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The Drackensteiner Hang is a mountainside in the
Swabian Alps The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...
at
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 ...
in
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 ...
,
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 ...
.
Bundesautobahn 8 is an autobahn in southern Germany that runs 497 km (309 mi) from the Luxembourg A13 motorway at Schengen via Neunkirchen, Pirmasens, Karlsruhe, Pforzheim, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and Munich to the Austrian West Autobahn near S ...
between
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
and
Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...
divides into separate northbound and southbound routes on either side of the peak. The two halves of the
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 ...
each traverse one tunnel and a series of two or three
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
s that were designed by
Paul Bonatz Paul Bonatz (6 December 1877 – 20 December 1956) was a German architect, member of the Stuttgart School and professor at the technical university in that city during part of World War II, and from 1954 until his death. He worked in many styl ...
and built for the
Reichsautobahn The system was the beginning of the German autobahns under Nazi Germany. There had been previous plans for controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traf ...
; the bridges were all destroyed in
World War II 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 ...
and had to be rebuilt, and the route in one direction was only completed in the 1950s. A project to reroute the autobahn with new tunnels and bridges has been postponed indefinitely.


Route

The entire segment is long. The separated sections, which are some apart at the furthest and over which the autobahn rises or descends , lie between
Mühlhausen im Täle Mühlhausen im Täle is a municipality of the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Mühlhausen im Täle was first mentioned in 812. In the 12th century, it became a possession of the County of Helfenstein, who ruled th ...
and
Hohenstadt Hohenstadt is a municipality in the Göppingen district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Hohenstadt was sold in 1483 by the County of Helfenstein to the Lords of Westerstetten, who would in 1485 cede half of the township to the County ...
, where there is an emergency access road. North of Mühlhausen, traffic southbound from
Aichelberg Aichelberg () is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Göppingen (district), Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Aichelberg is between Stuttgart and Ulm at the ''Albaufstieg'', the slope of the Swabian J ...
, where the first viaduct is located, climbs up the north-west-facing slope of the Swabian Alps, known as the Albtrauf, crosses the long Mustobel Viaduct and travels a further through a mountain valley and the valley of the Winkelbach to the upper reaches of the River Fils, descending approximately near Gruibingen. The southbound carriageway is long, crossing the Fils northeast of Mühlhausen and then climbing to the long Todsburg Bridge, which skirts the Steinbühl ( above sea level) near the Todsburger Höhle cave. It then continues to climb, crossing the long Malakoff Bridge and passing through the long Lämmerbuckel Tunnel before rejoining the other carriageway at Hohenstadt. The northbound carriageway, long, passes through the long Nasenfels Tunnel and skirts the Drackensteiner Hang proper on the long Drachenloch Bridge (named for the 'dragon's cave', sealed off in the building of the motorway, the story of which is presumed to have given the name to the cliffside and the community of
Drackenstein Drackenstein is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Geographical location Drackenstein is located on the slope between the Gosbach valley and the plateau of the Swabian Jura, about ...
), the long Himmelsleiter Bridge and the long Fischerhäusle Bridge before crossing the Fils west of Gosbach.


History

The segment was built during the
Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
as part of Reichsautobahn 26 between Munich and Stuttgart. Work began in 1936 and continued on the southbound section of divided carriageway until 1942, when it stopped because of World War II. The carriageways were divided because of the steepness of the mountainside: having the entire four lanes skirt the same side of the peak was not technically feasible, and stacking the carriageways one above the other would have been too expensive. The impact of large supports under a four-lane structure on the beauty of the landscape was also a consideration, as it had been in the Aichelberg section, which was built stacked to minimise this. There was a viaduct at the Aichelberg and another over the Franzosenschlucht, at Gruibingen. For the divided sections, Paul Bonatz was the primary bridge designer, in collaboration with Wilhelm Tiedje as engineer.Hartmut Frank, "Bridges: Paul Bonatz's Search for a Contemporary Monumental Style", in: ''The Nazification of Art: Art, Design, Music, Architecture and Film in the Third Reich'', ed. Brandon Taylor, and Wilfried van der Will, Winchester studies in art and criticism, Winchester, Hampshire: Winchester Press, Winchester School of Art, 1990, , pp. 144–57, p. 154. The northbound carriageway was completed in record time and opened on 30 October 1937 carrying traffic in a single lane in each direction.Drackensteiner Hang.de > Abstieg
, with many photographs including construction.
Small viewing points were provided on the valley side of the road, and the viaducts were used for advertising the beauty of the autobahns, and became well known. Except for the Lämmerbuckel Tunnel, begun in late autumn 1937, work on the southbound route began in 1938, and it was not complete when construction was halted in 1942.
, with many photographs including construction.
The almost finished Lämmerbuckel Tunnel was then closed at both ends with heavy gates and used for production of aircraft engines and other armaments by Heller and
Daimler-Benz Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...
; heating, lighting and living quarters were provided inside.A 8 Lämmerbuckeltunnel / Geschichte
eAutobahn
The land above the tunnel is still owned by
Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...
, who have a training centre there. On 20 April 1945, the retreating
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
blew up the Franzosenschlucht Viaduct and the Aichelberg Viaduct on the segment of motorway north of the division of routes. Temporary wooden bridges replaced them until 1951. The Drachenloch Bridge had already been blown up on 19 March; the debris remains in the valley and this area and the land around the other two viaducts on the northbound section, the Himmelsleiter Bridge and Fischerhäusle Bridge, are a protected historic landmark. The unfinished central section of the Lämmerbuckel Tunnel was also collapsed with explosives. The southbound carriageway was finally completed in 1955–57, with work including completion of both viaducts, creation of the road bed and retaining walls (using concrete, rather than the paving stones and masonry that had been used for the northbound section), and installation of bomb shelters in the Lämmerbuckel Tunnel, which when the segment finally opened on 25 May 1957, was the longest motorway tunnel in Europe. To enable repairs to be made to the northbound carriageway, traffic in both directions then used the southbound route until May–June 1960. Traffic on the Aichelberg segment increased hugely, from a daily average of 31,500 in 1974 to almost 50,000 in 1989, with peak loads of 75,000 a day, and both traffic jams and accidents were common. Lorries, in particular, found the gradient of almost 7% difficult to negotiate. The aging Franzosenschlucht Viaduct was supported with props in places.Der Albaufstieg am Aichelberg > Die alte Autobahn 1951 bis 1985
Between 1985 and 1990, the Aichelberg segment was extensively rebuilt, widened to the now normal three lanes in each direction, and straightened. Two new bridges were built—the Maustobel Bridge replaces a tight 'forest curve', and both the Aichelberg and Franzosenschlucht Viaducts were replaced on different sites—a
wildlife crossing Wildlife crossings are structures that allow animals to cross human-made barriers safely. Wildlife crossings may include underpass tunnels or wildlife tunnels, viaducts, and overpasses or green bridges (mainly for large or herd-type animals ...
was constructed, and a stream was diverted. In 2005, plans were completed to similarly replace the divided routes around the mountain at the Drackensteiner Hang with a single more direct three-lane route between Mühlhausen and a new Hohenstadt intersection at Widderstall. The route is to include two new tunnels (Himmelsschleife, long and Drackenstein, long) and two new bridges over the Fils and Gosbach valleys ( and long).Drackensteiner Hang.de > Gegenwart
(with map).
The plan foresees retention of the southbound route as a rural road, with most of the northbound route being returned to a natural state, as was done after the rerouting of the Aichelberg section. The work, estimated to take five years, was to have been funded by a private investor who would then operate the segment as a
toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...
, the first in the German autobahn system to be funded and operated privately. However, an economic feasibility study showed this to be impractical. The plan is now indefinitely postponed, although it was listed as a priority for use of construction funds in the 2011–15 period by the German
Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
,
Peter Ramsauer Peter Ramsauer (born 10 February 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) who served as the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development in the Second Merkel cabinet. Early life and educatio ...
. In 2011, the Lämmerbuckel Tunnel was completely renovated, including replacement of the wall tiles installed in the 1950s by moisture-resistant concrete and improvement of emergency facilities.


Aesthetics

Paul Bonatz's viaducts at the Drackensteiner Hang have been praised as an example of "monumentality and daring in harmonious balance".Rainer Stommer, "Triumph der Technik: Autobahnbrücken zwischen Ingenieuraufgabe und Kulturdenkmal", in: ''Reichsautobahn: Pyramiden des Dritten Reichs'', pp. 49–76 , picture caption, p. 72: "Monumentalität und Kühnheit in harmonischer Ausgewogenheit". File:Albaufstieg bei Wiesensteig.jpg, Malakoff Bridge; in the foreground, Wiesensteig File:Lämmerbuckeltunnel.jpg, entrance to Lämmerbuckel Tunnel File:Nasenfelstunnel, 2022.jpg, Nasenfels Tunnel File:Drachenlochbrücke.jpg, Drachenloch Bridge


References


Further reading

* Martin Hahn. "'Deutschlands schönste Autobahnstrecke'. Der Autobahn-Albaufstieg/-abstieg am Drackensteiner Hang". ''Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg'' 42.1 (2013) 41–43
pdf
{{Coord, 48, 32, 30, N, 9, 38, 54, E, dim:500_region:DE-BW_type:landmark, display=title Göppingen (district) Geography of Baden-Württemberg Autobahns in Germany Nazi architecture Swabian Jura