In 1933, the Nazi regime—picking up the groundwork laid in 1926 of one highway connecting Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Basel—authorized the large-scale construction of the Autobahn, the most extensive highway system of its time. Planners completed 3,800 kilometers (with an initial goal of 7,000) of the Autobahn by 1941, when the Nazis suspended all plans due to dwindling resources. The practical use for such a highway system was very limited—there were few private vehicles (roughly 2 million in 1935), car manufacturing flopped, and there’s no evidence it drastically helped the economy. However, the Nazi regime saw the project as a way to propagandize Germany’s technological superiority. Although two initiatives appeared to account for environmental considerations—native roadside planting and sweeping roadways—both were driven by aesthetics. The Autobahn’s landscape architects, who were at the mercy of the civil engineers, had to advocate for years before either were implemented. Sweeping curves were eventually built to enhance driving awareness and present appeasing landscapes to drivers; native roadside flora was planted to improve the driving experience. Both initiatives fit under the ideology of “landscape enhancement” that thrived under Nazi racialization.
Contributed by Preston Schmitt
Course: Modern Global Environmental History
Instructor: Dr. Wilko Graf von Hardenberg
University of Wisconsin–Madison, US