Book: Lockruf des Südens (“Lure of the South”)

Where do Germans travel during their summer holidays in pandemic times? Normally, they might head off to the United States, Canada, or some other foreign destination. But that’s impossible and/or inadvisable in the Covid era. A dream road trip on historic U.S. Route 66, or cruising along California’s coastal Highway One just can’t happen right now if you’re in Europe or many other places in the Covid-19 era.

A tree-lined Allee (avenue) stretch of the B3 highway near Hanover. PHOTO: Wolfgang Groeger-Meier

A few years ago German photographer and author Wolfgang Groeger-Meier discovered a German alternative: Bundesstraße 3, the German federal highway also known as the B3. This mostly two-lane highway spans Germany in the same way old U.S. 66 meanders across the USA. Like Route 66, the B3 highway takes motorists away from the high-speed autobahn and offers a more leisurely journey to interesting cities and attractions along the way. The main difference is that the B3 highway runs north-south, while U.S. 66 takes a more east-west route. Despite a few other differences (length, landscape, history, etc.), Groeger-Meier soon realized he had found an appealing German parallel to Route 66.

Bundesstraße 3 sign IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons

The B3 connects Buxtehude near Hamburg in northern Germany with Weil am Rhein just across the border from Basel, Switzerland in the south. It’s a 469-mile (755 km) journey that takes you from Germany’s northern region all the way to the country’s southern Dreiländereck (tri-border area, tripoint) where the German, French, and Swiss borders come together at a single point in the Rhine river. (A monument marker stands on land nearby.) Not far away, the world’s longest pedestrian bridge (814 ft; 248 m), the Dreiländerbrücke (“three nations bridge”), spans the Rhine to link Weil am Rhein, Germany and Huningue, France. Of course, people also travel the B3 in the opposite direction, from south to north.

At the southern end of the B3, you’ll find the Three Nations Bridge (Dreiländerbrücke), which links Weil am Rhein, Germany and Huningue, France near Basel, Switzerland. The structure was designed by the Paris-based Austrian architect Dietmar Feichtinger, who has won numerous awards for his unique bridge projects and other works in Europe. PHOTO: Wladyslaw (Wikimedia Commons)

Along the historic B3 route, travelers experience a contrast of tradition and modernity. Old-fashioned quaint inns here, modern Bauhaus architecture there. It all makes for an interesting mix of unique impressions. The road also inspires slow travel, allowing you the time to discover the special moments in everyday life. For his own B3 journey, photographer Wolfgang Groeger-Meier drove a classic sports car from the 1970s: a vivid lime-green BMW 2002. The car is featured in many of his photographs. (See below.) He was accompanied on several stages by friends and authors who wrote down their personal impressions for the book Lockruf des Südens (“Lure of the South”).

Lockruf des Südens – Unterwegs auf der B3 with a map of the full B3 route. IMAGE: Verlagshaus Roemerweg, Corso Verlag

At almost 470 miles in length, few motorists tackle the entire stretch of Germany’s second longest federal highway. It is best enjoyed in smaller segments. The book itself is divided into Etappen (segments). Bundesstraße 3 crosses the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide) in the north, passes through Hanover, Göttingen, Kassel, Frankfurt am Main, and Heidelberg. B3 continues southward via Baden-Baden and Freiburg down the Rhine Valley to Basel. In Wolfgang’s own words: “Great landscapes, nice people, a classic car on a dream road.”

Historically, the Romans and Celts were the first to travel the road that later became Bundesstrasse 3. In the distant past it was a trade route between the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea. Bundesstrasse 3 is a story about the German countryside, beautiful Bauhaus architecture, Art Nouveau, traditional half-timbered houses, and impressive castles.

Located near Hanover, Marienburg Castle is one of the great sights on Bundesstrasse 3, King George V of Hanover presented this castle as a gift to his wife, Queen Marie, and it became one of the most impressive monuments in Germany.

Following a half-hour drive farther south you can discover a World Heritage site on Bundesstrasse 3: the Bauhaus building Fagus Werk (Fagus Factory) in Alfeld, constructed between 1911 and 1913, with additions and interiors completed in 1925. Designed by Bauhaus founder and renowned architect Walter Gropius, the Fagus Factory is still in very good shape and is still a factory. Architecture lovers will find more fantastic buildings on Bundesstrasse 3 at the very end in Weil am Rhein near Basel. Vitra Campus is a design museum and furniture factory. Architects Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Herzog de Meuron, and others created a fantastic ensemble of contemporary architecture.

The Fagus Werk is a well-preserved Bauhaus landmark. Note Wolfgang’s classic BMW in the photo. PHOTO: Wolfgang Groeger-Meier

Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) fans will love the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony at Mathildenhöhe on the B3 south of Frankfurt for the unique Art Nouveau buildings. But even within the city itself, you can discover more Art Nouveau (roughly between 1890 and 1914) architecture. Even the Darmstadt city hall (Rathaus) features Art Nouveau design. But the Jugendstilbad (1907-1909), a beautiful Art Nouveau-style indoor swimming pool, and many other buildings in the city are icons of that art and architecture movement.

Darmstadt is home to Jugendstil (Art Nouveau). The city is a showcase for Art Nouveau, epitomized by the Artists’ Colony at the Mathildenhöhe. PHOTO: Wolfgang Groeger-Meier

Not much farther along the B3 from Darmstadt, auto enthusiasts will love the historical car collection PS.Speicher in Einbeck. Europe’s largest car collection shows the cultural heritage on two and four wheels. The town of Einbeck has also been known for its brewery and great beer since 1378.

Another interesting B3 road story is about a king, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. From 1958 to 1960 G.I. Elvis was stationed in Friedberg, but he was allowed to live in nearby Bad Nauheim, a beautiful spa resort. The B3 passes through both of these towns just north of Frankfurt in the state of Hesse. During part of his time in Germany Elvis lived in the Hotel Villa Grunewald in Bad Nauheim, where room No. 10 still looks like Elvis left only ten minutes ago. And you can still rent his former room as a regular hotel guest. Just don’t do what Elvis did: He and his buddies made too much noise, got kicked out of the hotel, and Elvis had to rent a house.

Wolfgang’s classic 1975 BMW parked next to the Elvis memorial at the Hotel Villa Grunewald in Bad Nauheim. The B3 passes directly through the city where Elvis lived as a G.I. PHOTO: Wolfgang Groeger-Meier

Part of the German highway’s history involves Thomas Jefferson before he became President of the United States. In 1788 Jefferson was serving as the U.S. ambassador to France. He had long wanted to visit Germany, and in March 1788 he undertook an unofficial journey through Germany, setting out from Amsterdam along the Rhine to Duisburg and Düsseldorf. From Frankfurt he traveled via Heidelberg to Karlsruhe which is the same stretch that Bundesstraße 3 takes today, roughly paralleling the A5 autobahn. In his detailed travel diary and letters Jefferson has praise for Westphalian ham and certain Moselle/Rhine wines. He admires the scenery along the Rhine, and describes the ruins of Heidelberg Castle (destroyed by the French in 1693) thus: “The chateau is the most imposing ruin of modern ages.”

This view of Heidelberg Castle in the hills above the Neckar river is probably not very different from what Thomas Jefferson saw during his visit in 1788. Learn more below. PHOTO: Wolfgang Groeger-Meier

Jefferson ended his German visit by turning westward from the Rhine and entering the Alsace region and the city of Strasbourg, with its grand cathedral. You also may want to visit this former German-speaking region that is now in France – before returning to the B3 and heading south to charming Freiburg im Breisgau.

The B3 will take you to Freiburg im Breisgau and its famous Münster cathedral. On the Münsterplatz (Münster Square) you’ll find a popular weekly market. PHOTO: Wolfgang Groeger-Meier

There is much more to see along the B3 route, far more than we can cover here. Learn more at Wolfgang’s travel blog: Heimat Bundesstraße 3 (mostly in German with some English; scroll down on some pages to see the English text).

Author and Book Information

Lockruf des Südens (“Lure of the South”) by Wolfgang Groeger-Meier is published by Verlagshaus Roemerweg, Corso Verlag. If you can’t manage a drive on the B3 right now, you can read the book! It’s available in bookstores and online (only in German) from Amazon.com or Amazon.de.

BOOK: 200 pages, format 20×25 cm. With 200 photos by Wolfgang Groeger-Meier and articles by Margret Hucko, Jörn Thomas, Markus Schönfeld, Michael Godde, Katharina Meyer, Josef Clahsen, and Wolfgang Abel.

The special exhibition “Traumstraße B3” (“Dream Road B3”) in Munich and Tokyo presented photography related to Bundesstraße 3. The book Lockruf des Südens was honored with Motorworld’s 2020 book prize in Munich.

Author, photographer, and auto enthusiast Wolfgang Groeger-Meier was born and grew up near Paris. Very early his travel-addicted parents took him to the Mediterranean and to the Alps in a Peugeot 504. The Route Nationale 7 to the Cote d’ Azur was one of his earliest road trips. Wolfgang started assisting photographers and studied photography. In his first studio in Hamburg, Wolfgang photographed people and cars for magazines and the industry. Very quickly he became one of the most in-demand automotive photographers. On photo shoots in the US, Japan, China, India, Brazil, and at his favorite places in Europe, Wolfgang always finds the perfect location from which to shoot cars from the best angles. Wolfgang now lives with his family in Munich and loves to drive his classic cars.