Is the Autobahn a parking lot? Sometimes… if it’s for the Pope.

August 22nd, 2005

An entire stretch of the autobahn near the western German city of Cologne was transformed into a parking lot and a one-way street. This way busses could transport visitors to and from World Youth Day. The young spiritual visitors were moved via shuttles away from the Marienfeld with as little difficulty as possible. Also, for them and the expected return of vacationers in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, where school starts again this week, everything thing without any significant issues.

In addition, the German railway added an extra 400 trains to get the larger than normal crowds back to Cologne from the makeshift place of worship. The Autobahn as a spiritual experience has been assumed for years by many, however, this took spirituality and automotive transportation to a different di

I couldn’t help but find this event a tremendous example of secular and non-secular cooperation for mutual benefit. Anything may be possible with these kinds of logistics and cooperation moving over 1,000,000 people. Consider changing the flow of the highway or Autobahn ‘fluvi‘ of this precision superstructure with only a few issues.