The A4 motorway in the 1930s formed part of the Breslau (Wrocław)–Berlin route. It was originally built from concrete slabs cast on site, and the surface was modernized only in the 1990s.
In just two years, 1,000 km of motorways were built in the Third Reich, and by 1939 approximately 4,000 km had been opened. Immediately after coming to power in 1933, Adolf Hitler announced a four-year plan to overcome the crisis, as well as the idea of creating a Greater Third Reich. An important element of these plans was a motorway construction program; in the future, the motorways were also intended to facilitate the movement of troops. In addition, road construction was one way of combating gigantic unemployment, which affected six million people. Road investments were financed mainly through social insurance contributions, and unemployed people were used for the work. The Nazi engineer Fritz Todt was responsible for implementing the motorway construction program; Hitler appointed him inspector general for German road construction.
The A4 is Poland’s longest motorway, measuring 667 km and running from west to east through southern Poland, along the Sudetes and Carpathians. It forms part of Pan-European Transport Corridor III.
On the fotopolska.eu website, you can view more photographs from the construction of the A4 motorway.