''Gastarbeiterroute'' is a

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and usage (language), linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of p ...

term originating in the 1970s. It referred to the former European route 5, which started in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and terminated in either

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. In summer, as well as for Christmas and Easter, so-called ''

gastarbeiter (; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...

s'' working in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

would drive their automobiles south on the ''gastarbeiterroute'' through Austria and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

to their countries of origin. It was notoriously dangerous for drivers and passengers who traveled on congested roads not suited to such heavy traffic. The route ran from Munich on the German

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 Sa ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

and further southwards on the Austrian

Tauern Autobahn The Tauern Autobahn (A 10) is an autobahn (motorway) in Austria. It starts at the Salzburg junction with the West Autobahn (A1), runs southwards, crosses the Tauern mountain range on the main chain of the Alps and leads to the Süd Autobahn (A2 ...

, which then ended at Golling at the northern rim of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

. Drivers had to take the highway (''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' ( German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraße ...

'') to

Bischofshofen Bischofshofen () is a town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg. It is an important traffic junction located both on the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway line and at the Tauern Autobahn, a major highway route c ...

Radstadt Radstadt (Central Bavarian: ''Rodstoud'' or ''Rodstod'') is a historic town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography The town is part of the Salzburg Pongau region. It is located in the valley of the ...

, and through the Enns valley to

Liezen Liezen (Central Bavarian: ''Liezn'') is a municipality in the Austrian federal state of Styria, district capital of the district of the same name and economic center on the River Enns. Population Politics Since 1995, the left-wing SPÖ party ...

Leoben Leoben () is a Styrian city in central Austria, located on the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial centre and hosts the University of Leoben, which specialises in mining. The Peace of Leoben, an armistice betwe ...

Bruck an der Mur Bruck an der Mur is a city of some 13,500 people located in the district Bruck-Mürzzuschlag, in the Austrian state of Styria. It is located at the confluence of the Mur and Mürz Rivers. Its manufacturing includes metal products and paper. Br ...

, and

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popu ...

. The route passed the Austrian–Yugoslav border at

Spielfeld Spielfeld ( Slovene: ''Špilje'') is a former municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Straß in Steiermark. It was an Austria-Slovenia ...

and ran further south to

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava stati ...

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

, and

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

. From Zagreb, the notorious

Brotherhood and Unity Highway The Brotherhood and Unity Highway (; ; or , ), officially classed as the M-1 highway, was a highway that stretched over across Yugoslavia, from the Austrian border at Jesenice in the northwest via Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade and Skopje to Gevge ...

(''Autoput'') led to

Belgrad Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 millio ...

and

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, whil ...

, where the route forked: one branch led via

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; ...

and

Evzoni Evzonoi ( el, Εύζωνοι, , before 1927: Ματσίκοβο - ''Matsikovo'', , mk, Мачуково, bg, Мачуково, ''Machukovo'') is a town in Kilkis regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. The main border crossing between Greec ...

to Thessaloniki, the other branch ran southeastwards along the ancient ''Via Militaris'' through

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

to Istanbul.

References

{{reflist Road transport in Germany

See also

References