Adolf and the Autobahn

Adolf only accepted designs for Autobahn bridges that fit in with nature and were aesthetically beautiful

The first freeways in the world were built in Germany. They were conceived by a poor struggling artist called Adolf Hitler. The books he read educated him on many aspects of city and road planning, and he had a knack to simplify complex problems, and a gift to keep ideas in harmony with nature. His dreams of wide safe beautiful roads led him to study bridges and architecture. He would later personally authorize bridge designs, and sometimes launch competitions where the best design and beauty would earn money and prestige. The freeways would be 24 metres in width, and be in harmony with the landscape. Local natural rock would be used in preference, to enhance the beautiful roads that came together and diverged like great works of art. Even service stations and restaurants were planned beforehand, blending in with local architecture and in harmony with the surroundings. The Autobahn project was also designed to provide work for the unemployed. Normal roads were usually paved with bitumen or asphalt which Germany had to import, but Germany had no foreign exchange at all, so it invented roads paved with concrete slabs, with all material available in Germany. The freeways were toll-free. Adolf would not penalize the public for travelling. Hundreds of new businesses sprang up along the 2,000km of freeway that were completed before the war. The new roads eliminated congestion on old roads and generated tax revenues from new businesses. Tourism and commerce flourished as never before. Autobahn

Germany celebrates the completion of the First section of the Autobahn in 1935. The whole world came, and saw, and copied.