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' ...

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 ...

, connecting Dortmund in the west with

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the Aschaffenburg (district), district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative sea ...

in the southwest. It is colloquially known as the ''Sauerlandlinie'' (Sauerland line) as it runs through the hilly, rural Sauerland region between Hagen and

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region. The university town (nearly 20,000 students in the 2018–2019 winter semest ...

. The A45 has many bridges to cross valleys, the highest of which is the Sichter Valley bridge (''Talbrücke Sichter'') between

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers which ...

and

Meinerzhagen Meinerzhagen (sometimes spelled Meinertzhagen; ) is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Meinerzhagen is located in the hills of the Sauerland. The highest elevation is the Nordhelle with 652 m above sea l ...

at 530 metres

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

. It is mostly two lanes each way with frequent climbing lanes between Dortmund-Hafen and the Gambacher Kreuz intersection. In March 2013 30 people were injured in a pile-up on the A45.

History

During the 1960s and 1970s a southward extension was proposed as the „Odenwald-Neckar-Alb-Autobahn“ (ONAA), to pass through

Groß-Umstadt Groß-Umstadt is a town in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hesse in Germany. It is near by Darmstadt and Frankfurt on the northern border of mountain range Odenwald and is on the south-eastern edge of Rhin ...

Michelstadt Michelstadt () in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. It has a population of 28,629 people. Geography Location Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkr ...

Schwaigern Schwaigern () is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 12 km west of Heilbronn. Geography Neighbouring municipalities The neighbouring towns and municipalities of Schwaigern (clockwise) are: Leing ...

Neckarwestheim Neckarwestheim is a municipality with 3524 inhabitants in the Heilbronn district, Baden-Württemberg, in south-west Germany. It is located on the Neckar river and is well known as the location of a nuclear power station, the Neckarwestheim Nucle ...

Mundelsheim Mundelsheim is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. It is located in the Ludwigsburg district, about 30 km north of Stuttgart and 20 km south of Heilbronn, on the Neckar river. It belongs to the Stuttgart Met ...

, Berglen,

Remshalden Remshalden is a municipality in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Rems, 8 km east of Waiblingen, and 18 km east of Stuttgart. Twin towns The twin towns of Remshalden are: * Gournay-en ...

, Lichtenwald and Schlierbach, linking the ONAA to the A 8 near

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck (Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is 10 km (6 miles) near the Teck castle, approximately ...

, however the project was abandoned for ecological reasons in 1979 by the state government of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Trajectory

The A 45 branches off the A 2 at the Dortmund Nord-West intersection, passes through the eastern

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

and enters the Sauerland near Hagen. It then enters the Siegerland and the state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

, where the A 45 is joined by the A 66 between the interchanges '' Hanauer Kreuz'' and ''

Langenselbold Langenselbold () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, 10 km east of Hanau. In 2009, the town hosted the 49th Hessentag The Hessentag (; en, Hesse Day) is an annual event, both fai ...

er Dreieck''. A short stretch of road, between junctions Alzenau and Mainhausen, is on

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n territory, then the A 45 merges with the A 3 at the interchange ''Seligenstädter Dreieck'' in the state of

, just to the west of the Bavarian city of

Numerical listing of Exits and Junctions

External links

{{bundesautobahn 45 A045 A045 A045