# Bundesautobahn 81

Bundesautobahn 81 (translates from German as Federal Motorway 81, short form Autobahn 81, abbreviated as BAB 81 or A 81) is a motorway in Germany. It branches off the A 3 at the Würzburg-West triangle and ends near the border with Switzerland.
The oldest part of the A 81 between the Weinsberg intersection (A 6) near Heilbronn and Dreieck Leonberg (A 8) near Stuttgart was finished in the years 1938 to 1940. This section included the first tunnel built for an autobahn, the 300-metre-long (980 ft) first Engelberg tunnel near Leonberg. When Weinsberg-Leonberg was upgraded to 3+3 lanes in the 1970s, the tunnel with its two lanes each and steep grades (up to 6%) became something of a bottleneck. In 1999 a new 2,530-metre-long (8,300 ft) Engelberg tunnel was opened.
Original plans called for the A 81 to be continued northwards skirting the north-west of Würzburg to join up with the A 7, but these plans were later abandoned. Instead, the A 81 shares a part of the A 8 to the Stuttgart intersection and then continues south on a motorway that was built as A 831 to Gärtringen, where it meets the original line again at a partly finished intersection. As a result of this change of plans, Gärtringen became one of the few exits in the German autobahn network that leave to the left.
Further south, the terrain required some spectacular engineering, including a 900-metre-long (3,000 ft) bridge near Horb that spans 125 m above the Neckar river. Currently, the A 81 ends near Singen.

## Exit list

| | (1) | Würzburg-West 3-way interchange A 3 E41 E43 |
| | (2) | Gerchsheim |
| | | Spitalwald parking area |
| | | Gerchsheimer Grund parking area |
| | | Services Kleinraststätte ob der Tauber |
| | | Rötensteinbrücke 387 m |
| | | parking area |
| | (3) | Tauberbischofsheim B 27 B 290 |
| | | Taubertalbrücke 661 m |
| | | Steinbacher Höhe parking area |
| | | Muckbachtalbrücke 330 m |
| | | Löchle parking area |
| | | Schüpfbachtalbrücke 280 m |
| | (4) | Ahorn |
| | | Brombach parking area |
| | | Brücke über die Frankenbahn 50 m |
| | | parking area |
| | | Lindich parking area |
| | (5) | Boxberg B 292 |
| | | Rest area Holzspitze |
| | | Seegrund parking area |
| | (6) | Osterburken B 292 B 293 |
| | | Denzer parking area |
| | | Großer Wald parking area |
| | | Services Kleinrastätte Jagsttal |
| | | Jagsttalbrücke 889 m |
| | (7) | Möckmühl |
| | | Egerten parking area |
| | | Kochertalbrücke 478 m |
| | | Straßebrücke 50 m |
| | (8) | Neuenstadt |
| | | Brettachtalbrücke 386 m |
| | | Sulzrain parking area |
| | | Tunnel Hölzerntunnel 470 m |
| | | Eberbachtalbrücke 310 m |
| | | Eberbachtal parking area |
| | (9) | Weinsberg 4-way interchange A 6 E50 |
| | | Bahnstrecke Crailsheim-Heilbronn 60 m |
| | (10) | Weinsberg / Ellhofen B 39a |
| | | Reisberg parking area |
| | | Grafenwald parking area |
| | (11) | Heibronn / Untergruppenbach |
| | (12) | Ilsfeld |
| | | Services Wunnenstein |
| | (13) | Mundelsheim |
| | | Rest area Kälbling |
| | (14) | Pleidelsheim |
| | | Neckartalbrücke 410 m |
| | (15) | Ludwigsburg-Nord B 27 |
| | | Brücke über Frankenbahn 60 m |
| | (16) | Ludwigsburg-Süd |
| | (17) | Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen interchange B 10 |
| | | Brücke über Schwarzaldbahn 70 m |
| | (18) | Stuttgart-Feuerbach B 295 |
| | | Beutenbachtalbrücke 150 m |
| | | Rest area Engelberg/Gerlinger Höhe |
| | | Tunnel Engelbergtunnel 2530 m |
| | (19) | Dreieck Leonberg 3-way interchange A 8 E52 |
| A 8 A 81 |||
| | ( ) | Leonberg-Ost |
| | | Friedensbrücke 320 m |
| | | Services Sindelfinger Wald |
| | | Rest area Sommerhofen |
| A 8 A 81 |||
| | (20) | Stuttgart 4-way interchange A 8 E52 A 831 |
| | (21) | Sindelfingen-Ost |
| | | Straßenbrücke 60 m |
| | (22) | Böblingen-Ost |
| | | Straßenbrücke 50 m |
| | | Tunnel Lärmschutzdeckel 850 m (under construction until 2026 at least) |
| | (23) | Böblingen/Sindelfingen |
| | (24) | Böblingen-Hulb interchange B 464 |
| | (25) | Ehningen B 14 |
| | | Würmtalbrücke 242 m |
| | (26) | Hildrizhausen |
| | (27) | Gärtringen B 14 |
| | | Services Schönbuch |
| | | Tunnel Schönbuchtunnel 606 m |
| | (28) | Herrenberg B 28 |
| | | Ammertalbahn 50 m |
| | | Kochhartgrabenbrücke 252 m |
| | | Rest area Ziegler/Geyern |
| | (29) | Rottenburg B 28a |
| | | Rest area Neckarblick/Hirtenhaus |
| | | Neckartalbrücke (Weitingen) 918 m |
| | (30) | Horb am Neckar B 32 |
| | | Talbrücke 90 m |
| | | parking area |
| | (31) | Empfingen B 463 |
| | | Mühlbachtalviadukt 582 m |
| | | parking area |
| | (32) | Sulz am Neckar |
| | | Rest area Hasenrain |
| | (33) | Oberndorf am Neckar |
| | | Trichtenbachtalbrücke 140 m |
| | | Talbrücke 130 m |
| | | parking area |
| | | parking area |
| | | Schlichemtalbrücke 240 m |
| | | Services Neckarburg |
| | | Neckarburgbrücke 365 m |
| | (34) | Rottweil B 462 |
| | | Rest area Eschachtal |
| | | Eschachtalbrücke 443 m |
| | | Neckartalbrücke 206 m |
| | | Bahnstrecke Rottweil-Villingen 50 m |
| | (35) | Villingen-Schwenningen interchange B 27 |
| | | parking area |
| | (36) | Tuningen B 523 |
| | | parking area |
| | (37) | Bad Dürrheim 3-way interchange A 864 E531 |
| | | Rest area Räthisgraben |
| | | Rest area Unterhölzer Wald |
| | | Donautalbrücke 318 m |
| | (38) | Geisingen B 31 B 33 B 311 |
| | | Ziegelbuckbrücke 196 m |
| | | parking area |
| | | Immensitzbrücke 227 m |
| | | parking area |
| | | Talbachbrücke 484 m |
| | | Services / Motel Im Hegau |
| | | Brudertalbrücke 337 m |
| | (39) | Engen B 31 B 491 |
| | | Bruckried/Klauseneck parking area |
| | (40) | Hegau 4-way interchange A 98 E54 B 33 |
| | (41) | Singen (Hohentwiel) B 33 |
| | | Saubachbrücke 391 m |
| | | Talbrücke 70 m |
| | | Tunnel Hohentwieltunnel 833 m |
| | (42) | Hilzingen B 314 |
| | | Riederbachtalbrücke 216 m |
| | | Tunnel Heilsbergtunnel 483 m |
| | | Brücke über Hochrheinbahn 70 m |
| | (43) | Gottmadingen B 34 E41 E54 |