The Bundesstraße 87 (Abbreviation: B 87) is a

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), 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'' are labelled with re ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It begins in

Ilmenau Ilmenau () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 38,600, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately south of Erfurt and north of Nuremberg w ...

and ends in

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

. In

Thüringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany's 16 states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

it runs partly along the Straße der Romanik.

History

Origin

The modern-day Bundesstraße 87 has been in use since

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times as a connection between

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. Between Leipzig and

Eckartsberga Eckartsberga () is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated west of Naumburg. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") An der Finne. Since 2009 it has included the former municipa ...

it follows the historical route of the

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

. This section was upgraded to a highway by 1819. The connection as far as

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; , ) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge of the D� ...

was upgraded in 1845. To upgrade the stretch from Eilenburg to Frankfurt (Oder), a company limited by shares was founded on 20 November 1854. The ''Frankfurt an der Oder Leipziger Chausseebaugesellschaft'' was headquartered in Lübben. This section ran from Eilenburg through

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies first met near ...

, Herzberg,

Schlieben Schlieben (, ) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north of Bad Liebenwerda. Schlieben was the site of a Berga concentration camp, concentration camp during The Holocaust. History From 1815 ...

Luckau Luckau (Lower Sorbian: ''Łuków'') is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the States of Germany#States, federal state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia". Origin of t ...

, Lübben,

Beeskow Beeskow (; , ;) is a town in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, and capital of the Oder-Spree district. It is situated on the river Spree (river), Spree, 30 km southwest of Frankfurt an der Oder. History In 1518 the town was purchased by the Di ...

and

Müllrose Müllrose (, ) is a town in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. It is situated on the Oder-Spree Canal, 15 km southwest of Frankfurt (Oder). A part of the town is located in the Schlaube Valley Nature Park, named afte ...

to Frankfurt (Oder). The easternmost section between Beeskow and Frankfurt (Oder) was completed in 1856.

Earlier Descriptions

The Prussian State Highway 33 (German: ''preußische Staatschaussee Nr. 33'' went from Frankfurt (Oder) to Leipzig. From Leipzig the Prussian State Highway 69 ran to

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

. In Weißenfels this road connected with the Prussian State Highway 66, which ran from

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East Berlin, East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chem ...

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. In 1932 the road was renamed ''Fernverkehrsstraße 87'' (FVS 87), and in 1934 ''Reichsstraße 87'' (R 87) by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, connecting with the former Fernverkehrsstraße 7 (which later became Reichsstraße 7) at Umpferstedt (between

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

and Weimar). In 1961 the so-called ''Fernverkehrsstraße 87'' (''F 87'') was extended from Umpferstedt to Ilmenau.

Replacements

Since 2005 the Bundesstraße 87 runs between the Lützen South (A 38) and

(A 9) via the autobahns A38 and A9; the previous connection between

and

Lützen Lützen () is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Lützen is situated in the Leipzig Bay, approximately southwest of the Leipzig city limits and northeast of Weißenfels. The town has access to the Bun ...

was renamed as a Landstrasse L188.

Further Plans

Since 1996 the extension from

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

has been planned as Bundesstraße 87n.

Bridges

* Bridge over the river Elbe in Torgau * Zeppelin Bridge over the Elster Basin in Leipzig * Bridge over the river Saale in Bad Kösen, built in 1891 as replacement for a stone bridge from the 14th Century

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundesstrasse 87 087 Roads in Thuringia Roads in Saxony-Anhalt Roads in Saxony Roads in Brandenburg