is an autobahn in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, connecting Dortmund

Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....

 in the west with Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...

 in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland

Sauerland

The Sauerland is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited...

, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen

Hagen

Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...

 and Siegen

Siegen

Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...

. Many people think of it as the Queen of autobahns, for no autobahn runs over a greater number of bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s. The highest bridge is the Talbrücke Sichter between Lüdenscheid

Lüdenscheid

Lüdenscheid is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Lüdenscheid is seat of the administration of the Märkischer Kreis district...

 and Meinerzhagen

Meinerzhagen

Meinerzhagen is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Meinerzhagen is located in the hills of the Sauerland. The highest elevation is the Nordhelle with 663 m above sea level, the lowest elevation at the Lister dam with 319m...

 at 530 metres above mean sea level

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

.

History

During the 1960s and 1970s a southward extension, then called „Odenwald-Neckar-Alb-Autobahn“ (ONAA) was proposed to pass via Groß-Umstadt

Groß-Umstadt

Groß-Umstadt is a town in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany. It is near Darmstadt and Frankfurt on the northern border of the Odenwald and is on the edge of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region. The highest point of the town is the Heidelberg .The population is...

, Michelstadt

Michelstadt

Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg.- Location :Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkreis and borders on the district seat of Erbach....

, Schwaigern

Schwaigern

Schwaigern is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 12 km west of Heilbronn.-Neighbouring municipalities:...

, Neckarwestheim

Neckarwestheim

Neckarwestheim is a municipality with 3524 inhabitants in the Heilbronn district, Baden-Württemberg, in south-west Germany. It is located on the Neckar river and is well known as the location of a nuclear power station.-Geographical position:...

, Mundelsheim

Mundelsheim

Mundelsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is situated on the Neckar river, which flows into the Rhine. It is situated in the northern portion of the district of Ludwigsburg and borders the southern edge of the district of Heilbronn....

, Berglen

Berglen

Berglen is a municipality in the district of Rems-Murr in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....

, Remshalden

Remshalden

Remshalden is a municipality in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Rems, 8 km east of Waiblingen, and 18 km east of Stuttgart.-Twin towns:...

, Lichtenwald

Lichtenwald

Lichtenwald is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany....

 and Schlierbach

Schlierbach

Schlierbach may refer to:* Schlierbach , a town in the district of Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany* Schlierbach, Haut-Rhin, commune in France* Heidelberg-Schlierbach, a district of the city of Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany...

, linking the ONAA to the A 8

Bundesautobahn 8

is an autobahn in southern Germany that runs 497 km from the Luxembourg A13 motorway at Schengen via Neunkirchen, Pirmasens, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and Munich to the Austrian West Autobahn near Salzburg....

 near Kirchheim unter Teck

Kirchheim unter Teck

Kirchheim unter Teck is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is situated near the Teck castle, approximatively 25 km southeast of Stuttgart...

, however the project was abandoned due to ecological reasons in 1979 by the state government of Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

.

Trajectory

The A 45 branches off the A 2 at the Kreuz Dortmund Nord-West, passes through the eastern Ruhr area

Ruhr Area

The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...

 and enters the Sauerland

Sauerland

The Sauerland is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited...

 near Hagen

Hagen

Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...

. It then enters the Siegerland

Siegerland

The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoining it to the west.Geologically, the Siegerland belongs to the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge...

 and the state of Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

, where the A 45 is joined by the A 66

Bundesautobahn 66

is an autobahn in southwestern Germany. It connects the Taunus to Fulda, passing close to Frankfurt am Main. The first part of the autobahn between Wiesbaden and the Nordwestkreuz Frankfurt, was opened as early as 1934, then called the Rhein-Main-Schnellweg. It became an autobahn in 1965.The...

 between the interchanges Hanau

Hanau

Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...

er Kreuz and Langenselbold

Langenselbold

Langenselbold is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, 10 km east of Hanau....

er Dreieck. A short stretch of road, between junctions Alzenau and Mainhausen, is on Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

n territory, then the A 45 merges with the A 3 at the interchange Seligenstädter Dreieck in the state of Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

, just to the west of the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...

.

Numerical listing of Exits and Junctions

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