How the Autobahn Works

On August 6, 1932, the first German automobile road was opened between Cologne and Bonn. The road was strictly for the use of cars and motorcycles, it had no cross streets and slower vehicles like horse-drawn carts were banned from using it.

While not an "autobahn" per se, it was the seed of what would become the nation's highway system.

By the late 1930s the Nazi Party began taking over the country's political system. Adolph Hitler rose to power, and his aggressive military campaigns needed a viable and established road system to move men and war material. From these circumstances the autobahn was born.

National Socialism arose during a time of economic hardship for Germans. Hiltler saw the potential of the roads to produce jobs and spur national growth and began an aggressive road building campaign under the Reichsautobahnen supervision. The roads were the first high-speed limited-access roads in the world at the time. These first sections were even used for Grand Prix race car testing at times.

Gas shortages during WWII resulted in a neglect of the roads, which were found to be too steep and winding for much military traffic. Further, German citizens simply could not afford the gas to drive the roads during the war years. By the end of the war many of the roads were neglected to the point of impassability. A reconstructed Germany began a campaign to restore the roads and add more miles. By the 1990s, following German unification, the road system had caught the imagination of the world and "autobahn" was synonymous for the speed and drivability we see today. And while the future of the roadway's unrestricted speed may be in question, it's doubtful the autobahn will be a thing of the past anytime soon.

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