page_title: Bundesautobahn 9
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bundesautobahn 9 / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Südrampe des Hienberg
context_page_description: Bundesautobahn 9 is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Berlin and Munich via Leipzig and Nuremberg. It is the fifth longest autobahn spanning 529 km.
context_section_description: Plans for a European motorway connection from Berlin to Rome were already developed from 1927 by a private MüLeiBerl (Munich-Leipzig-Berlin) company. However, construction of the A 9 was not begun until the 1930s as part of the Reichsautobahn project set up by Nazi Germany. 
  It was inaugurated in sections, beginning in 1936 with the Strecke 16 between what is today's Schkeuditz interchange (present-day A 9 and A 14) near Leipzig and Bad Berneck im Fichtelgebirge, 164 kilometres (102 mi) in length. With the opening of the second lane near Schnaittach in 1941, the last gap was closed. This makes the A 9 Germany's first completed autobahn. 
  After World War II, the section from the inner German border to Berlin served as one of four transit access roads through East Germany (GDR) toward West Berlin during the Cold War era. Yellow signs with "TRANSIT" in black letters marked the allowed route. Distances were usually given towards Berlin - Hauptstadt der DDR ("Berlin - Capital of the GDR"), i.e. East Berlin. Despite funding from West Germany, road conditions were generally poor. The surface was made up of 1930s concrete slabs rather than blacktop or continuously cast concrete. A section in Thuringia between Schleiz and the Rodaborn rest area even was a cobblestone road, later paved over by the East German authorities until being replaced by concrete in the 1980s. Until the introduction of a new numbering system in 1974, the southern part was known as the West German A 3.
  After reunification, the continuous six-lane expansion of the A 9 from the Potsdam junction to the Nuremberg interchange was tackled as an important transport project German unit No. 12. With a traffic load of up to 50,000 vehicles per day near Bayreuth in 1990, the four-lane route was close to the capacity limit.
  As part of the six-lane expansion, the new route was relocated in some sections, as the old road has gradients of sometimes over seven percent and tight curve radii. For example, in the area of Münchberg south of Hof a viaduct was built to avoid the guidance of the highway through a fog valley, especially because in this section on October 19, 1990 a heavy pile-up with ten dead and numerous seriously injured had occurred. West of Bad Berneck in the Fichtelgebirge led the old carriageway on a bridge in the middle of the village Lanzendorf. This very stressful condition for the residents was eliminated with the new track construction; Today, the highway runs east of the village. Even before the expansion, the motorway church Himmelkron was built directly on the old carriageway and consecrated on 6 October 1996. The church building is therefore today a bit off the new route. The course was also changed at the connection point Trockau (43). The new route runs slightly east of the old one. The formerly very steep and extremely winding Trockauer Berg was defused by the laying of the route. At Hienberg between the junctions Hormersdorf (47) and Schnaittach (48), there are always different routes for the two lanes. The separation of the lanes was maintained in the six lane expansion, but the course changed. The rest stop Hienberg, which lay on the mountain of the same name, does not exist anymore.
  In 2001, the six-lane expansion, with the exception of three sections, was completed. The 120 million DM expensive conversion between the junctions Bayreuth-North and -Süd, which included a 320 -meter-long enclosure and noise barriers, dragged itself into the year 2006. After its completion, there were only in Thuringia track sections of the A 9 with four lanes without hard shoulder. These were on the one hand to the Hermsdorfer cross and on the other to 19 kilometers south of the junction Triptis at operating kilometer 205 and north of the junction Schleiz at operating kilometer 224. Another reason for the delay was the fact that in terms of financing new Tried ways and private investors were searched by tender, which should refinance on the truck toll (so-called A-model). It promises a higher quality of the road and a faster completion. According to the announcem
caption: The expressway along Hienberg
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