World's Narrowest Street Has a Big Problem

It may disappear thanks to bulging wall in Germany
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 10, 2012 5:59 PM CDT

Spreuerhofstrasse Street in Germany is all of 12 inches wide and 12 feet long, but it is officially a street and thus owns the Guinness distinction of being the world's narrowest. For now. As Der Spiegel points out, the street in the city of Reutlingen has a problem: One of the buildings encroaching it is shifting, and the gap is in danger of disappearing altogether in spots.

"A street is no longer a street if no one can get through it," says a city official. "Then the fun would be over." If the building is torn down, that would make the street too wide for Guinness' purposes. It needs to be shored up as is instead, but that's expensive, and nobody wants to foot the bill. City officials figure they have until next year to make a decision before they're forced to close it—and lose their place in the record books. (More Spreuerhofstrasse stories.)

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