The High Rhön Road () runs through the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n Rhön from

Bischofsheim an der Rhön Bischofsheim may refer to the following towns: * Bischofsheim, Hesse, in Hesse, Germany * Maintal-Bischofsheim, a district of the city of Maintal in Hesse, Germany * Bischofsheim in der Rhön, in Bavaria, Germany * Bischoffsheim, in Bas-Rhin, Franc ...

Fladungen Fladungen is a town in the Rhön-Grabfeld district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the Rhön Mountains, 11 km northwest of Ostheim, 20 km west of Meiningen, and 33 km east of Fulda. It is the northernmost town in Bavaria, b ...

(south to north). It bears the state road number St 2288, is 25 kilometres long, runs over the central highlands of the Rhön, known as the Long Rhön, and is an important communication link in the High Rhön. In winter the High Rhön Road in the Long Rhön is often closed due to heavy snowfall and winds that block the road with snowdrifts.

History

The High Rhön Road was planned in the 1930s and construction began at the outset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The work was carried out by the

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the Economy of Nazi Germany, German economy, militarise the wo ...

, but it was gravelled and not tarmacked until after the end of the war. The counties of

Bad Neustadt Bad Neustadt an der Saale (, ), officially Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale and often simply called Bad Neustadt, is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the Rhön-Grabfeld district in Lower Franconia. It is situated on the rivers Fran ...

and

Mellrichstadt Mellrichstadt is a town in the district Rhön-Grabfeld, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 17 km southwest of Meiningen, and 13 km northeast of Bad Neustadt. It includes the following villages: Bahra, Eußenhausen, Frickenhausen, Mühlfe ...

agreed in 1958 to take over the road and upgrade it. With considerably help from the treasury of the Free State of

it was surfaced with tarmac. The High Rhön Road was opened to traffic by the then Bavarian State Secretary for the Interior Ministry,

Alfons Goppel Alfons Goppel (1 October 1905 – 24 December 1991) was a German politician of the CSU party and Prime Minister of Bavaria (1962–1978). Biography Alfons Goppel was born in Reinhausen (now Regensburg), one of the nine children of the bake ...

, on 19 October 1958 in a ceremony in Fladungen.

Route

The kilometrage of the High Rhön Road runs from Bischofsheim towards Fladungen. The zero point lies in Bischofsheim in the upper Brend valley at the crossroads with the St 2088 at a height of about 440 metres above sea level (NN). The High Rhön Road climbs steadily from there, crosses the B 279 at 476 meters above sea level and runs in curves, following the ''Schwarzbach'' stream, up to the Bauersberg and past the ''Rothsee'' at kilometre 4 by and past the Holzberghof Hunting Lodge at kilometre 6. From here the High Rhön Road enters the

Rhön Biosphere Reserve The Rhön Biosphere Reserve includes the entire central area of the Rhön Mountains, a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia. Aim In 1991 the Rhön was recognised at international level by UNESCO as a biospher ...

at about 800 metres above sea level and reaches the highlands of the Rhön (''Long Rhön''). From here parking is only permitted at designated car parks and there is a reduced winter service (no salting). The High Rhön Road runs about 840 metres east past the 926-metrek-high Heidelstein. From the east it is joined by the road from Ginolfs. A central crossing point in the High Rhön is at the ''Schornhecke'', on the northern slopes of the Heidelstein, at kilometre 10. Here the road is joined by the St 2286 from Oberelsbach to the east, and by the Landstraße (L) 3395 Wüstensachsen in the state of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. The road runs eastwards past the Steinkopf (888 m) and the Stirnberg (902 m) and continues to the Black Moor. On this section it is joined from the east by roads from the Thuringian Hut (''Thüringer Hütte''), from Roth, Hillenberg and Hausen. At the Black Moor, at kilometre 18 and a height of 787 metres, the High Rhön Road leaves the Long Rhön and biosphere reserve and winds its way down to Fladungen. At kilometre 25 and roughly 410 metres above sea level, the High Rhön Road ends at its junction with the B 285. The highest point of the High Rhön Road is about 840 metres above sea level at a point east of the Heidelstein and the Stirnberg. The route runs east of the main crest of the High Rhön.

Literature

* Max Mölter: ''The High Rhön Road.'' Verlag Parzeller Fulda, 5th edition, 1986, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:HighRhonRoad Roads in Bavaria Rhön Mountains

History

Route

Literature

See also

References