Bundesstraße 209 is a German federal road that runs from Nienburg/Weser district in Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

 to Schwarzenbek

Schwarzenbek

Schwarzenbek is a town in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately 10 km northeast of Geesthacht, and 35 km east of Hamburg...

 in the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg, Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

.

Route

The B 209 begins in Nienburg/Weser district between the villages of Rohrsen

Rohrsen

Rohrsen is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany....

 and Drakenburg

Drakenburg

Drakenburg is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany....

 on the B 215 and runs in a northeasterly direction past the villages of Heemsen

Heemsen

Heemsen is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 8 km northeast of Nienburg, and 25 km south of Verden.Heemsen is part of the Samtgemeinde Heemsen....

 and Anderten.

After crossing the river Aller

Aller

The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...

 at Rethem in Soltau-Fallingbostel district it passes through the villages of Groß Eilstorf and Kirchboitzen before entering the one-way system in the town centre of Walsrode

Walsrode

-Middle Ages:986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded mentionof the town is dated May 7, 986.1383 The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg grant Walsrode a town charter.1479 First recorded instance of Walsrode's coat of arms...

. This is a traffic bottleneck which causes delays during the rush hour.

The B 209 then passes through Honerdingen, before reaching junction 47 on the A 7 autobahn located in Bad Fallingbostel

Bad Fallingbostel

Bad Fallingbostel is the district town of the Heidekreis district in the German state of Lower Saxony. Since 1976 the town has had a state-recognised Kneipp spa and has held the title of Bad since 5 August 2002. It has close ties to Walsrode, a few miles to the west...

's industrial estate.

East of Soltau

Soltau

- Middle Ages :The region of the Lüneburg Heath had already been settled by the start of the New Stone Age about 4,000 years ago. The Soltau area was initially occupied by a few individual farms. The parish of Soltau was probably founded around 830 and the first wooden church Sante Johannis...

 by the B 71

Bundesstraße 71

The Bundesstraße 71 is one of the longer German federal roads numbered in the 60s and 70s series. It begins at the B 6 in Bremerhaven by the Unterweser and ends in Könnern near Halle in Saxony-Anhalt...

 to Munster, the B 209 then turns northeast again towards Amelinghausen

Amelinghausen

Amelinghausen is a municipality in the district of Lüneburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is also the seat of the collective municipality of Amelinghausen.- Geography :The municipality lies in the middle of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park...

 and continues from there to Lüneburg

Lüneburg

Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...

. Near Artlenburg

Artlenburg

Artlenburg is a municipality in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Artlenburg has an area of 11.85 km² and a population of 1,619 ....

 the B 209 crosses the Elbe Lateral Canal, the bridge being combined with a barrier.

Near Lauenburg

Lauenburg/Elbe

Lauenburg/Elbe is a town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated at the northern bank of the river Elbe, east of Hamburg. It is the southernmost town of Schleswig-Holstein. Lauenburg belongs to the Kreis of Herzogtum Lauenburg and had a population of 11,900 as of 2002...

 the B 209 crosses the Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

, passes over the B 5

Bundesstraße 5

The Bundesstraße 5 or B5 is a German federal highway running in a northwesterly to southeasterly direction from the Danish border near Niebüll to Frankfurt . It provides a direct route for motorists traveling between Berlin and Hamburg. In Berlin B5 forms among others the following squares and...

 and runs finally into Schwarzenbek

Schwarzenbek

Schwarzenbek is a town in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately 10 km northeast of Geesthacht, and 35 km east of Hamburg...

, where it meets the B 207 and B 404.

History

To 1 July 1989 a section between Bad Fallingbostel and Soltau, part of the present day L 163 state road, was designated as Bundesstraße 209. As a result of the parallel routing of the A 7 autobahn, this section was downgraded however. In Bad Fallingbostel the autobahn slip road (then an independent branch) to the A 7 was designated the B 209a. When the road between Bad Fallingbostel and Soltau was downgraded on 1 July 1989 the slip road became part of the B 209. Its distance is separately measured however.