The a1: information on one of germany’s longest highways

The A1: information on one of germany’s longest freeways

It connects the northeast with the southwest and is one of the most important traffic arteries in germany: the A1.

By lea sarah wolfram

17.12.2020, 12:33 pm

The A1 has many names on its way through germany: between heiligenhafen and hamburg, it’s called the "vogelflug line, from lubeck to the ruhr area "hansalinie" and between cologne and trier it is known as the "eifel highway known. Learn more about one of the most important freeways in germany.

• The full name is bundesautobahn 1 (BAB1), or autobahn 1 for short (A1).
• the A1 runs from the baltic sea to the saarland region.
• At 774 kilometers, the A1 is the third longest freeway in germany.
• However, only 748 kilometers of the A1 are in operation.
• Another 28 kilometers of the A1 are in the planning stage.
• Of all the autobahns in Germany, the A1 runs through most of the federal states.

The history of the A1: planning and construction before the second world war

the route planning on which the A1 was essentially based dates back to the times of the weimar republic. However, construction did not begin until 1943 in northeast germany by the national socialists, who built the first sections:

• Hamburg – Bremen
• Hamburg – Lubeck
• Ruhr area – cologne

The history of the A1: construction work in the post-war period

The section of the A1 around cologne was not completed until after the end of the second world war in the 1960s:

• Ruhr tangent dortmund-cologne
• southeast connection hamburg
• "Hansa line" bremen-dortmund
• cologne ring
• Eifel and saar route

The history of the A1: the 1970s to today

At 1. January 1975, the route was also given the number 1 in the course of a new, uniform numbering scheme. In the 1980s, the A1 was extended from cologne northward toward oldenburg and southward to saarbrucken. It was later extended from oldenburg to heiligenhafen.

• Oldenburg i. H.-lubeck
• "Eifel highway" cologne-blankenheim
• Wittlich-saarbrucken

The history of the A1: closing the gap in the eifel region

To date, there remains a gap on the A1 in the volcanic Eifel region, which has been in the process of being closed since 1990. This mainly concerns the section between daun and schweich. In the 1990s, the volcanic Eifel triangle was created near daun, and in July 1997, a four-kilometer-long new section was completed from there to the daun/mehren junction.

Since 2005, further extensions of the A1 have followed to rengen, gerolstein and kelberg. But closing the gap is not yet finished. Planning stalls due to environmental guidelines.

course of the A1 through germany: route through seven federal states

No other freeway in Germany passes through as many countries as the A1: on its way from the Baltic coast to the Saarland, the A1 crosses a total of 7 of the 16 federal states, from the northeast to the southwest of the republic.

• Schleswig-Holstein
• Hamburg
• Lower Saxony
• Bremen
• north rhine-Westphalia
• Rhineland-Palatinate
• Saarland

course of the A1 through germany: beginning in schleswig-holstein

The A1 begins at the Baltic Sea in schleswig-holstein: at the heiligenhafen-ost junction, it forms a four-lane extension of the B207, which comes from the ferry port of puttgarden on the island of fehmarn.

It then continues past the cities of oldenburg and neustadt in holstein into lubeck bay. There, the A1 runs along the Baltic Sea coast for about 10 kilometers. South of Lubeck, the carriageway then becomes six-lane, as the A226 joins the A1 there.

Course of the A1 through germany: hamburg and bremen

After passing through billstedt, the eastern district of hamburg, the A1 then passes under the hamburg-billwerder transhipment station through a 240-meter tunnel. In its course, the A1 also crosses the north and south elbe rivers and, at luneburg, already enters lower saxony. Between the horst triangle and the buchholzer triangle, the A1 is four-lane for a while, but then returns to six lanes again.

Near Bremen, the A1 mainly crosses flat country and runs away from large cities. Only a few kilometers of the highway pass through the city of bremen. Up to the ahlhorner heide triangle, the A1 is then four-lane, after which the carriageway alternates between four and six lanes.

Course of the A1 through germany: north rhine-westphalia

The route then passes through mountainous terrain: at neuenkirchen-vorden it passes through the dammer berge, and at bramsche through the wiehengebirge mountains. After crossing the osnabruck branch canal, the A1 crosses the state border with north rhine-Westphalia a total of three times. But it is only at the lotte-osnabruck junction that the highway finally enters NRW. There, the A1 crosses the A30, which connects bad oeynhausen with the netherlands.

The route through the Teutoburg Forest involves steep inclines and declines for drivers. But when the A1 reaches munsterland at lengerich, the landscape is much flatter. After leaving the FMO junction behind it, the A1 crosses the A43 at the munster-sud interchange.

course of the A1 through germany: ruhr region rhineland-palatinate

The A1 crosses the A2 behind munster at the kamener Kreuz junction behind hamm and leads into the ruhr region. By the time it reaches cologne, the A1 is now six lanes wide and runs past schwerte, hagen, wuppertal and leverkusen.

After that, the A1 will be known as the "eifel autobahn" four lanes as far as the efttal triangle, until it enters the volcanic landscape of the eifel as a six-lane carriageway. The A1 initially ends at the Blankenheim junction. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the road continues at the kelberg junction. The gap in the A1 highway through the eifel to kelberg is to be closed in the future by expansion work.

course of the A1 through germany: end in saarland

At wittlich, the A1 leads down out of the eifel and connects with the A60, which leads to belgium. At schweich, the A1 crosses the moselle river before coming out of the valley there and crossing the heights of the hunsruck region. At the nonnweiler triangle, on the state border with saarland, the A1 no longer forms the main carriageway and motorists have to branch off to stay on the A1.

Before the final section of the A1 leads to saarbrucken, it is very winding and crosses the saar-nahe mountain region. The route continues along the edge of the saar coal forest. The A1 finally ends at the saarbrucken-burbach junction. From there, the B268 continues to saarbrucken’s city center.

Intersections of other highways with the A1

The A1 crosses many other highways in the various federal states on its route through germany:

The volume of traffic on the A1

The A1 is one of the most important traffic arteries in the country. It connects numerous conurbations with each other – such as hamburg and bremen or the ruhr region and the rhineland. It is also one of the most important north-south connections.

That’s why most of the A1 has heavy traffic and is widened to six lanes in places. The A1 has a high volume of traffic, especially in metropolitan areas such as the ruhr region, where there is a lot of additional regional traffic. This is why accidents occur there time and again. The southern, unconnected section of the A1 in the saarland, on the other hand, is less busy.

A speed limit on German highways such as the A1 could reduce the number of accidents, according to traffic experts. But so far, advances in german politics have not had a chance.