The Bundesstraße 257 is a German federal highway which leads from the connection to the A 565 near the Kreuz Meckenheim in a south-westerly direction through the Eifel to the border with

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 ...

in Echternacherbrück.

Course

Shortly after the Autobahnkreuz Meckenheim, the A 565 changes to the Bundesstraße 257 after the Gelsdorf junction (formerly AS Grafschaft). After a few kilometers over the foothills of the Ahreifel, it winds down into the Ahr valley. In the area of the Altenahr bypass, the B 267 branches off to Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. Soon after the junction, the B 257 is led through three tunnels before it crosses the Ahr and the Lower Ahr Valley Railway shortly before Ahrbrück. It runs parallel to these two as far as Dümpelfeld, although the railway was completely shut down and dismantled from Ahrbrück. From Dümpelfeld, the B 257 follows a side valley of the Ahr to

Adenau Adenau () is a town in the High Eifel in Germany. It is known as the ''Johanniterstadt'' because the Order of Saint John was based there in the Middle Ages. The town's coat of arms combines the black cross of the Electorate of Cologne with the l ...

Behind the Adenau quarter of Breidscheid, the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring crosses the B 257, so that it runs within the Green Hell until the second overpass behind Quiddelbach. Shortly afterwards the B 258 crosses west of the Grand Prix track of the Nürburgring. Now it goes downhill again, through the local community of Müllenbach to

Kelberg Kelberg is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', and ...

, where the B 257 meets the B 410. In Ulmen, the B 259 branches off to the southeast to the junction of the A 48 and on towards Cochem. The B 257 has been replaced by the federal motorway from here to the

Daun Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the ' of Daun. Geography Location The town lies in the , a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geogra ...

junction of the A 1. It is continued in Daun. Now it goes on in a south-westerly direction, whereby the

Volcanic Eifel The Volcanic Eifel or Vulkan Eifel (german: Vulkaneifel) is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of this volcanic field are its typical explosion crater l ...

merges into the softer landscape of the Bitburger Gutland. At Bitburg, the B 257 runs for a few kilometers together with the B 51 in the direction of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

and then branches off again to the southwest. In

Wolsfeld Wolsfeld is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...

, which is known nationally for its hill climb, residents have been demanding a bypass for years because of the heavy traffic. This was included as an urgent requirement in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan and implemented within the framework of the 2 billion euro program to improve the transport infrastructure in the years 2005–2008. The bypass road was opened for traffic on 13 December 2008 by the Rhineland-Palatinate Transport Minister Hendrik Hering and Parliamentary State Secretary Karl Diller from the Federal Ministry of Finance. Past Irrel, the B 257 now leads to Echternacherbrück, where it meets the B 418. This runs from here to Wasserbilligerbrück along the banks of the

Sauer The Sauer (German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer ...

, which here forms the border between Germany and

. Across the Sauer lies

Echternach Echternach ( lb, Iechternach or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in ...

, which is widely known for its dancing procession.

References

257 __NOTOC__ Year 257 ( CCLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Gallienus (or, less frequently, year 10 ...

Roads in North Rhine-Westphalia Roads in Rhineland-Palatinate {{Germany-road-stub