Old Main Bridge Kitzingen
The Old Main Bridge Kitzingen is a multi-arched, medieval stone bridge that spans the Main at river kilometer 286.76 and connects the city of Kitzingen with the district of Etwashausen . At the eastern bridgehead is the Kreuzkapelle by Balthasar Neumann .
The Old Main Bridge was first mentioned in a document in 1300. The structure, which was still wooden at the time, was located on the trade route from Frankfurt am Main via Würzburg and Nuremberg to Regensburg and replaced a ferry to cross the Main at a ford. In the following centuries, the bridge was converted into a stone arch bridge , only on the Etwashausen side a two- bay wooden bridge section remained , which could be quickly destroyed in the event of a defense. The bridge was also equipped with gates, towers and a customs house. In 1488, the rights of the Kitzingen monastery to collect the bridge toll, including the maintenance obligation, were transferred to the city lords.
An extensive renovation of the structure, which had twelve arches, began at the beginning of the 16th century and lasted about 100 years. A bridge tower, a bridge gate in the middle of the bridge, an office building and a “snack basket”, in which fruit thieves were locked and dipped into the Main as punishment, were rebuilt.
Floods and ice have repeatedly damaged the structure. Repair work on the pillars was carried out in 1744 under the direction of Balthasar Neumann . In 1769 his son Franz Ignaz Michael Neumann supervised the construction of five new arches. In addition, the bridge structure was dismantled in the 18th century, but a new bridge gate was also built at Etwashausen and a statue of the patron saint Nepomuk and an iron cross were erected. In 1891 the stone parapets were replaced by iron railings to widen the carriageway.
On April 4, 1945, German units blew up two arches over the Main. The reconstruction was completed on May 15, 1948. Before the Main regulation, the four middle arches spanned the river. Due to the expansion of the Main to become a major shipping route, the three middle arches were blown up at the end of May 1955 and replaced by a girder bridge with a steel superstructure with a clear width of around 52 meters and a construction height of 1.3 meters for the opening for shipping. Construction work was finished at the end of May 1956. Since then, the Main, dammed up by the Kitzingen barrage, has been spanned by four vaults with a clear width of 13 to 16 meters, which are located to the left and right of the shipping opening. The 207-meter-long structure has three arches on both banks. The Alte Mainbrücke has been a car-free zone since October 2011. In February 2019, an impact protection for the bridge was completed. There are a total of ten steel pipes (five on each side of the structure in front of the bridge piers), which are intended to protect the structure from damage in the event of a ship deviating from course.
The importance of the stone bridge for the city is illustrated by the inclusion of the bridge image in the city coat of arms. The first impressions of a seal with the bridge image have come down to us from 1349. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation lists the bridge as an architectural monument .
literature
- Doris Badel, KD Christof: 700 years old Main Bridge Kitzingen . Publication on Kitzingen's town history, Kitzingen town archive.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Impact protection keeps ships away from the Alter Mainbrücke. MainPost, March 12, 2019, accessed May 4, 2019 .
- ^ House of Bavarian History: Description of coat of arms
- ↑ Kitzingen Monument List. Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, accessed on May 4, 2019 .
Coordinates: 49 ° 44 '24.68 " N , 10 ° 9' 54.36" O