The expressway network in Europe developed into an essential
infrastructure of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century and
provided means of commuting, as well as accommodated leisure travel and
the cargo supply for the mass consumption society. This book discusses,
how expressways were developed in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It
focuses on the various forerunner projects and the role of the Hafraba
association, which has been significant in the Hessian region, with its
actors in Kassel, Frankfurt and Darmstadt. It is shown, how the Autobahn
concept developed, from the Italian expressways to the Bonn-Cologne
Autobahn and to the design of the Nazi Autobahn project. The
Bonn-Cologne Autobahn was the first Autobahn in Germany, opened in 1932
by Konrad Adenauer, later Chancellor of West-Germany. This Autobahn
section is here explored for the first time. As part of the Nazi Mega
Project various regional legs are explored and for the first time drawn
to scholary attention: The leg Frankfurt-Kassel-Göttingen, the leg
Frankfurt-Darmstadt-Heidelberg-Karlsruhe and the leg Munich-Salzburg.
The goals of the Nazi mega project are evaluated. Further the book
shows, how traffic on the Autobahn developed and which experiences were
made by driving on the Autobahn. The book discusses various approaches
towards a theory on infrastructure.
