Germany’s first high-speed roadway was actually a closed-circuit experimental racetrack that covered some 12 miles (19 km) near Berlin. Unveiled in 1921, this proto-autobahn inspired several other countries to follow with their own versions of high-speed expressways. In the 1930s Hitler exploited the autobahn for economic, military, and propaganda purposes, but during World War II this German innovation—regarded as a model for modern expressways—was battered. The West German government greatly extended the system from 700 miles (1,125 km) in 1950 to more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) by the time of unification. With powerful German automobiles able to cruise at their top speeds without speed limits, the autobahn gained an aura of automobile-centerd romanticism throughout the world in the second half of the 20th century. However, road construction has encountered serious opposition from the country’s environmentalist movement, and in inhabited areas the roads sometimes have been narrowed rather than widened to reduce traffic speed. Because the growth of the system has been slower than the growth of traffic, congestion is a serious problem, especially on motorways in industrial areas. Attempts to divert shipment of goods to the railways have not prevented a steady rise in the transport of goods by road. The current length of the entire network is more than 7,400 miles (12,000 km), making it the third largest system in the world, after those of the United States and China. Western German motorways have direct transfrontier connections with the similar systems of Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Austria.

With a lower growth rate of motor traffic (and an official policy of giving preference to the railroads), postwar construction of motorways was less advanced in East Germany. There were some improvements in central Germany, and new links to the ports of Rostock and Hamburg were constructed. The Berliner Ring, a circle of expressways around the city, was completed in 1979. With reunification, many transboundary roads were reopened and road surfaces improved. However, the construction of new roads has been hindered by conflicts between those seeking greater accessibility for automobiles and those seeking to protect the landscape and reduce air pollution.

Air transport

Germany’s major long-distance airline is Lufthansa, though there also are a number of other carriers that service European and North American destinations. Frankfurt’s airport, one of the world’s busiest, is the country’s largest. Airports in Düsseldorf, Munich, and Berlin (Tegel) are also of major importance. During the period of partition, passenger traffic from West Germany to West Berlin was restricted to the airlines of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. After unification, Berlin was opened to German carriers and indeed to carriers of other countries. East Germany had discouraged internal air traffic and the growth of regional airports, using the rail and Berlin subway systems to serve its major international airport, Berlin-Schönefeld, south of the city. During the late 1990s, expansion of Schönefeld began. The expanded Schönefeld would, upon its completion, be renamed Berlin Brandenburg Airport. With the closing of Templehof Airport in 2008 and the planned closing of Tegel, Berlin Brandenburg was scheduled to become Berlin’s only commercial airport by 2011. However, planning errors, cost overruns, and mismanagement led to massive delays in the completion of Berlin Brandenburg, and the airport did not open until 2020.

Telecommunications

After World War II West Germany developed an advanced telecommunications system. By contrast, the East German telephone system was completely insufficient; people requesting a telephone often were faced with a wait of up to 12 years. The deficiencies of the telecommunications system were a major impediment to the restructuring of the administration and the economy following unification, but by the late 1990s rapid reconstruction of the system using current technology made eastern Germany a world leader in advanced telecommunications infrastructure.

The leading German telecommunications company is Deutsche Telekom AG. During the late 1990s the entire sector was liberalized, increasing the number of telecommunications firms and competition for Deutsche Telekom from companies such as Vodafone and Telefónica Germany. The adoption of telecommunications services by German consumers has been widespread, particularly for cellular services. By the second decade of the 21st century, cellular subscriptions outnumbered people in Germany by a ratio of more than 1.25 to 1. By 2013 almost 85 percent of the population used the Internet regularly.