Bundesautobahn 12

, also known as Autobahn der Freiheit is an autobahn in northeastern Germany, connecting Berlin to the Polish border.

Reason for the name

Poland lacked a symbolically significant event like the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent opening of the border to commemorate the end of the People's Republic. The poor condition of many Polish roads was seen as a symbol of the socialist planned economy's shortages. Until 1989, and for years afterward, there were practically no expressways. Even the motorway to Warsaw only opened a few months before the 2012 European Football Championship. Thus, the new motorways became a symbol of the market economy and the connection with Western Europe. On June 4, 2014, the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Polish parliamentary elections, the Polish A2 motorway was given the honorary name "Motorway of Freedom " at the initiative of Polish President Bronisław Komorowski. On October 9, 2014, the 25th anniversary of the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, Katherina Reiche, Brandenburg CDU Member of the Bundestag and Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, also bestowed the honorary name "Autobahn der Freiheit" upon the A12.

----