Reichsautobahn
The Reichsautobahn was the limited-access highway network built in Nazi Germany, whose first section, between Frankfurt am Main and Darmstadt, opened on May 19, 1935, after ground was broken in September 1933.
What happened and why it matters
The Reichsautobahn was the first national network of limited-access, high-speed roads, and its design features, such as divided carriageways and interchanges instead of crossroads, shaped the motorways freight trucks use today. The first section ran about 22 km between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. The Nazi regime used the program heavily for propaganda and falsely presented it as Germany's first autobahn, although the Cologne to Bonn road had opened in 1932. Highway networks made long-distance trucking competitive with rail, and the US Interstate system that followed decades later is the backbone of today's truckload and LTL networks.
People
Related events
Laws and regulations
Sources
- Reichsautobahn en.wikipedia.org
- Autobahn britannica.com