[1] The road developed from an ancient east-western trade route connecting the shore of the North Sea at Bruges with the area of Novgorod.

From the late 18th century onwards, parts of the route were rebuilt as a chaussee, mainly in the area between Aachen and Jülich as well as on the nearby territory of the County of Mark, promoted by the Brandenburg-Prussian administration under Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein.

Stein also concluded an agreement to extend the road via the territory of Imperial Essen Abbey for the accessibility of the coal deposits in Cleves.

The road from the Prussian capital Berlin to the royal castles in Potsdam was rebuilt in 1792 and extended to Brandenburg an der Havel until 1799.

Bypasses and upgrades Küstrin-Kietz Seelow Müncheberg Herzfelde Dahlwitz Freidrichsfelde Berlin (Alexanderplatz, Mulhemdamm) Steglitz (A103) Potsdam Brandenburg Plaue Genthin Burg Schermen Magdeburg Bornstedt Helmstedt Braunschweig Vechelde Hildesheim Emmerke Elze Mehle Coppenbrügge - Behrensen Hameln Aerzen Bad Meinburg - Horn Horn - Paderborn Expressway Paderborn - L776 expressway section Routed onto A44 from Erwitte to Werl Soest (L969) Werl (L969) Unna - Dortmund - Bochum - Essen - Mülheim (Ruhrschnellweg) Ratingen (A52) Düsseldorf (Rheinufer Tunnel) Neuss (A57) Neuss - Aachen (A46, A44, A544)