Hesse's Hasenpfad: The steepest street in Germany in focus!

Hesse's Hasenpfad: The steepest street in Germany in focus!

Steep roads are not only a challenge for drivers, but also breathtaking to look at. One of these streets is in the small town of Dauernheim in Hesse, and it has the illustrious name “Hasenpfad”. This road, which was named the steepest in Germany by the ADAC in 2017, has an impressive gradient of 29 percent. The town itself has around 1,600 inhabitants and lives peacefully in nature, far away from the worries of the big cities. But everyday conditions are anything but easy, as the mayor reports: Winter service is carried out by a special tractor with snow chains, which is often not enough to keep the streets free of snow.

What is particularly noteworthy is that the garbage truck cannot navigate the steepest section of the “Hare Path”. This everyday obstacle requires creative solutions and a taste of how the steepness of the path integrates into the daily lives of local residents. Starting up with a new fire engine is also a challenge due to the steepness, which requires additional power and therefore also causes higher costs.

The international comparison

In international comparison, “Baldwin Street” in Dunedin, New Zealand, which is considered the steepest street in the world with a gradient of 35 percent, has the title. However, there is a dispute about this ranking: the “Ffordd Pen Llech” road in Harlech, Wales, was listed with a gradient of 37.45 percent in 2019, although this takes into account that the gradient was measured within a curve. Another example is “Canton Avenue” in Pittsburgh, which has a gradient of 37 percent over a short six meters, but is not long enough for a world record.

For the more adventurous drivers, some streets in California, such as Filbert Street in San Francisco, at 31.5 percent, and Bradford Street, at an astonishing 41 percent, are quite demanding. However, up to 45 percent of the Waipio Valley Road in Hawaii is only accessible to four-wheel drive vehicles in certain places. These numbers clearly show that many steep roads exist worldwide, each with its own challenges and beauties.

Hesse's other steep slopes

Despite the impressive international competition, the “Hare Trail” remains a remarkable example of the challenges posed by such steep roads. There are also other steep streets in Hesse, including the Franziskanerweg in Gelnhausen, which is 27 percent steep on average. In Thuringia, Oberweißbacher Straße in Deesbach is considered the steepest local street in Germany with a gradient of 25.3 percent.

The criteria for determining such characteristics vary greatly. According to the new Guinness Book of Records standards, steepness is measured over a horizontal distance of 10 meters, with the focus being on the continuous steepest point. Given these factors, the debate over the world's steepest roads remains alive and exciting.