II. The battalion saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II. As with other German heavy tank battalions, it was normally not assigned to a single corps, but shuffled around according to war circumstances. Later the battalion became part of the newly formed Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle as the Feldherrnhalle Heavy Tank Battalion. The unit was created