The first European Autobahn was built between Milan and Varese in 1924, whereas German Autobahn number one was built in 1929, four years before the Nazis came to power. It aimed to ease congestion between the Rhine cities of Cologne and Bonn and it was opened by the famous post-war chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In fact, the Nazis spent their early years actively campaigning against the Autobahn because they were convinced that it would only benefit rich capitalists and Jews.

Hitler changed tack and launched a propaganda drive promoting Autobahn construction after the Nazis gained power in 1933. First the unemployed were dispatched to build them and when war broke out it was the turn of forced labourers who suffered hunger and death.

Nowadays the Autobahn is famous for being one of the few road networks in the world which has sections without any speed limit at all: a paradise for testosterone-psyched Porsche drivers and the mighty German car industry. They hope that the Autobahn will last forever. But along the Rhine these days, Autobahn traffic congestion has become such a problem, that the authorities are busy building a successor – a bicycle Bahn.