AVUS
Encyclopedia
The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße, better known as AVUS, is a public road that was also used as a motor racing
circuit. It is located in the south-western districts of Berlin
, Germany
, between Charlottenburg
and Nikolassee
, and is nowadays an important part of the public highway system, as Bundesautobahn 115
.
While normal for a road, it is unusually shaped for a race track as it is essentially just two long straights in the form of a dual carriageway, with a hairpin corner at each end. The north curve featured a steep banking from 1937 to 1967. While the original layout was 19 km long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3 km, then 8.1 km without the banking, 4.8 km and finally 2.6 km.
was devised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland
(AvD), in 1907, as both a motor-sport venue and a testing track for the motor industry. A lack of finances delayed the start of construction for six years, and construction was halted in 1913 for the same reason. During the Great War
, Russia
n prisoners
were employed in AVUS's construction, but the track was still unfinished by 1918. The remaining work was financed by business man Hugo Stinnes
, and the circuit opened in September 1921.
At the time of opening, AVUS was 19½ km (12 miles) long - each straight being approximately half that length, and joined at each end by flat large radius curves, driven counter-clockwise. In 1926, the track played host to the first German Grand Prix
for sports cars (won by Rudolf Caracciola
in a Mercedes-Benz
).
Since 1927 the AVUS faced competition from the new Nürburgring
circuit. In an effort to make AVUS the world's fastest race track, the 1936 season was skipped and the north curve was turned into a steeply banked turn (43°) made of bricks. It became dubbed the "Wall of Death," especially as it had no retaining barrier so cars that missed the turn easily flew off it.
The Silver Arrows
of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union
raced only once on the banked version, in 1937
. As the race did not count towards the championship, non-GP cars were allowed, which permitted the use of streamlined cars, similar to the cars used for high speed record attempts. Hermann Lang
's average race speed of about 260 km/h (161.6 mph) was not beaten at Indianapolis Indy 500 for 3 decades.
For the 1936 Summer Olympics
in Berlin
, it hosted the cycling
road race and the marathon and 50 km walk athletic
events.
No major race was held after 1937, as in early 1938, the popular German race driver Bernd Rosemeyer
was killed in a land speed record attempt on a straight section of the Autobahn Frankfurt/Darmstadt (today Autobahn 5), and the high speed AVUS was then considered too dangerous for the fast Grand Prix race cars. Also, it was planned to connect the AVUS to the growing Reichsautobahn network by extending it to the south, so the original South Turn at Nikolassee
was demolished and replaced by a junction.
For post-war racing, the original extremely long straights were shortened by the introduction of a new south turn roughly in the middle (just before the exit at Hüttenweg, where it can still be seen), reducing the track length to 8.3 km (just over 5 miles). After World War II, the Berlin Wall
with its Checkpoint Bravo
at Dreilinden/Drewitz came no closer than about one mile (1.6 km) to the former South Turn. It is a common yet incorrect belief that the Berlin Wall cut the AVUS in half.
In 1954, this shorter track hosted a non-championship Formula One
race, which was mainly a show by the Mercedes-Benz
team, as no serious competition was present. In 1959, AVUS hosted its only world championship F1 with the 1959 German Grand Prix
, won by Tony Brooks
. This race weekend also saw the death of Jean Behra
in a supporting sports car race, as his Porsche RSK flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. German driver and journalist Richard von Frankenberg
had previously walked away from a similar spectacular crash.
After 1961, Grand Prix racing did not race on banked circuits anymore. The banked sections at Autodromo Nazionale Monza
, Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry etc. were considered dangerous by international racing standards. They were used in connection with chicanes for some time, then abandoned. The AVUS banking was dismantled in 1967 to give way to an expanded intersection under the Funkturm tower. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight.
and Formula 3 events. The length of the track was roughly cut in half twice in the 1980s and 1990 as racing on straights became unpopular. Also, chicanes were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. Yet, some incidents and accidents occurred. The BMW of Dieter Quester
rolled over when exiting the last corner, and crossed the finish line sliding on its roof, with sparks flying, for a podium finish. The car of John Winter
hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived.
In 1995, the race 2 of DTM had to be cancelled, after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver Kieth Odor
was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, the closure of the AVUS for race events became more and more problematic for environmental and traffic concerns. The last real races were in 1998.
in Brandenburg
is considered the replacement for AVUS.
The round race control tower (with prominent Mercedes-Benz
and Bosch
sponsorship) still remains at the north end, and is used as a public restaurant and motel. The old wooden grandstand is protected as a historic monument.
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
circuit. It is located in the south-western districts of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, between Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
and Nikolassee
Nikolassee
Nikolassee is a locality of Berlin in the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Until the latter was created in 2001, Nikolassee was part of the borough of Zehlendorf.-History:...
, and is nowadays an important part of the public highway system, as Bundesautobahn 115
Bundesautobahn 115
is an autobahn in Berlin, Germany. It connects the Berliner Stadtring with the Berliner Ring, using parts of the old AVUS race track. AVUS was opened in 1921 as Germany's first limited access road. After World War II, the A 115 served an important function as a transit road between West Berlin...
.
While normal for a road, it is unusually shaped for a race track as it is essentially just two long straights in the form of a dual carriageway, with a hairpin corner at each end. The north curve featured a steep banking from 1937 to 1967. While the original layout was 19 km long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3 km, then 8.1 km without the banking, 4.8 km and finally 2.6 km.
History 1907-1939
The circuit through the Grunewald forestGrunewald (forest)
Grunewald is a German forest located in the western side of Berlin on the east side of the Havel, mainly in the Grunewald district...
was devised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland
Automobilclub von Deutschland
Automobilclub von Deutschland is Germany's oldest automobile club, founded in 1899.The AvD organizes the German Grand Prix and is a member of FIA....
(AvD), in 1907, as both a motor-sport venue and a testing track for the motor industry. A lack of finances delayed the start of construction for six years, and construction was halted in 1913 for the same reason. During the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n prisoners
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
were employed in AVUS's construction, but the track was still unfinished by 1918. The remaining work was financed by business man Hugo Stinnes
Hugo Stinnes
-Life and career:Stinnes was born in Mülheim, in the Ruhr Valley, North German Confederation. His father was also named Hugo, and his grandfather Matthias Stinnes had founded a modest enterprise in Mülheim....
, and the circuit opened in September 1921.
At the time of opening, AVUS was 19½ km (12 miles) long - each straight being approximately half that length, and joined at each end by flat large radius curves, driven counter-clockwise. In 1926, the track played host to the first German Grand Prix
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix is an annual automobile race.Because Germany was banned from taking part in international events after World War II, the German GP only became part of the Formula One World Championship in 1951...
for sports cars (won by Rudolf Caracciola
Rudolf Caracciola
Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola , more commonly Rudolf Caracciola , was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One World Championship, an unsurpassed three times...
in a Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
).
Since 1927 the AVUS faced competition from the new Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
circuit. In an effort to make AVUS the world's fastest race track, the 1936 season was skipped and the north curve was turned into a steeply banked turn (43°) made of bricks. It became dubbed the "Wall of Death," especially as it had no retaining barrier so cars that missed the turn easily flew off it.
The Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows was the name given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939, and also later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports cars in 1954/55.For decades until the introduction of sponsorship liveries, each...
of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union
Auto Union
Auto Union was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
raced only once on the banked version, in 1937
1937 Grand Prix Season
The 1937 Grand Prix season was the fifth AIACR European Championship season. The championship was won by Rudolf Caracciola, driving for the Mercedes-Benz team...
. As the race did not count towards the championship, non-GP cars were allowed, which permitted the use of streamlined cars, similar to the cars used for high speed record attempts. Hermann Lang
Hermann Lang
Hermann Lang was a German champion race car driver.Born in the Bad Cannstatt district of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, at age fourteen Hermann Lang had to go to work to help support his family following the death of his father...
's average race speed of about 260 km/h (161.6 mph) was not beaten at Indianapolis Indy 500 for 3 decades.
For the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, it hosted the cycling
Cycling at the 1936 Summer Olympics
The cycling competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...
road race and the marathon and 50 km walk athletic
Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics
At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, 29 athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 6 for women. The program of events was unchanged from the previous Games. There was a total of 776 participants from 43 countries competing.-Medal table:...
events.
No major race was held after 1937, as in early 1938, the popular German race driver Bernd Rosemeyer
Bernd Rosemeyer
Bernd Rosemeyer was a German racing driver.- Career :...
was killed in a land speed record attempt on a straight section of the Autobahn Frankfurt/Darmstadt (today Autobahn 5), and the high speed AVUS was then considered too dangerous for the fast Grand Prix race cars. Also, it was planned to connect the AVUS to the growing Reichsautobahn network by extending it to the south, so the original South Turn at Nikolassee
Nikolassee
Nikolassee is a locality of Berlin in the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Until the latter was created in 2001, Nikolassee was part of the borough of Zehlendorf.-History:...
was demolished and replaced by a junction.
History 1947-1967
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
with its Checkpoint Bravo
Checkpoint Bravo
Checkpoint Bravo was the name given by the Western Allies to the main autobahn border crossing points between West Berlin and the German Democratic Republic It was known in German as Grenzübergangsstelle Drewitz-Dreilinden...
at Dreilinden/Drewitz came no closer than about one mile (1.6 km) to the former South Turn. It is a common yet incorrect belief that the Berlin Wall cut the AVUS in half.
In 1954, this shorter track hosted a non-championship Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
race, which was mainly a show by the Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
team, as no serious competition was present. In 1959, AVUS hosted its only world championship F1 with the 1959 German Grand Prix
1959 German Grand Prix
The 1959 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße in West Berlin on August 2, 1959. It was the 21st German Grand Prix and was only the second time the race was not held at the Nürburgring. AVUS had previously held the original German Grand...
, won by Tony Brooks
Tony Brooks
Charles Anthony Standish Brooks is a British former racing driver from England also known as the "racing dentist"...
. This race weekend also saw the death of Jean Behra
Jean Behra
Jean Marie Behra was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams.-Appearance and personality:...
in a supporting sports car race, as his Porsche RSK flew over the top of the north turn banking, as there was no wall or fence. German driver and journalist Richard von Frankenberg
Richard von Frankenberg
Richard van Frankenberg was a German journalist and race car driver.He took part in many 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1950s, as well as in races at Mille Miglia, Montlhery, Monza and Nürburgring, often with a Porsche 550, the type of car he became famous for, when crashing over the banking of the...
had previously walked away from a similar spectacular crash.
After 1961, Grand Prix racing did not race on banked circuits anymore. The banked sections at Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit's biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, which has been hosted there since the sport's inception....
, Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry etc. were considered dangerous by international racing standards. They were used in connection with chicanes for some time, then abandoned. The AVUS banking was dismantled in 1967 to give way to an expanded intersection under the Funkturm tower. From the top of this tower, one can see that the AVUS is not perfectly straight.
History 1967-1998
Racing was continued with a flat north turn, but AVUS only held national touring cars DTMDeutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....
and Formula 3 events. The length of the track was roughly cut in half twice in the 1980s and 1990 as racing on straights became unpopular. Also, chicanes were added to reduce entry speed into the North Curve. Yet, some incidents and accidents occurred. The BMW of Dieter Quester
Dieter Quester
Dieter Quester is an active touring car racing driver from Austria. Dieter has participated in 53 24-Hour Races. He competed in a single Formula One race in which he finished ninth....
rolled over when exiting the last corner, and crossed the finish line sliding on its roof, with sparks flying, for a podium finish. The car of John Winter
Louis Krages
Louis Krages, more commonly known by his pseudonym John Winter, was a German racing driver and businessman....
hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball in North Curve, which he survived.
In 1995, the race 2 of DTM had to be cancelled, after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver Kieth Odor
Kieth Odor
Kieth O'dor was a British racing driver, who competed primarily in touring cars before being killed during a race at the AVUS circuit in Berlin.-Background:...
was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, the closure of the AVUS for race events became more and more problematic for environmental and traffic concerns. The last real races were in 1998.
History since 1999
In 1999, a farewell event with veterans was held. From 2000 on, the new EuroSpeedway LausitzEuroSpeedway Lausitz
The EuroSpeedway Lausitz is a race track located near Klettwitz in the state of Brandenburg in Eastern Germany, near the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic...
in Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
is considered the replacement for AVUS.
The round race control tower (with prominent Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
and Bosch
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
sponsorship) still remains at the north end, and is used as a public restaurant and motel. The old wooden grandstand is protected as a historic monument.
External links
- 1936 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. pp. 644-7, 682-5, 932-5.
- FORIX about the AVUS track