Bundesstraße 8

Federal Highway 8
Bundesstraße 8 (German)
Route information
Length	800 km (500 mi)
Major junctions
Northwest end	Emmerich am Rhein
Southeast end	Passau
Location
Country	Germany
States	North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Bavaria
Highway system
Roads in Germany Autobahns List Federal List State E-roads

The Bundesstraße 8 (abbr. B8) is a German federal highway in southwestern Germany of great historical importance. It has existed since the 9th century, known then as Via Publica, and until recent times was a key trade route linking the towns of Brussels, Duisburg, Cologne, Frankfurt, Würzburg, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Passau. Today it has been replaced as a main route by the A3 motorway, which runs parallel to it.

History

The Via Publica (later known as the Poststraße or Handelsstraße) was first mentioned in 839 in a diploma of Louis the Pious. In the Middle Ages it joined the commercial cities of Cologne, Frankfurt, Nuremberg and Regensburg. The Steinerne Brücke bridge in Regensburg (1135–46), the Innbrücke bridge in Passau (1143), the Lahnbrücke bridge in Limburg (completed 1341) and the main bridges in Würzburg (1133), Frankfurt (before 1222) and Kitzingen (before 1300) are among the oldest stone bridges in central Europe and testify to the historical importance of this road.

In 1615, the general postmaster Lamoral von Taxis was tasked by emperor Matthias with setting up a postal route between Brussels and Prague, via Frankfurt and Nuremberg. To achieve this the Via Publica was expanded to a Poststraße. The present day Bundesstraße 8 is largely identical to the Via Publica. The medieval trade route largely used dry level roads rather than the valleys, which were swampy and impassible after rain. Part of the Via Publcia was referred to as the Mauspfad.

Route / Junctions

State	District	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
from Zevenaar
		NL–DE border
			Elten
			Emmerich am Rhein B 220
			Rees B 67
			Wesel B 473 / B 58 / B 70
		1	Dinslaken-West A 59
replaced by L1
			Duisburg-Huckingen B 288
			Düsseldorf-Wittlaer
			Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth
			Düsseldorf-Lohausen
		30	Düsseldorf-Stockum A 44
			Düsseldorf-Derendorf B 1/ B 7
		23	Düsseldorf-Bilk B 326 A 46
replaced by A 46 / A 59
			Düsseldorf-Benrath B 228
		23	Düsseldorf-Garath A 59
			Langenfeld B 229
		2	Langenfeld-Reusrath A 542
			Opladen B 232
		22	Opladen A 3
			Leverkusen-Wiesdorf
			Leverkusen A 1
			Cologne B 51 / B 506 / B 55 / B 55a
		31	Gremberghoven A 59
		36	Lind A 59
			Siegburg B 56
replaced by L333
replaced by A 560
		7	Hennef (Sieg)-Ost A 560
			Altenkirchen (Westerwald) B 256 / B 414
			Höchstenbach B 413
			Hahn am See B 255
			Wallmerod
			Limburg an der Lahn B 54 / B 49 / B 417
		Lahn
		Schiede Tunnel 240 m Tunnel
		43	Limburg-Süd A 3
			Bad Camberg
			Waldems-Esch B 275
			Königstein B 455 / B 519
		Limited-access highway begins
			Kelkheim B 519
			Bad Soden
			Sulzbach
		Limited-access highway ends
		16	Frankfurt-Höchst A 66
replaced by A 66
		18	Eschborner 3-way interchange A 648
replaced by A 648
		3	Westkreuz Frankfurt A 5	(19)
		5	Katharinenkreisel (formerly Opelrondell) B 44
		-	Frankfurt-Messe A 648
		21	Frankfurt-Miquelallee A 66
			Frankfurt am Main B 3
		14	Frankfurt-Ost A 661
		33	Maintal-Bischofsheim A 66
replaced by A 66
		36	Hanau-Nord B 45 A 66
		37	Erlensee A 66
			Hanau-Lamboy
			Hanau B 43
			Hanau
			Hanau-Wolfgang B 43a
			Kahl
			Karlstein
		45b	Kleinostheim A 45
			Kleinostheim
		58	Aschaffenburg-West A 3
			Mainaschaff
		Limited-access highway begins
			Mainaschaff-Ost/Aschaffenburg-Strietwald
		Limited-access highway ends
			Aschaffenburg B 26
replaced by A 3
		65	Marktheidenfeld A 3
		Main
			Marktheidenfeld
		67	Helmstadt B 468 / A 3
			Würzburg B 27 / B 19 / B 13
		Main
			bei Rottendorf B 22
		72	Rottendorf A 3
			Biebelried-West
		103	Kitzingen A 7
			Kitzingen
		Main
			Enzlar B 286
		Truck traffic prohibition begins
		Truck traffic prohibition ends
			Neustadt/Aisch B 470 local diversion
		Limited-access highway begins
			Langenzenn/Wilhermsdorf
			Langenzenn-Burggrafenhof
			Langenzenn-Horbach (entry / exit )
			Seukendorf
			with southwest tangent, B 8 branches off
			Fürth–Burgfarrnbach local diversion
			Fürth West
		Limited-access highway ends
			Fürth
		38	Nuremberg/Fürth A 73
			Maximilianstraße B 4 R
replaced by B 4 R
			Nürnberg B 2 / B 4 / B 14
			Münchener Straße B 4 R
		45	Nuremberg-Zollhaus A 73
replaced by A 73
		48	Nuremberg/Feucht A 73
			Feucht local diversion
			Schwarzenbruck
			Pfeifferhütte
			Oberferrieden local diversion
			Postbauer-Heng
			Neumarkt-Pölling local diversion
			Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz B 299 local diversion
			Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz
			Deining
			Batzhausen local diversion
			Seubersdorf
			Daßwang
			Hemau local diversion
			Nittendorf
		97	Nittendorf A 3
		39	Regensburg-Pfaffenstein A 93
			Regensburg B 15 / B 16
		Nibelungen Bridge Regensburg
		103	Rosenhof A 3
			Pfatter local diversion
			Rain local diversion
			Straubing local diversion
			Aiterhofen B 20 local diversion
			Straßkirchen local diversion
		22	Plattling-West A 92
		Truck traffic prohibition begins
			Plattling
		Truck traffic prohibition ends
			Osterhofen local diversion
			Vilshofen an der Donau
			Passau B 12 / B 85
		A–DE border
continues towards Linz

See also

• Transport in Germany
• List of federal highways in Germany (in English)
• List of federal highways in Germany (in German)