<P> There are also some very short autobahns built just for local traffic (e.g. ring roads or the A 555 from Cologne to Bonn) that usually have three digits for numbering . The first digit used is similar to the system above, depending on the region . East - west routes are always even - numbered, north - south routes are always odd - numbered . </P> <P> The north - south autobahns are generally numbered using odd numbers from west to east; that is to say, the more easterly roads are given higher numbers . Similarly, the east - west routes are numbered using even numbers from north (lower numbers) to south (higher numbers). </P> <P> The idea for the construction of the autobahn was first conceived in the mid-1920s during the days of the Weimar Republic, but the construction was slow, and most projected sections did not progress much beyond the planning stage due to economic problems and a lack of political support . One project was the private initiative HaFraBa which planned a "car only road" crossing Germany from Hamburg in the north via central Frankfurt am Main to Basel in Switzerland . Parts of the HaFraBa were completed in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but construction eventually was halted by World War II . The first public road of this kind was completed in 1932 between Cologne and Bonn and opened by Konrad Adenauer (Lord Mayor of Cologne and future Chancellor of West Germany) on 6 August 1932 . Today, that road is the Bundesautobahn 555 . This road was not yet called Autobahn and lacked a center median like modern motorways, but instead was termed a Kraftfahrstraße ("motor vehicle road") with two lanes each direction without intersections, pedestrians, bicycles, or animal - powered transportation . </P> <P> Just days after the 1933 Nazi takeover, Adolf Hitler enthusiastically embraced an ambitious autobahn construction project, appointing Fritz Todt, the Inspector General of German Road Construction, to lead it . By 1936, 130,000 workers were directly employed in construction, as well as an additional 270,000 in the supply chain for construction equipment, steel, concrete, signage, maintenance equipment, etc . In rural areas, new camps to house the workers were built near construction sites . The job creation program aspect was not especially important because full employment was almost reached by 1936 . The autobahns were not primarily intended as major infrastructure improvement of special value to the military as often stated . Their military value was limited as all major military transports in Germany were done by train to save fuel . The propaganda ministry turned the construction of the autobahns into a major media event that attracted international attention . </P>

When did germany's 'autobahn' open for the first time