Bundesautobahn 5

Bundesautobahn 5, which means Federal Motorway 5 in German, is a big road that stretches for 445 kilometers or 277 miles across Germany. It starts at a place called the Hattenbach triangle where it meets another road, the A 7, and ends near the Swiss border close to a city named Basel. Along its route, it goes through two German states, Hessen and Baden-Württemberg, and links up with Switzerland’s A 2 road.

One interesting part of the A 5 is that it passes by Frankfurt Airport, making it very useful for people traveling to and from the airport. This motorway is an important connection for cars, trucks, and other vehicles moving between different parts of Germany and neighboring countries.

History

Nazi era

Construction began on the first part of the A 5 between Frankfurt and Darmstadt on September 23, 1933, under Adolf Hitler. The project was called "the Führer's Autobahn" by propaganda, even though earlier highways existed. The plans for a highway from Hamburg through Frankfurt to Basel were started in 1926 but stopped until Hitler came to power.

Post war

After the war, plans to extend the A 5 further north were stopped to protect nature. Instead, a finished piece of another highway near Gießen was used to connect the A 5 to the A 7 from Hamburg. The full route from Hamburg to Basel was finished in 1962. Near Frankfurt, the A 5 is one of the busiest roads in Germany, with about 150,000 cars each day.

The section between Frankfurt and Darmstadt was the first and remains the longest Autobahn in Germany with 8 lanes. A special part south of Frankfurt got overhead wires in May 2019 for trucks that can use electric power. Siemens made the wires and Scania AB provided the trucks.