is an

autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

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 ...

, connecting

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

in the west with

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

in the southwest. It is colloquially known as the ''Sauerlandlinie'' (Sauerland line) as it runs through the hilly, rural

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the States of Germany, German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. ...

region between

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

and

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

. The A45 has many bridges to cross valleys, the highest of which is the Sichter Valley bridge (''Talbrücke Sichter'') between

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers whic ...

and

Meinerzhagen Meinerzhagen (; sometimes spelled Meinertzhagen) is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Meinerzhagen is located in the hills of the Sauerland. The highest elevation is the Nordhelle with 652 m above sea l ...

at 530 metres

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It is mostly two lanes each way with frequent climbing lanes between Dortmund-Hafen and the

Gambacher Kreuz The Gambacher Kreuz (Gambach interchange) is a cloverleaf interchange in Hesse, Germany where the A5 Autobahn from Basel to Bad Hersfeld intersects the A45 between Dortmund and Aschaffenburg. It constitutes a node in the primary route between th ...

intersection. In March 2013 30 people were injured in a pile-up on the A45.

History

During the 1960s and 1970s a southward extension was proposed as the „Odenwald-Neckar-Alb-Autobahn“ (ONAA), to pass through

Groß-Umstadt Groß-Umstadt (, , in contrast to " Little Umstadt") is a town in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hesse in Germany. It is near Darmstadt and Frankfurt, in the southeastern part of the Rhine-Main Metropolitan ...

Michelstadt Michelstadt () in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. It has a population of 28,629 people. Geography Location Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkre ...

Schwaigern Schwaigern () is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 12 km west of Heilbronn. Geography Neighbouring municipalities The neighbouring towns and municipalities of Schwaigern (clockwise) are: Leinga ...

Neckarwestheim Neckarwestheim is a municipality with 3524 inhabitants in the Heilbronn district, Baden-Württemberg, in south-west Germany. It is located on the Neckar river and is well known as the location of a nuclear power station, the Neckarwestheim Nucle ...

Mundelsheim Mundelsheim is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. It is located in the Ludwigsburg district, about 30 km north of Stuttgart and 20 km south of Heilbronn, on the Neckar river. It belongs to the Stuttgart Metropo ...

Berglen Berglen is a municipality in the district of Rems-Murr in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Geographical location The community Berglen is located about 25 kilometers east of Stuttgart in 300 to 450 meters altitude in the Keuper hill lan ...

Remshalden Remshalden is a municipality in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Rems, 8 km east of Waiblingen, and 18 km east of Stuttgart. Twin towns The twin towns of Remshalden are: * Gournay-en-B ...

Lichtenwald Lichtenwald is a municipality located in the Schurwald forest in the Esslingen (district), district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Situated on the state road L1151 between Reichenbach an der Fils (4 km) and Schorndorf (7 k ...

and Schlierbach, linking the ONAA to the A 8 near

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck (, ; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Esslingen (district), district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter (Neckar), Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It i ...

, however the project was abandoned for ecological reasons in 1979 by the state government of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Trajectory

The A 45 branches off the A 2 at the Dortmund Nord-West intersection, passes through the eastern

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

and enters the

near

. It then enters the

Siegerland The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoin ...

and 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 ...

, where the A 45 is joined by the A 66 between the interchanges ''

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

er Kreuz'' and ''

Langenselbold Langenselbold () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, 10 km east of Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfu ...

er Dreieck''. A short stretch of road, between junctions Alzenau and Mainhausen, is on

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 territory, then the A 45 merges with the A 3 at the interchange ''Seligenstädter Dreieck'' in the state of

, just to the west of the Bavarian city of

. The Rahmede viaduct near

was closed on 2 December 2021, due to damage to its structure. It was demolished in May 2023 and is due to be replaced.

Numerical listing of Exits and Junctions

References

External links

{{bundesautobahn 45 A045 A045 A045