A short history of Germany’s Autobahn

Driving top-speed on Germany’s autobahn is a bucket-list item for many petrolheads. The experience is both exhilarating and exhausting - a stark contrast to setting cruise control to 110km/h for hours on Australia’s dusty national highways.

In this quick history lesson, we’ll take a look at Germany’s infamous speed-limit-free highways. Why are there no speed limits? Can you really drive as fast as you want? Are there lots of accidents? And our best tips for driving on the autobahn if you're game enough to do so.

What is the history of the autobahn?

While conceived in the 1920s, autobahn projects never gained the political support to really get off the ground until the Nazi takeover in the 1930s. They were not strictly designed for military use, as often stated, but rather a major propaganda tool for the Nazi regime that gained major international media attention as the first limited-access, high-speed road network in the world.

At the outbreak of the war, construction slowed due to a lack of materials and workers, and trains were favoured over roads due to petrol shortages and speed. By the end of the war, less than one-quarter of the planned network had been completed.

However, with the proliferation of motor cars for the middle class after the war, West Germany set about completing the project. In doing so, they also abolished all speed limits, seeing them as Nazi relics.

A speed limit of 100km/h was introduced in 1973 due to an oil crisis but was repealed just months later after public outcry. Since then, any proposed legislation to set a hard speed limit has been vehemently rejected.

As of 2021, Germany's autobahn network totals 13,192 kilometres, one of the densest in the world.

Is the speed really unlimited?

Around 70% of the country’s highway network is unlimited. When there is no official speed limit (designated by a grey circle with diagonal black lines) there is an advisory speed limit of 130km/h, and temporary limits in case of bad weather or roadworks. The majority of cars do go faster than that, and while it’s legal, in the event of a crash, a driver's liability may increase if speed plays a part, even if the driver was not at fault.

While your small rental car might not have the power to reach 250km/h anyway, German automakers do have a "gentlemen's agreement" to limit the top speed of their sports cars to 250km/h.

Autobahns will normally have between three to four lanes of traffic, so the far right (opposite to Australia) is for the slowest drivers (they will probably sit on around 130km/h), the middle lanes are for faster drivers (often between 130-150km/h)while the far left lane is reserved for the fastest drivers who may be going anywhere between 160km/h - 250km/h.

The discrepancy in pace in this lane is what causes many accidents.

If you’re thinking those speeds surely must cause huge pile-ups, you’d be right. Germany’s road fatality rate is consistently dropping, however, it does have a high accident rate. Pile-ups involving multiple cars leave motorists stuck in hours-long (Stau!) traffic jams all over the country.

In 2017, 409 people died on the autobahn with speed being the reason behind almost half of those fatalities, according to the German Statistics Office. While the amount of accidents on the speed-limited highways is 26% less than on the unlimited sections. Although it must be said, Germany does invest a lot of money on road repairs and re-engineering in an attempt to keep the autobahns safe.

Any tips for driving on the autobahn?

If you are keen to get into the left lane and test your speed, always keep an eye on the rear vision mirror as speedsters will suddenly appear out of nowhere, and expect you to quickly merge back to your right to let them pass. If you don’t, you can expect an aggressive light flash and a honk until you do.

Don’t test your limits in wet or icy conditions, if you’re extra tired after a long flight, or if you’ve just picked up a new rental car. And if you’re really keen to put your pedal to the metal, read more about where you can rent a Porsche for a day in Germany in our car lover's guide to Germany.

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