Autobahn racer.

To travel along any freeway or autobahn.

TRAVEL BUGS ARE MEANT TO TRAVEL. PLEASE MOVE IT IN ANY DIRECTION - DON'T JUST DISCOVER.

The idea for the construction of the autobahn was first conceived during the days of the Weimar Republic, but apart from the AVUS in Berlin, construction was slow, and most projected sections did not progress much beyond the planning stage due to economic problems and a lack of political support. One project was the private initiative HaFraBa which planned a "car-only road" (the name autobahn was created in 1929) crossing Germany from Hamburg in the North via central Frankfurt am Main to Basel in Switzerland. Parts of the HaFraBa were completed in the 1930s and early 1940s, but construction eventually was halted by World War II.
Upon assuming power in January 1933, Adolf Hitler enthusiastically embraced an ambitious autobahn construction project. On 27 June 1933, the Reich government enacted the "Law on the Establishment of a 'Reichsautobahn' Enterprise". In accordance with Section 5 of this law, Hitler appointed Fritz Todt as Inspector General of German Roads. Soon, over 100,000 laborers worked at construction sites all over Germany. Sections 1 and 5 of the same law assigned responsibility for the oversight of the "Reichsautobahn" enterprise to the German railway company, the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). However, this arrangement was terminated on 23 January 1935 by a decree transferring control of the enterprise to Todt, on the grounds that the DRG had not given the necessary priority to the project.
As well as providing employment and improved infrastructure, necessary for economic recovery efforts, the project was also a great success for propaganda purposes. It has been said that another aim of the autobahn project, beyond creating national unity and strengthening centralized rule, was to provide mobility for the movement of military forces. This, however, overlooks the fact that gradients on autobahns built before the war were far too steep for the goods vehicles of the time. The autobahn's main purpose, then, was to enable a large proportion of the population to drive long distances in their own cars, enjoying the countryside along the way. This explains some of the autobahn's routing (as at Irschenberg on the A 8 from Munich to Salzburg) which offers spectacular views but is impractical for today's heavy goods traffic.
The autobahns formed the first limited-access, high-speed road network in the world, with the first section from Frankfurt am Main to Darmstadt opening in 1935. This straight section was used for high speed record attempts by the Grand Prix racing teams of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union until a fatal accident involving popular German race driver Bernd Rosemeyer in early 1938. A similar high speed section was built between Dessau and Halle.
During World War II, the central reservation of some autobahns were paved to allow their conversion into auxiliary airports. Aircraft were either concealed in numerous tunnels or camouflaged in nearby woods. However, for the most part, the autobahns were not militarily significant. Motor vehicles could not carry goods as quickly or in as much bulk as trains could, and the autobahns could not be used by tanks as their weight and caterpillar tracks tore up the roads' delicate surfaces. Furthermore, the general shortage of gasoline which Germany experienced during much of the war, as well as the relatively low number of trucks and motor vehicles badly needed for direct support of military operations, further decreased the attractiveness of autobahns for significant transport. As a result, most military and economic freight continued to be carried by rail. After the war, numerous sections of the autobahns were in bad shape, severely damaged by heavy Allied bombing and military demolition. As well, thousands of kilometers of autobahns remained unfinished, their construction brought to a halt by 1943 due to the increasing demands of the war effort.
In West Germany, following the war, most existing autobahns were soon repaired. During the 1950s, the West German government restarted the construction program; it continuously invested in new sections and in improvements to older ones. The finishing of the incomplete sections took longer, with some stretches being opened to traffic only in the 1980s. Some sections cut by the Iron Curtain in 1945 were only completed after German reunification in 1990. Finally, certain sections were never completed, as more advantageous routes were found. Some of these sections stretch across the landscape forming a unique type of modern ruin, often easily visible on satellite photographs.
The autobahns in East Germany (GDR) and the former German provinces of East Prussia, eastern Pomerania and Silesia in Poland and the Soviet Union after 1945 were grossly neglected in comparison to those in West Germany and Western Europe in general. They received minimal maintenance during the years of the Cold War.