The section of the Südschleife that now follows is an absolute exception when it comes to the origins of the Nürburgring. Hans Weidenbrück, a businessman from Bonn and a visitor to one of the Eifel races near Nideggen, suggested after attending this event in 1924 that public roads around the Nürburg be linked together to form a circuit on which to hold races. District Administrator Dr Otto Creutz took up the idea, but added one important detail: the circuit was to be completely separate from all other traffic, which meant a brand-new race track had to be designed.

The vast majority of the Nürburgring was therefore redesigned – with the exception of around 1.4 kilometres on the Rassrück section of the Südschleife. An existing road already ran here, linking Müllenbach and Nürburg, and it corresponded to the planned route. It was therefore incorporated into the circuit’s design; however, at four to five metres wide, it was too narrow for a race track. During the construction work, the old road was consequently removed, a new, wider sub-base was laid, and the track – approximately eight metres wide – was then built on top of it. The section between kilometres 4.2 and 5.6 is therefore the only part of what would later become the Nürburgring for which existing roads were utilised.

The Rassrück section, however, has another distinctive feature: when parts of the Südschleife were demolished from November 1981 onwards to make way for the new Grand Prix circuit, the first few kilometres of the track became a public country road. The second part of the track, which runs from Müllenbach towards Nürburg, is still partly preserved in its original state in the forest. Here, right next to the tarmac, we can see the ditches that once marked the track’s boundaries. The hedges that once bordered the racecourse have since grown into large trees.

ℹ️ The Nürburgring opened in 1927. On our #Roadto100 we will continue to look back on key milestones in our long history as we approach our big anniversary year!