The German Bundesstraße 81 (abbreviated to: B81) acts as a main road link between

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...

and Nordhausen.

Course

It begins in the city of Magdeburg in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

at the

Bundesstraße 71 The Bundesstraße 71 (abbr: B 71) is one of the longer German federal roads numbered in the 60s and 70s series. It begins at the B 6 in Bremerhaven by the Unterweser and ends in Könnern near Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt. To begin with ...

(Magdeburg Ring). Just before the southern end of Magdeburg is the junction with the A 14 motorway. This is followed by the Langenweddingen ring road. This section was upgraded in the wake of the Langenweddingen train crash, in which 94 people were killed on 6 July 1967. South of Langenweddingen the B 81 crosses the B 246a, which runs from

Wanzleben Wanzleben is a town and a former municipality in the Börde district, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Between 2004 and 2010 it was the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Börde Wanzleben. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Wanzleben-Börde. ...

(West) to Schönebeck (Elbe) (Ost). In the area of the

Egeln Egeln () is a small town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Egelner Mulde. Geography Egeln is situated on the river Bode, approx. nor ...

ring road the B 180 from Wanzleben joins B 81. As the ring road continues it crosses the

River Bode The Bode is a river in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, a left tributary of the Saale. It rises in the Harz mountains and drains them in a northerly direction. After it discharges into the Saale at Nienburg. The river is named after a legend ...

. Following that the B 180 joins from Aschersleben. The B 81 continues along the

Kroppenstedt Kroppenstedt is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, formerly known as Croppenstedt in the Kingdom of Prussia. It is situated southwest of Magdeburg and is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Westliche ...

ring road, built in 2007/2008, and crosses the Bode again as it bypasses the village of Gröningen. Shortly before Halberstadt it is crossed by the B 245 from

Schwanebeck Schwanebeck is a small town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Vorharz. The municipal area is situated northeast of Halberstadt, on the '' Bundesstraße 245'' h ...

and Eilsleben, in Halberstadt it meets the B 79. The B 81 continues, linking the town of

with the North Harz motorway, the B 6n, to the west. As a result, a similar autobahn-like expansion of this road section is one of the broader requirements listed in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (''Bundesverkehrswegeplan'', BVWP). The B 81 crosses the B 6n at the

Blankenburg Blankenburg may refer to: Places * Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt * Blankenburg Castle (Harz), the castle in Blankenburg am Harz (see above) * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt dis ...

-Zentrum junction. In Blankenburg it meets the B 27. The B 81 continues through the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

. About 6 km beyond Blankenburg it passes through the small hamlet of

Wendefurth Wendefurth is a hamlet in central Germany that, since 1 July 2009, has been part of the borough of Thale district of Harz. Previously it belonged to the municipality of Altenbrak which was incorporated into Thale. Geographical location The hamle ...

. Below the Wendefurth Reservoir the B 81 crosses the Bode and continues on the ''Wendefurther Steige'' to the upper basin of the Wendefurth Power Station. After a further 7 km the road reaches the climatic spa of Hasselfelde, where it forms a junction with the B 242. Finally the B 81 crosses the state border between Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia reaching Netzkater in the borough of

Ilfeld Ilfeld is a village and a former municipality in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated at the south foot of the Harz, at the entrance to the Bährethal, north from Nordhausen by the railway to Wernigerode. Since 1 J ...

, where it ends at a crossroads with the B 4.

Upgrade situation

From its start in Magdeburg to the junction with the B 180 from Aschersleben the B 81 has been upgraded to four-lanes. Only a roughly 5.5 kilometre long section to Egeln is still two lanes. Currently this section is being upgraded to four. In the remaining stretch, the ring roads around

and Gröningen have two lanes. The bypasses around

and

are a high priority in the current Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. Currently it is in the planning phase. The ring road around

Hasselfelde Hasselfelde is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Harz, approximately 17 km south of Wernigerode. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Oberharz am Brocken. Hasselfelde has 2,390 ...

is a further requirement.

Course

Upgrade situation

See also