Bundesstraße 8

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.

B8
Bundesstraße 8
Route information
Length	800 km (500 mi)
Major junctions
Northwest end	Emmerich am Rhein
Southeast end	Passau
Location
States	North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Bavaria
Highway system
Roads in Germany Autobahns List Federal List State E-roads

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

		from Arnhem N336
	(NL)	border crossing
North Rhine-Westphalia
		Elten
		Emmerich am Rhein B220
		Rees B67
		Wesel B473 B58 B70
	(1)	Dinslaken-West A59
replaced by L1
		Duisburg-Huckingen B288
		Düsseldorf-Wittlaer
		Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth
		Düsseldorf-Lohausen
	(30)	Düsseldorf-Stockum A44
		Düsseldorf-Derendorf B1/ B7
	(23)	Düsseldorf-Bilk B326 A46
replaced by A46 A59
		Düsseldorf-Benrath B228
	(23)	Düsseldorf-Garath A59
		Langenfeld B229
	(2)	Langenfeld-Reusrath A542
		Opladen B232
	(22)	Opladen A3
		Leverkusen-Wiesdorf
		Leverkusen A1
		Cologne B51 B506 B55 B55a
	(31)	Gremberghoven A59
	(36)	Lind A59
		Siegburg B56
replaced by L333
replaced by A560
	(7)	Hennef (Sieg)-Ost A560
Rheinland-Pfalz
		Altenkirchen (Westerwald) B256 B414
		Höchstenbach B413
		Hahn am See B255
		Wallmerod
Hesse
		Limburg an der Lahn B54/ B49 B417
		Lahn
		Tunnel Schiede Tunnel 240 m
	(43)	Limburg-Süd A3
		Bad Camberg
		Waldems-Esch B275
		Königstein B455 B519
Motor road		Kraftfahrstraße
		Kelkheim B519
		Bad Soden
		Sulzbach
End of the motor road		end of motor road
	(16)	Frankfurt-Höchst A66
replaced by A66
	(18)	Eschborner 3-way interchange A648
replaced by A648
	(3)	Westkreuz Frankfurt A5
	(5)	Katharinenkreisel (formerly Opelrondell) B44
	(-)	Frankfurt-Messe A648
	(21)	Frankfurt-Miquelallee A66
		Frankfurt am Main B3
	(14)	Frankfurt-Ost A661
	(33)	Maintal-Bischofsheim A66
replaced by A66
	(36)	Hanau-Nord B45 A66
	(37)	Erlensee interchange A66
		Hanau-Lamboy
		Hanau B43
		Hanau
		Hanau-Wolfgang B43a
Bayern
		Kahl
		Karlstein
	(45b)	Kleinostheim A45
		Kleinostheim
	(58)	Aschaffenburg-West A3
		Mainaschaff
Motor road		Kraftfahrstraße
		Mainaschaff-Ost/Aschaffenburg-Strietwald
End of the motor road		end of motor road
		Aschaffenburg B26
replaced by A3
	(65)	Marktheidenfeld A3
		Main
		Marktheidenfeld
	(67)	Helmstadt B468 A3
		Würzburg B27 B19 B13
		Main
		bei Rottendorf 3-way interchange B22
	(72)	Rottendorf A3
		Biebelried-West
	(103)	Kitzingen A7
		Kitzingen
		Main
		Enzlar B286
no lorries		Barred to lorry traffic
End of lorry-free section		Open to lorry traffic
Diversion		Neustadt/Aisch local diversion B470
Motor road		Kraftfahrstraße
		Langenzenn/Wilhermsdorf
		Langenzenn-Burggrafenhof
		Langenzenn-Horbach (entry / exit )
		Seukendorf
		with southwest tangent, 3-way interchange B8 branches off
Diversion		Fürth–Burgfarrnbach local diversion
		Fürth West
End of the motor road		end of motor road
		Fürth
	(38)	Nuremberg/Fürth A73
		Maximilianstraße B4 R
replaced by B4 R
		Nürnberg B2 B4 B14
		Münchener Straße B4 R
	(45)	Nuremberg-Zollhaus A73
replaced by A73
	(48)	Nuremberg/Feucht A73
Diversion		Feucht local diversion
		Schwarzenbruck
		Pfeifferhütte
Diversion		Oberferrieden local diversion
		Postbauer-Heng
Diversion		Neumarkt-Pölling local diversion
Diversion		Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz local diversion B299
		Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz
		Deining
Diversion		Batzhausen local diversion
		Seubersdorf
		Daßwang
Diversion		Hemau local diversion
		Nittendorf
	(97)	Nittendorf A3
	(39)	Regensburg-Pfaffenstein A93
		Regensburg B15 B16
		Nibelungen Bridge Regensburg
	(103)	Rosenhof A3
Diversion		Pfatter local diversion
Diversion		Rain local diversion
Diversion		Straubing local diversion
Diversion		Aiterhofen local diversion B20
Diversion		Straßkirchen local diversion
	(22)	Plattling-West A92
no lorries		Barred to lorry traffic
		Plattling
End of lorry-free section		Open to lorry traffic
Diversion		Osterhofen local diversion
		Vilshofen an der Donau
		Passau B12 B85
	(A)	border crossing
		continues towards Linz

See also

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