Completed in 1999, it runs from the outskirts of Vienna south via the cities of Graz and Klagenfurt to the border of Italy at Arnoldstein, where it joins the Autostrada A23.

Plans for the A2 originated from the so-called Reichsautobahn system laid out after the Anschluss annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.

However, construction had not begun by the outbreak of World War II which terminated all road building projects.

With the first cut of the spade on 6 May 1959, road works were inaugurated on a first section between Vösendorf south of Vienna and Leobersdorf, the segment was opened to the traffic on 26 May 1962.

A first segment in Styria between Gleisdorf and Raaba was already opened in 1969, followed by the section between Pörtschach and Villach (then called Wörthersee Autobahn) in Carinthia in 1970.