The Bundesstraße 303 (abbreviation: B 303) is a German federal highway that runs from west to east, beginning at the A 7 autobahn west of

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban ag ...

and ending at the border with the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

east of

Schirnding Schirnding is a municipality in the district of Wunsiedel in Bavaria in Germany. Schirnding station is a border station on the Nuremberg–Cheb railway. Musicologist Reinhard Schulz Reinhard Schulz (7 March 1950 – 24 July 2009) was a Germa ...

. It runs through the eastern part of

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...

and the whole of

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...

History

The original route of '' Reichsstraße'' 303 ran from Schweinfurt via Schonungen, Hofheim in Unterfranken,

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

Mitwitz Mitwitz is a municipality in the district of Kronach in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the Steinach river and the Föritz (which flows into the Steinach), on the edge of the Frankenwald on the route between Kronach and Coburg Coburg () ...

Kronach Kronach ( East Franconian: ''Gronich'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, located in the Frankenwald area. It is the capital of the district Kronach. Kronach is the birthplace of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Maximilian von Welsch, as well ...

and Selbitz to Hof and continued via

Rehau Rehau is a Town#Germany, town in the Hof (district), district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. The first documented name of Rehau was "Resawe" in the year 1234. Rehau is situated in the Fichtelgebirge, 12 km southeast of Hof, Germany, Hof, and 12 ...

and

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque build ...

Mitterteich Mitterteich (Northern Bavarian: ''Miederdeich'') is a municipality in the district of Tirschenreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 10 km northwest of Tirschenreuth, and 17 km southwest of Cheb. Notable people * Theobald Schrems ( ...

. In 1941 the section from Hof via Eger to Mitterteich was replaced by ''Reichsstraße'' 15 and the section of that from Hundsbach (border) to Mitterteich by the B 299. In the early 1950s the road from Marktrodach via Stadtsteinach,

Bad Berneck Bad Berneck () is a spa town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the White Main river, in the Fichtelgebirge mountains, 13 km northeast of Bayreuth. Its official title is ''Bad Berneck im Fichtelgebirge''. ...

Marktredwitz Marktredwitz () is a town in the district of Wunsiedel, in Bavaria, Germany, close to the Czech border. It is situated 22 km west of Cheb, 50 km east of Bayreuth and 50 km south of Hof/Saale. Marktredwitz station is at the juncti ...

and Arzberg to Schirnding was redefined as the ''Bundesstraße'' 303. This section used to be called the Main Valley Road (''Maintalstraße''). The central section of the B 303 between Schonungen am Main and Tambach near Coburg originally ran through 14 villages. From the 1960s to the 1990s the route was re-routed eastwards in stages over a length of 49.7 km and, as a result, it now only passes through Oberelldorf and Tambach. Since 19 October 2007, the B 303 has crossed over junction 10 of the new A 73 autobahn (Nürnberg – Suhl) near Ebersdorf bei Coburg.

Fichtelgebirge autobahn

There were plans to upgrade the section from Wirsberg to

Cheb Cheb (; german: Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře. Before the 1945 Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expulsion of the German-speaking population ...

(Eger) into a four-lane ' yellow autobahn', the so-called 'Fichtelgebirge autobahn' (''Fichtelgebirgsautobahn''). This was intended to connected to the Czech

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

, the D6 motorway, to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. However these plans were not put into action due to the expected environmental damage, high construction costs and decreasing traffic volumes since January 2009. Instead the existing B 303 will be selectively widened in places.Münchner Merkug:Aus für Fichtelgebirgsautobahn
/ref>

External links

BI-B303 – Local initiative against heavy lorries on the B 303

Local initiative against the Fichtelgebirge autobahn

References

http://www.reichsstrassen.de.vu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundesstrasse 303

303 __NOTOC__ Year 303 ( CCCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, y ...

History

Fichtelgebirge autobahn

See also

External links

References