Bundesstraße 8

"Via Publica" redirects here. For type of Roman road, see Roman roads § Viae publicae, consulares, praetoriae and militares.

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.

B 8
Bundesstraße 8
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

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 Zevenaar
	(NL)	border crossing
North Rhine-Westphalia
		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
Rheinland-Pfalz
		Altenkirchen (Westerwald) B 256 B 414
		Höchstenbach B 413
		Hahn am See B 255
		Wallmerod
Hesse
		Limburg an der Lahn B 54/ B 49 B 417
		Lahn
		Tunnel Schiede Tunnel 240 m
	(43)	Limburg-Süd A 3
		Bad Camberg
		Waldems-Esch B 275
		Königstein B 455 B 519
Motor road		Kraftfahrstraße
		Kelkheim B 519
		Bad Soden
		Sulzbach
End of the motor road		end of motor road
	(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
	(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 interchange A 66
		Hanau-Lamboy
		Hanau B 43
		Hanau
		Hanau-Wolfgang B 43a
Bayern
		Kahl
		Karlstein
	(45b)	Kleinostheim A 45
		Kleinostheim
	(58)	Aschaffenburg-West A 3
		Mainaschaff
Motor road		Kraftfahrstraße
		Mainaschaff-Ost/Aschaffenburg-Strietwald
End of the motor road		end of motor road
		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 3-way interchange B 22
	(72)	Rottendorf A 3
		Biebelried-West
	(103)	Kitzingen A 7
		Kitzingen
		Main
		Enzlar B 286
no lorries		Barred to lorry traffic
End of lorry-free section		Open to lorry traffic
Diversion		Neustadt/Aisch local diversion B 470
Motor road		Kraftfahrstraße
		Langenzenn/Wilhermsdorf
		Langenzenn-Burggrafenhof
		Langenzenn-Horbach (entry / exit )
		Seukendorf
		with southwest tangent, 3-way interchange B 8 branches off
Diversion		Fürth–Burgfarrnbach local diversion
		Fürth West
End of the motor road		end of motor road
		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
Diversion		Feucht local diversion
		Schwarzenbruck
		Pfeifferhütte
Diversion		Oberferrieden local diversion
		Postbauer-Heng
Diversion		Neumarkt-Pölling local diversion
Diversion		Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz local diversion B 299
		Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz
		Deining
Diversion		Batzhausen local diversion
		Seubersdorf
		Daßwang
Diversion		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
Diversion		Pfatter local diversion
Diversion		Rain local diversion
Diversion		Straubing local diversion
Diversion		Aiterhofen local diversion B 20
Diversion		Straßkirchen local diversion
	(22)	Plattling-West A 92
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 B 12 B 85
	(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)