Bundesstraße 22

Bundesstraße 22 (abbreviated to B 22) is a German federal highway that runs from Würzburg (branching off the B 8 near Rottendorf) in Lower Franconia, through the Upper Franconian cities of Bamberg and Bayreuth and the Upper Palatine town of Weiden, to Cham. The highway acts as a bypass for the Upper Franconian villages of Seybothenreuth and Speichersdorf as well as the Upper Palatine towns of Kemnath, Erbendorf, Oberviechtach and Rötz, running past Cham (Oberpfalz), where it joins the B 20 and B 85 highways.

Between Erbendorf and Cham the B 22 is part of the Bavarian Ostmark Road, that was completed in 1938.

Origins
The Würzburg prince-bishop, Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, was appointed as Bishop of Würzburg in 1755 and also Bishop of Bamberg in 1757. He encouraged the construction of roads in his two dioceses and had the road between his residence cities of Würzburg and Bamberg upgraded to a long-distance country road or Chaussee. The road from Bamberg to Bayreuth was also upgraded to a Chaussee on the section to Würgau.

Former routes and designations
Reichsstraße 22 (Reich highway no. 22) was established in 1932, branching from Reichsstraße 15 from Mitterteich to Eger. Later this route became part of Bundesstraße 299.

Not until 1937 was the well-constructed country road between Würzburg, Bamberg and Bayreuth incorporated into the Reichsstraße network as Reichsstraße 22. In 1937 this Reichsstraße only went as far as Weiden. In 1938 its condition east of Bayreuth was described as dangerously poor.

The Bavarian Ostmark Road was completed in 1938. For military-strategic reasons it was built parallel to the then German-Czechoslovakian border and was the first north-south route through the Upper Palatine Forest that was suitable for motor vehicles. Between Weiden and Erbendorf it replaced the previous Reichsstraße.

Alterations
In 1959 a new bridge over the River Main was built at Stadtschwarzach for the B 22.

The section between the junction at Scheßlitz and the Bamberg crossroads was replaced by the A 70 motorway. From there it runs on the A 73 to the junction of Bamberg Süd. The roadbed of the old B 22 from Bamberg to Scheßlitz was downgraded and redesignated as state highway (Staatsstraße) 2190.