The first national event in German Grand Prix motor racing was held at the AVUS (Automobil Verkehrs und Übungs-Straße (Automobile Traffic and Practice Road)) race circuit in southwestern Berlin in 1926 as a sports car race. The AVUS circuit was made up of two 6-mile straights combined with two left-hand hairpins at each end. The first race at AVUS, in heavy rain, was won by Germany's native son, Rudolf Caracciola in a Mercedes-Benz. The event was marred by Adolf Rosenberger's crash into one of the marshals' huts, killing three people. The AVUS circuit was considered extremely dangerous even back then- so the event was moved. The German "Grand Prix" became an official event in 1929. Although it was raced on in the non-championship AVUS-Rennen in the 1930s which saw some of the fastest road races ever held, the Grand Prix would not return to AVUS until 1959 for a one-off appearance.