is an

autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

which connects the Bundesautobahn 30 in the north and the A 44 in the south.

History

The history of the A 33 began in the 1960s as the B 68. It was intended that the route would be extended northwards to reach Bramsche, and to this day, the B 68 has been partially extended between

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

and Bramsche in a similar fashion to an Autobahn. One major gap currently exist in the A 33. Plans to close the 9 km long gap between the A 33 and the A 1 around Osnabrück are underway, the selected route having been submitted by the planning authority of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

to the

Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

(BMVBS) for approval. Also a larger (about 8 km) gap existed between the exit for

Borgholzhausen Borgholzhausen () is a town in the Gütersloh (district), district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Teutoburg Forest, approx. 20 km north-west of Bielefeld. Borgholzhausen is a sister city ...

and

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

. This gap has been closed as the last section between Borgholzhausen and Halle (Westf.) has been completed in November 2019.

Route

The A 33 begins to the east of

in Belm, crossing over the A 30 to Osnabrück Süd, running through

Georgsmarienhütte Georgsmarienhütte () is a town in the Osnabrück (district), district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teutoburg Forest, approx. 7 km south of Osnabrück. History In 1856 the company "Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- ...

, Hilter am Teutoburger Wald, Bad Rothenfelde and Dissen am Teutoburger Wald,

, Halle (Westf.), running through Bielefeld, Sennestadt,

Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock is a city in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the Eggegebirge, approx. 15 km east of Gütersloh and 15 km south-east of Bielefeld Bielefeld () ...

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

and

Borchen Borchen () is a municipality in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Location Borchen is situated in the Paderborn tableland, approximately 5 km south of Paderborn. The municipality also contains a sma ...

before terminating at the Bad Wünnenberg interchange, which joins the A 44 running between

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

and

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

as well as the B 480, which leads on through

Brilon Brilon (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which belongs to the Hochsauerlandkreis. Geography Brilon is on the Brilon Heights, at an altitude of about 450m, and the upper reaches of the river Möhne. The town lies between the Ar ...

in the

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the States of Germany, German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. ...

region.

Route names

The three different stretches of road are named according to the region in which they are located. The Osnabrück-Bielefeld route is known as the Teutoburger-Wald-Autobahn, the route between Bielefeld and Paderborn, which feeds into the A 2, is known as the Senneautobahn, and the remainder leading through East Westphalia is known as the Ostwestfalenmagistrale.

Notable features

Between junctions Dissen and Dissen Süd, a tunnel has been built of around 700 m length to protect the surrounding area, especially the health resort Bad Rothenfelde from the noise.

Exit list

External links

{{coord, 52, 07, 46, N, 8, 10, 26, E, region:DE-NW_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title 33 A033 A033