Bundesautobahn 44 (translates from German as Federal Motorway 44, short form Autobahn 44, abbreviated as BAB 44 or A 44) is a German Autobahn. It consists of three main sections and a few smaller sections. It begins in Aachen at the German–Belgian border (Belgian motorway A3) and ends near Kassel (Bundesautobahn 7). Before German unification it was a regional motorway. In the 1990s, it became an integral part of the German motorway system. The A 44 is a heavily-used link between the Rhine-Ruhr-Area and the new German states, especially Thuringia, and also eastern European states like Poland.