is an
autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
in southern
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
that runs 497 km (309 mi) from the
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
A13 motorway at
Schengen
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
via
Neunkirchen,
Pirmasens
Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...
,
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
,
Pforzheim
Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany.
It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...
,
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
,
Ulm
Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...
,
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
and
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
to the
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
West Autobahn
The West Autobahn (A1) was the first motorway (''Autobahn'') to be built in Austria, originating from plans drawn up for the so-called ''Reichsautobahn'' system. Completed in 1967, today it runs from the outskirts of Vienna via Linz to Salzburg, ...
near
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
.
![A 8 AD Inntal, 2014 (01)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/A_8_AD_Inntal%2C_2014_%2801%29.JPG)
The A8 is a significant east–west transit route. Its construction began in March 1934 during
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
rule as a ''
Reichsautobahn
The ''Reichsautobahn'' system was the beginning of the German autobahns under Nazi Germany. There had been previous plans for controlled-access highways in Germany under the Weimar Republic, and two had been constructed, but work had yet to star ...
'', the section between Karlsruhe and Salzburg having been completed by the time road works were discontinued in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Although most parts have been modernized and extended since, significant sections remain in their original configuration from the 1930s - 2+2 lanes, no emergency lanes, steep hills and tight curves. In combination with today's traffic this makes the A8 one of the most crowded and dangerous autobahns in Germany. Especially in winter the slopes of the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
, the
Swabian Alb
The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...
near
Aichelberg
Aichelberg is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
Aichelberg is between Stuttgart and Ulm at the ''Albaufstieg'', the slope of the Swabian Jura in 357–615 meters altitude. Characteristic of t ...
, as well as the
Irschenberg
Irschenberg is a municipality in the district of Miesbach in the German state of Bavaria, about southeast of Munich. It consists of numerous hamlets situated on the ''Irschenberg'' hill range.
The hill is a notorious ascent of the Bundesautoba ...
become bottlenecks when heavy trucks traverse the A8 uphill.
As of 2016, the following sections have three lanes in each direction of travel: Karlsruhe - Pforzheim-North, Pforzheim-South - Stuttgart - Mühlhausen, AK Ulm/Elchingen - Augsburg - Munich-Eschenried, and AK Munich-South - AD Inntal. Other sections in Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and Munich have two lanes in each direction of travel and follow current Autobahn standards.
As of 2016, the following sections have sections which are either incomplete or do not comply with modern Autobahn standards: near Merzig (under construction), AK Neunkirchen - Zweibrücken (no emergency lanes yet), Enz crossing near Pforzheim (modernizing planned), Alb crossing Mühlhausen - Hohenstadt (planned), Hohenstadt - Ulm-West (under construction), Ulm-West - AK Ulm/Elchingen (planned) and AD Inntal - Salzburg (planned). At least, complete section Karlsruhe - Salzburg will be extended to 3 + 3 lanes.
Incomplete
Plans for the section between Pirmasens and Karlsruhe were abandoned in the 1980s. Instead of this the B10 from Pirmasens to Landau is being widened. This is not completed as of early 2021. Also the Landau - Karlsruhe section was built as a part of
A65 in the 90s.
In Munich there is also a gap: the section from Augsburg ends in Munich-Obermenzing and the section from Salzburg ends in Munich-
Ramersdorf
Ramersdorf-Perlach is a borough of Munich. It is located south-east of the city center and is the most populous of Munich's boroughs with a population of about 116,000. It consists of the five districts Ramersdorf, Balanstraße West, Altperlach, ...
. Transit traffic has to use the A99 north around Munich or the A995 west, "
Mittlerer Ring" and
A995 (shorter but incomplete autobahn)
Along the route
Near Merzig there used to be a section with only one lane in each direction, but it has been rebuilt as 2+2 lanes with hard shoulders.
Near Heusweiler wire netting was built over the autobahn as a faraday cage to protect vehicle electronics from radiation from Heusweiler high powered radio transmitter. The transmitter no longer operates and the wires have been removed, as of 2020.
Pirmasens-Winzeln is one of only four "left slip roads" in the German autobahn network: coming from Zweibrücken, the left lane is the exit to Winzeln and the right lane stays on the A8; access from Winzeln leads to the left lane. In the direction towards Zweibrücken, the exit and entry are normal. An interchange between the A8 and A62 was planned here, but following the cancellation of the A8 Pirmasens - Karlsruhe section the "interchange" was used for the Winzeln exit.
In Gruibingen (Stuttgart - Ulm section) Gruibingen motorway services was built according to feng shui philosophy.
At Drakensteiner Hang between Mühlhausen and Hohenstadt (Stuttgart - Ulm section) the A8 is divided into separate northbound and southbound routes on either side of the peak.
Near Adelsried (Ulm - Munich section) is the Autobahnkirche ("motorway church") Maria, Schutz der Reisenden ("Mary, patron saint of travellers"). It was built in 1956 as the first of 42 motorway churches in Germany.
For the expansion of the Ulm/Elchingen - Augsburg - Munich section, a new kind of financial funding was used, an operator model: consortiums of constructing companies funded the work themselves and in return they receive lorry road charges for 30 years. They are also responsible for maintenance during this period.
For transit traffic around Munich is signposted to use the orbital motorway A99 north/east at Eschenried and Munich-South interchanges. But those who are familiar with place often use A99 west - Mittlerer Ring - A995 as a shorter route, which can be faster if the traffic is light. However this route is narrower and leads through Munich so is more congested, therefore the authorities want to keep transit traffic out of town.
Austria charges tolls for use of its autobahns, so many drivers who do not want to pay for the short section to the border near Salzburg use the Bad Reichenhall or Schwarzbach exits which sometimes causes traffic jams on the local country roads.
External links
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