AVUS

The AVUS (Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße) lies in the south-west of Berlin and opened in 1921 as a public road. It also served as a racing circuit until 1998, and today it forms the northern section of the Bundesautobahn 115. Its layout was unusual for a race track: two long straights, in the form of a dual carriageway running through the Grunewald forest, were joined by a curve at each end. Racing took place anti-clockwise.

The original circuit measured 19.569 km. In 1926 it hosted the first international German Grand Prix for sports cars, and from 1927 that race moved to the Nürburgring. From 1937 to 1967 the north curve was a steeply banked turn surfaced with bricks. After the Second World War a new south turn was introduced roughly halfway along. It was moved several times, giving lap lengths of 8.3 km, then 8.109 km without the banking, then 4.879 km and finally 2.639 km.

In Formula One the AVUS staged only one world championship round. On 2 August 1959 Tony Brooks won the German Grand Prix for Ferrari. A Grand Prix of Berlin had already been held there in 1954, but it did not count towards the championship, and Karl Kling won it for Mercedes. During the 1959 race weekend the French driver Jean Behra lost his life in a sports car race on the support programme.

After the banking was dismantled in 1967, racing continued with a flat north turn, and only national touring car, DTM and Formula Three events were held. The final races took place in 1998, followed by a farewell event in 1999. The round control tower at the northern end still stands, and the old wooden grandstand is a protected monument.