The circuit was conceived in 1907 by the Kaiserlicher Automobilclub (KAC) as both a motorsport venue and a testing track for the motor industry. A development company was established in 1909, but a lack of finances and official authorisations delayed construction until spring 1913. Work was discontinued during the First World War, during which Russian Army prisoners were temporarily employed on the site. From 1920, businessman and politician Hugo Stinnes financed the remaining road work. The circuit was inaugurated on 24 September 1921 during the first post-war International Automobile Exhibition (IAA) with a motor race. Afterwards the road was open to the public at a charge of ten Marks.
At opening, the track measured 19.569 km, each straight being approximately half that length, with flat large-radius curves at each end, driven counter-clockwise. From 1922 it also hosted motorcycle races.
On 11 July 1926 the AVUS staged the first international German Grand Prix for sports cars, organised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland. The event was marred by fatalities: during practice, Italian driver Enrico Platé was involved in a crash that killed his mechanic, and during the race, held in heavy rain, Adolf Rosenberger lost control and struck the indicator board and timekeeper's box, killing two track marshals immediately with a third employee dying in hospital shortly after. The race was won by Rudolf Caracciola, then an unknown Mercedes-Benz salesman from Remagen, driving a private eight-cylinder "Monza" Kompressor. The fastest lap of 161 km/h was set by Ferdinando Minoia in an OM.
The German Grand Prix was relocated to the new Nürburgring in 1927. The AVUS subsequently served as an experimental track for rocket cars. On 23 May 1928 Fritz von Opel achieved a speed record of 238 km/h in the Opel RAK2. Annual auto races resumed in 1931, with Caracciola winning in a Mercedes-Benz SSK, followed by Manfred von Brauchitsch in 1932 after Caracciola had switched to Alfa Romeo. The 1932 race included Earl Howe, Hans Stuck, and Sir Malcolm Campbell among its notable participants. Czechoslovak driver Prince George Christian of Lobkowicz died when his Bugatti Type 54 crashed in the southern hairpin during that event. Victories in 1933 and 1934 went to Achille Varzi and Guy Moll respectively, to the displeasure of the Nazi rulers who had declared German driver and car victories a matter of national pride, strongly backing the new Silver Arrows generation from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union. Luigi Fagioli won in 1935 in a Mercedes-Benz W25.
By 1935 the track was no longer adequate for cars reaching average race speeds well above 200 km/h. The 1936 season was skipped while the north curve was rebuilt as a steeply banked brick turn at 43°. The AVUS also hosted the cycling road race, the marathon, and the 50 km walk during the 1936 Summer Olympics that year. The banked curve, lacking any retaining barrier, became known as the "wall of death" — cars that missed the turn easily flew off it.
The Silver Arrows raced on the banked version only once, in 1937. As that race did not count toward the championship, non-GP streamlined cars were permitted. During qualifying for the second heat, Luigi Fagioli set a record average speed of 284.31 km/h in an Auto Union Type C — the fastest motor racing lap in history until bettered by Tony Bettenhausen in qualifying for the 1957 Race of Two Worlds at Monza. Hermann Lang's average race speed of approximately 276 km/h remained the fastest road race speed in history for nearly five decades, not matched on a high-speed banked circuit until the mid-1980s at the 1986 Indianapolis 500.
No major race was held after 1937. In early 1938, the death of Bernd Rosemeyer in a land speed record attempt on an Autobahn section made the high-speed AVUS considered too dangerous for fast Grand Prix cars. Plans to connect the AVUS to the Reichsautobahn network in 1940 led to the demolition of the original hairpin at Nikolassee and its replacement with a junction. A planned banked south turn was never built; the cleared grounds were subsequently used as a proving ground by American occupation forces after the Second World War.
The first AVUS race after the war was held on 1 July 1951 for Formula Two and Formula Three cars, won by East German driver Paul Greifzu. For post-war racing, the straights were shortened by introducing a new south turn located just before the Hüttenweg exit, reducing the track to 8.300 km. On 19 September 1954 the shorter circuit hosted a non-championship Formula One race, the Grand Prix of Berlin, dominated by Mercedes-Benz W196 drivers Karl Kling, the winner, and Juan Manuel Fangio. Many teams refused to attend and the German Grand Prix remained at the Nürburgring.
The AVUS hosted its only Formula One World Championship race on 2 August 1959 with the German Grand Prix, won by Tony Brooks. That race weekend also saw the death of French driver Jean Behra during a supporting sports car race, when his Porsche RSK flew over the top of the north turn banking — there was no wall or fence — and Behra was flung from the car and struck a flagpole head-first. Richard von Frankenberg had previously walked away from a similar crash at the same site.
The banked north curve was dismantled in 1967 to make way for an expanded intersection under the Funkturm tower. Racing continued with a flat north turn. The track length was roughly halved twice during the 1980s and into 1990 as racing on long straights fell out of favour; chicanes were also added to reduce entry speeds into the North Curve. Notable incidents in later years included John Winter's car exploding into a fireball in the North Curve — which he survived — and Dieter Quester crossing the finish line on his roof to claim a podium. In 1995 the second race of the Super Tourenwagen Cup was cancelled after a multi-car pileup blocked the circuit; later that September, British driver Kieth O'dor was killed in a Super Touring Car event when his car spun and was rammed sideways on the driver's side.
The track was progressively shortened from its original 19.569 km to 8.300 km after the war, then to 8.109 km once the banking was removed, then to 4.879 km, and finally to 2.639 km. The layout was unusual for a race circuit, consisting essentially of two long parallel straights forming a dual carriageway, with a hairpin corner at each end. It was not perfectly straight, which can be observed from the top of the Funkturm tower.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, closing the AVUS to racing became increasingly difficult due to traffic and environmental concerns. The final races were held in 1998, followed by a farewell event with veterans in 1999. Since 2000, the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Brandenburg has been considered the replacement venue. The round race control tower at the north end survives with its Mercedes-Benz and Bosch sponsorship insignia; it served as a public restaurant and motel, now closed. The old wooden grandstand is protected as a historic monument.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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