The Autobahn is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is Bundesautobahn, which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word Bundesautobahn is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'.
A 3 and A 5 at Frankfurter Kreuz near Frankfurt am Main
Overhead signage on A 3
Part of the AVUS road in Berlin, the first automobile-only road, and served as an inspiration for Piero Puricelli's 1924 autostrada between Milan and the northern Italian lakes, the first motorway in the world.
Hitler ceremonially starts the excavation works for the first Austrian autobahn (1938).
Controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms include throughway or thruway and parkway. Some of these may be limited-access highways, although this term can also refer to a class of highways with somewhat less isolation from other traffic.
The cloverleaf interchange between US 131, M-6 and 68th Street in Cutlerville, Michigan, United States, shows many of the features of controlled-access highways: entry and exit ramps, median strips for opposing traffic, no at-grade intersections and no direct access to properties.
Typical overhead signage on Ontario's King's Highway network featuring an airport pictogram, distances to upcoming interchanges, and lane guidance
An aerial view of Finnish national road 3 (E12), a motorway between Tampere and Helsinki in Finland
Autostrada A1 (E35/E45) runs through Italy linking some of the largest cities of the country: Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples