The fade effect would probably need Javascript or Flash.
Have a look at Hotscripts
http://www.hotscripts.com/
The link you gave uses javascript onmouseover and onmouseout:-
<div id="navigation">
<ul id="main">
<li><a href="de/verkehrsflaechen/index.shtml" id="link1" class="menu" onmouseover="exchange(1, 1)" onmouseout="exchange(1, 0)">VERKEHRSFLÄCHEN</a></li>................
Code downloaded to my PC will be deleted in due course.
WIN7; IE9, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari for Windows; screen resolution usually 1366*768.
Also IE6 on W98 with 800*600 and IE8 on Vista 1440*900.