European highway E75

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In May 2009, architect/ writer Michel Heesen and photographer/ filmer Hans Stakelbeek spend four weeks on European highway E75 Barentsz Sea - Crete, driving the entire 5,700 km in an old Mercedes-Benz.

During their trip, they used multiple ways of documenting and mapping the international route: photos and footage of physical elements (bridges, viaducts, tunnels et cetera) and of public spaces (parkings, restaurants, ...). Heesen and Stakelbeek only ate food in restaurants en route, slept in motels, hotels and ferries and interviewed the 'inhabitants' of the E75: waitresses, shopkeepers and bush mechanics. They tried explored the cultural dimension of the E75 by collecting local postcards, magazines and newspapers.

The result is a period piece of a rapidly changing international route. A selection of photos was exhibited in Rotterdam (Groothandelsgebouw) and Maastricht (NAiM). Footage was shown simultaneously on five screens during film festival 'Bar Europa' in Amsterdam.

Heesen and Stakelbeek will hit the road again at the end of August 2011.

E75 culture

During our trip, we stopped at shops alongside the E75 and searched for items that would show some of the local or regional culture: postcards, newspapers, souvenirs and so on. Any sign of a world beyond the generic looks of the highway.

In Poland, many new real estate developments are advertized in the shops and hotels along the new toll roads. The folders try to lure possible buyers with a brand new lifestyle, in which western cars and culture play an important role.

A corny postcard from Ukraine? An ugly souvenir from Russia? Sponsor our trip!

European route E75

The E 75 is part of the International E-road network: a series of main roads in Europe. The E 75 starts from Vardø, an island in the Barentsz Sea and runs south through Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Republic of Macedonia to Crete, where the route end in Sitia.

Part of the E75 is a ferry connection between Helsinki and Gdansk. During our trip, in May 2009, there was not a ferry connection between Finland and Poland. We took a ferry from Helsinki to Talinn (Estonia) and made a detour to the harbour of Gdansk, where we continued on the E75.

Factsheet E75 road trip

Trip: 12,000 km between May 7th and June 3rd 2009, crossing 20 borders and 18 countries (in order of appearance): Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Finland (ferry), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece (3x ferry), Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands.

Travel equipment: 2x passport, 2x credit card, 1x Swiss army knife, 1x First-Aid kit, 2x pop-up tent, 2x sleeping bag, 1x gas cooker, 20x instant meal, 4x 5l. can motor oil.

Digital equipment: 3x photo camera (2x Canon/ 1x Nikon), 2x video camera (Flip Mino HD), 1x i-Pod, 2x laptop (Apple).

E75 physical elements

We took many photos of the physical elements of highway E75 and of its construction sites. The E75 not a piece of state-of-the-art civil engineering, except maybe for the 2km tunnel between Vardø and Vadsø (Norway). However, this is rapidly changing: when we made our trip, Serbia was building a large new bridge and Slovakia was constructing a 'Brenner-style' elevated highway.

The photo shows Russian workers in a small elevator cabin, rising amidst the huge concrete pillars of the new 4-lane E75 highway near Povaská Bystrica. According to the billboards, the project will be finished in 2010. A Russian worker in a local hotel: ,,First it was 2009, then 2010, now they are hoping for 2011.''

E75 public space

During our trip, we stopped at every single public facility along the E75. All public toilets for example. Some countries do not offer any public services along the E75 (Serbia, for example). Hungary has built public picknick areas and toilets every 5 km. The average in the Netherlands, far more densely populated, is 20-40 km. In Norway, some of the picknick areas have clearly been designed by architects, in a very modernist style: concrete, stainless steel, glass (upper left corner of the photo).

E75 food

We only ate food bought in restaurants, shops and hotels along the E75. We also interviewed the 'inhabitants' of the E75: shop keepers, waitresses and so on. Sometimes we had to interview them illegally: in Serbia and Hungary, for example, it is by law not allowed to make photos or interview employees of gasoline shops.

The E75 offers an incredible variety of food, albeit hardly any vegetables and fruits. A typical three course E75 meal: reindeer sausage soup / minced reindeer meat with mashed potatoes and blueberries / cheesecake with a coffee or a beer.

Ordering a coffee gets you anything between Italian style espresso and locally inspired 'cappuccino' (for example: coffee with whipped cream, three table spoons of sugar, lemon syrup and cacao powder).

Why an old Benz?

We made our trip in a petrol green 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300 TD, with a 5 cylinder diesel engine, capable of running on 100% vegetable oil.

The Benz was not part of the original plan. Originally, a brand new hybrid powered Cadillac was at our disposal, sponsored by a Dutch luxury cars dealer. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt in the Spring of 2009, a couple of weeks prior to the start of our trip.

Let down by a brand new car, we decided to focus on a car that would never let us down. No electronics, no worries. Spare parts? Not an issue: every country in the world has a Mercedes-Benz dealer, even failed states (the dictator is likely to own a Benz himself).

Trip co-funded by Fonds BKVB and Zwarts & Jansma Architects, exhibition co-funded by AIR and Van Riebeek Institute

Czech Republic