The Bundesstraße 7 (abbr. B7) is a German federal highway (

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

) that stretches from the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

border at

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherland ...

in the West to

Rochlitz Rochlitz (; hsb, Rochlica) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Rochlitz is the head of the "municipal partnership Rochlitz" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Rochlitz) with its other members ...

near

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

in the East. It is approximately long. Because of its western origin some stretches of the B 7 are designated as "Holländische Straße" (''Dutch Road''), e.g., in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

and

Calden Calden is a municipality in the district of Kassel in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km northwest of the city of Kassel, and the Kassel Airport is situated near Calden. Schloss Wilhelmsthal Schloss Wilhelmsthal is a Baroque château loca ...

History

The former Reichsstraße 7 extended from Schmölln over

Meerane Meerane () is a town in the Zwickau district of Saxony, Germany. It lies midway between the towns of Altenburg and Zwickau, west of Chemnitz. As of 31 December 2015, there were 14,851 inhabitants. The population has declined from a peak of over 2 ...

Glauchau Glauchau (; hsb, Hłuchow) is a town in the German federal state of Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail ( its train station is on the Dresden–Werdau line). It is part of the ...

and

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, where it linked with the Reichsstraße 6. The former portion between Chemnitz and

is now called the

Bundesstraße 173 ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

. The segment between

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

and

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

was constructed in , making it one of the oldest roads in western

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 ...

. The stretch connecting

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geography Iserlohn is locat ...

and

Menden Menden (, official name: ''Menden (Sauerland)''; Westphalian: ''Mennen'') is a city in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of the Sauerland near the Ruhr river. History Menden's f ...

was built between 1816 and . Between

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

the B 7 follows the path of the former

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History Origins The ...

. The original plan marked Dresden as he eastern terminus, however this portion was completed during the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and called the

New Developments

In some areas the Bundesstraße 7 is replaced by

Autobahns 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'. ...

. For example, between

Hagen-Hohenlimburg Hagen-Hohenlimburg (formerly known as Limburg an der Lenne, changed to Hohenlimburg in 1903; Westphalian: ''Limmerg''), on the Lenne river, is a borough of the city of Hagen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Hohenlimburg was formerly the ch ...

and the former autobahn terminus in the eastern city of

the B 7 becomes the

Bundesautobahn 46 is an Autobahn in Germany. It is noncontiguous and split in several parts in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, an extension to Kassel in Hesse was planned but has been abandoned. Exit list , - , colspan="2" style="text-align:Center;", N297 ...

. Also, between Kassel and Eisenach the B 7 is slated to be replaced by the new

Bundesautobahn 44 is a German Autobahn. It consists of three main parts and a few smaller parts. It begins in Aachen at the German–Belgian border and ends near Kassel. Before the German unification it was an unimportant provincial motorway but after this event ...

, the first piece of which was opened at

Hessisch Lichtenau Hessisch Lichtenau ( is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in eastern Hesse, Germany. In 2006, the town hosted the 46th Hessentag state festival. Geography Location Hessisch Lichtenau lies in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis 20 km southeast of ...

was in October 2005. Environmental concerns have been raised about the project, as the autobahn is proposed to run through the

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

Meißner-Kaufunger Wald. Since August 2005 heavy transport vehicles have been banned from a stretch of the B 7. The ban applies for a year and is enforced between Kassel at the A 7 junction and

Wehretal Wehretal is a municipality in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Wehretal lies roughly 50 km southeast of the North Hesse city of Kassel. It is found between Eschwege in the north and Sontra in the s ...

. Vehicles originating or ending in the Kassel area are exempt from the ban.

Route / Junctions

External links

http://www.strassenimpressionen.com
- photographs of the Bundesstraße 7 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bundesstrasse 7 Roads in North Rhine-Westphalia Roads in Hesse Roads in Saxony 007

History

New Developments

Route / Junctions

See also

External links