Augustus Bridge

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Augustus Bridge with a high water level with a view of the Frauenkirche
Aerial photo: Augustus Bridge over the Elbe (2008)
Night shot from the Brühl Terrace

The Augustusbrücke is a road bridge over the Elbe in Dresden and connects the historic cores of the old town and the new town , which was the independent town of Altendresden until the 16th century . Originally, it was the largest bridge construction of the German High Middle Ages and one of the largest medieval transport structures in Europe. In the Dresden Baroque , the bridge was fundamentally redesigned by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann , another followed 1905–1910 by Hermann Klette and Wilhelm Kreis . From 1949 to 1990 it was called the Georgij Dimitroff Bridge . The high medieval (original) part of the bridge with a length of about 150 meters on the old town side was preserved under Georgentor and Schloßplatz by being buried and built over from 1519 and is still only partially archaeologically accessible today. The same applies to several bridge arches on the right bank of the Elbe: In this way, it is the oldest (physically) verifiable evidence of the founding history of Dresden and which, archaeologically verifiable, date before the first documentary mention of Dresden.

history

First bridge

The bridge is attributed to the builder Matthaeus Focius , the first documented mention of the burgraves of Dohna can be traced back to around 1230 . At that time, the Erzgebirge passes south-east of Dresden also became more passable, so that trade between Bohemia and northern Germany increased; this can also be ascribed to the silver finds around Freiberg from 1170 onwards. The Augustus Bridge was an important part of the trade routes between Prague and the trade fair city of Leipzig , although both are west of the Elbe. The Magdalen flood of 1342 and a flood of 1343 damaged the bridge considerably; it has been fixed.

  • Dresden with Elbe bridge. Although the author (1893) claims that it reflects the situation around 1206, this sketch must be regarded as a free invention.

  • Elbe bridge 1648

  • The crucifix stood on the Elbe bridge from 1670 until the Elbe flood in 1845

  • The only connection around 1750 between Dresden and the former Altendresden

  • Log houses on the Elbe bridge

  • Former entrance to the old town of Dresden from the Elbe bridge

  • 800 year old arch of the first stone arch bridge - exposed on the Neustadt side by the State Office for Archeology during the restoration of the Augustus Bridge

In 1287 a stone arch bridge with 24 pillars and 23 arches was first mentioned. The bridge was 7.20 meters ("15 cubits") wide and 561 meters ("800 paces") long; at that time it was considered the longest vault bridge in Europe. The construction had, among other things, a drawbridge in two fields and a central bridge opening was made of wood so that it could be burned down to defend Dresden.

Under Elector Moritz , when the fortifications were rebuilt in 1534 and 1547, five pillars and four arches were filled in, which are still preserved below the Georgentor ; in addition, a new bridge gate (the beautiful gate ) was built over the first pillar on the Old Town bank . In 1670, a 4.5 meter high crucifix was placed on the third pillar of the bridge, it weighed 3 hundredweight.

Augustus Bridge 1727–1907

Under August the Strong , the famous Baroque master builder Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann and the council builder Johann Gottfried Fehre extensively rebuilt the bridge between 1727 and 1731. It was then 402 meters long and had 17 arches. With a width of 11.04 meters between the parapets, the carriageway was 6.8 meters wide. It was impressive for that time because of its size, especially its width of the lane, and was named "Augustus Bridge" after its owner. It was one of the historical monuments of baroque Dresden .

  • Caspar David Friedrich : Augustus Bridge in Dresden (painting, burned in 1931)

  • Ruin after the demolition on March 19, 1813

  • Medal 1813 from CR Krüger. The Augustus Bridge in Dresden was blown up on March 19. Minted in the Dresden Mint .

  • around 1865

  • around 1900

  • around 1900

  • The (almost) dried up Elbe in 1904 below the bridge

At the same time, both "Dresden" and the " New Royal City " were expanded into a city fortress. Today's old town was surrounded by a moat, the new town by a massive wall fortress. The Augustus Bridge connected the two fortresses. Around the same time, Saxony expanded the postal system . The Augustus Bridge was an important crossing point of the Elbe beyond the borders of Dresden.

In March 1813 Napoleon's troops were in retreat . On March 19, 1813, after their retreat across the Elbe, they blew up the fourth pillar after the bank of the old town, which caused the neighboring arches IV and V to collapse. Triggered by a flood of the Elbe , the fifth pillar collapsed on March 31, 1845. On it stood a large crucifix, cast by Andreas Herold in 1670 .

On a pillar of the Dresden Elbe Bridge was the coat of arms of the Burgraves of Dohna (crossed stag poles) "before it was destroyed by the French Marshal Davoust " . This was an important clue for the discovery of the Doninian bracteates .

On March 26, 1906, the Elbe barge “Alwine Auguste” (ship owner Emil Krause, Pretzsch) suffered an average . The boat then hit the pillars of the Augustus Bridge and was broken four times. It was loaded with around 300,000 bricks (18,500 cents ) and insured for 40,000 marks.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the lane width (together with the footpaths eleven meters) was no longer sufficient for road traffic. The width of its 16 arches and the height of its 17 pillars no longer met the requirements of shipping, which is why it was demolished in 1907 despite its character as a monument.

The buildings flanking the bridge on both sides of the Elbe, the Altstädter Wache (Schinkelwache) and Neustädter Wache ( block house ) are still preserved.

On the east side of the northern (New Town) bridgehead stood the house of Joseph Fröhlich , the court jester of Augustus the Strong. It was built in 1755 and popularly known as the " fool's house ". It burned out during one of the air raids on Dresden in 1945.

Current structure

New building 1907–1910

Inauguration of the Friedrich-August-Brücke on August 30, 1910, dignitaries in front of the Royal Pavilion (1910)
Demolition of the Augustus Bridge and interim construction (1907)

Planning for a new bridge began in 1902 and was initially in the hands of the engineer and town planning officer Hermann Klette . Since special care should be taken in the architectural design of the bridge at this important point in the cityscape, the city called in the well-known architect Wilhelm Kreis in 1906 . About 6 million marks were available for the construction . Construction work by the companies Philipp Holzmann and Dyckerhoff & Widmann began in 1907 and lasted until 1910. As early as October 15, 1906, the construction of a makeshift bridge made of steel and wood, which came from the master carpenter Ernst Noack , began. This was opened on February 3, 1907 and had a carriageway on which two tram tracks were installed, and a footpath. The cost of the makeshift bridge was around 450,000 marks. With the opening of the temporary bridge, the demolition of the old Augustus Bridge began. For this purpose, the pillars were blown ashore and the pillars removed conventionally in the river. A total of 26,000 cubic meters of masonry had been demolished and 10,000 cubic meters of earth removed by September 1908. For the new bridge, 41,000 cubic meters of concrete were installed in the pillars and arches. The bridge was also clad with 7,300 cubic meters of sandstone.

The new building carried after the then King Friedrich August III. the name Friedrich-August-Brücke . The bridge is built as a massive vaulted bridge with a three-hinged arch and its core is made of stamped concrete , the visible surfaces are faced with sandstone, for which the stones from the broken Augustus Bridge could be used in part. The sculptures (coats of arms and keystones) were created by the Hamburg-based sculptor Karl Weinberger .

In the course of the new building, the street Terrassenufer , under the first arch, was led further along the Elbe to the Basteischlösschen .

The opening took place on August 30, 1910 in the presence of King Friedrich August III. instead of. Thousands of Dresdeners came to this festival. Mayor Otto Beutler gave the opening speech .

On July 31, 1936, the Olympic flame for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin was carried over the bridge during the first Olympic torch relay .

After 1945

On May 7, 1945, one day before the end of the Second World War in Germany, the sixth pillar after the bank of the old town and the adjacent arches VI and VII were blown up by German troops. In 1945 the destroyed arches on the Neustadt bank of the Elbe were replaced by a temporary solution. Until 1949 the city rebuilt it in an almost unchanged form.

When the bridge was reopened on July 28, 1949, the bridge was named Georgij Dimitrov Bridge (after the Bulgarian communist Georgi Dimitrov ). With the anecdote that August the Strong, when he saw a beautiful lady driving over the bridge, said to his coachman “die-mit-droff”, the citizens of Dresden spoiled this renaming. On September 30, 1990, it was given back its historical name Augustusbrücke .

During the flood of the century in 2002 , it was completely closed to motorized traffic and to pedestrians on the upstream side; but the bridge was not damaged.

  • The well-known Narrenhäusel stood on the Neustadt bank of the Elbe until 1945.

  • Post-war bridge provisional in 1945

  • Reconstruction (1947–1949)

  • Reconstruction (1947–1949)

  • Old town side of the Augustus Bridge in the late 1970s

  • at low water in 2005

  • 2006 with Elbe meadows

Current structure

The Augustus Bridge consists of nine arches ( statically designed as three-hinged arches ), four of which are supported by river piers (at normal water level). The total length of the structure is about 390 meters, the arches have clear widths of 17.6 to 39.3 meters. The width of the bridge is 18 meters, in the pillar pulpit it is 25 meters. At the Augustusbrücke it becomes very clear how much the banks on the inner-city Elbe bow differ. On the old town side of the Elbe, the bridge starts directly at the impact slope and already carries shipping traffic in the fairway under the third arch. In the north, the bank drops very gently, which is why four arches span the Elbe meadows . The structure has a clear passage height of 6.92 meters at the highest navigable water level .

Importance of the bridge in the road network

View from the Frauenkirche, in the background the Marienbrücke

The Augustusbrücke is one of five bridges in the inner city area of ​​Dresden. It only plays a subordinate role for individual motorized road traffic, the reason for this being primarily the way traffic is directed onto the bridge. The Marienbrücke in the west and especially the Carolabrücke in the east of the Augustusbrücke carry most of the vehicle traffic over the Elbe.

Several lines of the Dresden trams run over the bridge. South of the Elbe is the touristic important Theaterplatz and shortly behind it the Postplatz as the most important tram crossing point. Trams run over the Augustus Bridge every three minutes in each direction. In the standard network, these trams run on the three lines 4, 8 and 9. No other bridge in Dresden has so many lines.

Due to the low importance for motorized and the high importance for non-motorized traffic, the city of Dresden plans to block cars and exclusive use by trams, pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge, which is very popular with tourists due to its central location, is often compared to Charles Bridge in Prague , which is reserved for pedestrians.

Refurbishment of the northeast staircase

Motor vehicle volume

  • 2009: 6,500 vehicles / 24h
  • 2015: 6,700 vehicles / 24h
  • 2016: 6,500 vehicles / 24h

Refurbishment from April 2017

In March 2015, the bridge had to be temporarily closed to shipping, as there was a risk that parts of the parapet weighing up to a ton could break off. First, 350 stones were checked in the affected area and given a number so that they could later be installed in the same places.

The renovation finally began on April 18, 2017 and was originally supposed to take 2 years. Since the start of construction, the Augustus Bridge has been closed to private car traffic, and trams could pass the construction site for a few more weeks. Pedestrians can use the bridge during the renovation, e.g. Partly with the use of temporary bridges, walk through. The cost of the bridge renovation is estimated at 27.4 million euros. To this end, the city is using flood aid from the repair of the damage caused by the floods in 2013 in the amount of 18 million euros.

The planning of the Dresden City Administration as part of the Transport Development Plan 2025plus (VEP 2025plus) to block the bridge for motorized individual traffic after the renovation was taken up by the Greens and on September 25, 2014 in the Dresden City Council with the votes of Left , Greens , SPD and Pirates decided.

Dresden gauge

The second bridge pillar on the old town side stands completely in the Elbe. The vertical gauge for the Dresden gauge is attached to it, with which the water level of the Elbe in Dresden is measured centrally ( 51 ° 3 ′ 16.08 ″  N , 13 ° 44 ′ 19.8 ″  E ). The level zero point is at 102.682  m . Here, on January 9, 1954, the lowest known water level (NNW) was measured at 5 cm. During the Elbe flood in 2002 , the highest known water level (HHW) was measured on August 17, 2002 at 940 cm. The mean value of the water levels (MW) in the period from November 1, 2000 to October 31, 2010 is 196 cm, in the period from November 1, 2006 to October 31, 2015 it is 184 cm. The current level was set in 1945. The current level zero point has been in effect since February 1, 2004. The first level was there since 1776 on the left pillar of the Augustus Bridge. From 1845 on, measurements were made with the Dresden yardstick . A level of 0 m corresponds to a fairway depth of 0.65 m. The highest shipping water level (HSW) is 500 cm. The water level is a station on the “Dresden Flood Trail”.

  • The level gauge on the bridge pillar seen from the roof of the Hofkirche. (1948)

  • The water level of the Elbe at 50 cm at the Dresden gauge on August 12, 2015 at 7:58 a.m.

  • The water level of the Elbe at the Dresden gauge was 6.60 m on January 16, 2011 at 13:03; the light wash on the arch of the bridge clearly shows the maximum water level of 2002.

  • The water level of the Elbe at the Dresden gauge was 8.76 m on June 6, 2013 at 12:56 p.m.

  • Water level of the Elbe at the Dresden gauge at 5.78 m on June 2, 2013 at 7:51 p.m., electronic display on the theater boat

  • Postcard of the Augustus Bridge in Dresden with the water level of the Elbe in August 1904 and in summer 1890

Works of art on the bridge

Sgraffito by Nadler
Work of art Die Woge on the main pillar of the bridge (State Parliament, Congress Center and Erlweinspeicher in the background)

On the land pillar on the old town side of the Elbe is a sculpture, the so-called bridge man . The crouching sandstone figure looks downstream. The original sculpture was from the early 16th century. In 1813 the plastic was destroyed when the bridge was blown. A year later, the sculptors Christian Gottlieb Kühn and Schneider created a replica of the little bridge man. This is supposed to represent the builder of the first Elbe bridge, Matthaeus Focius; like the Queckbrunnen , the cross on the bridge and the bridge freedom column, it was one of the landmarks that journeyman craftsmen had to remember on the Walz in Dresden.

On the Neustadt side of the bridge there are numerous works of art on the history of Dresden . In an arched gallery there is a ceramic sgraffito from 1935 on the Elbe shipping by Hans Nadler . Shown are the construction of the Dresden Castle, two ferries, the last ship mill in Pieschener Winkel and the structure of Dresden Neustadt (from left to right). Furthermore, coats of arms of Saxon cities on the Elbe are shown, such as Dresden, Königstein , Schandau , Pirna as well as Meißen , Riesa and Strehla .

Furthermore, four reliefs, created in 1978 and 1979, are attached to urban development: a representation of Altendresden around 1640 by Dietrich Nitzsche , a representation of Neustadt and Old Town in the 17th century by Vinzenz Wanitschke and the representation of Altendresden and the Neustadt in the 18th century by Egmar Ponndorf and Peter Makolies ' depiction of the Neustädter Markt and the main street before 1945.

Since 2006, a work of art of the Dresden artist remembers Tobias Stengel on the main pillars of the bridge to the Elbe flood in 2002. In a contest the year before he sat down by his design, which is located at the famous woodcut The Great Wave off Kanagawa by the Japanese artist Hokusai oriented . Lovers keep attaching love locks to this work of art .

See also

Literature (selection)

  • State Office for Monument Preservation Saxony (Ed.): The old Augustus Bridge in Dresden . (= Workbook 22), Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2014, ISBN 978-3-95498-164-9 .
  • Dresdner Geschichtsverein eV (Ed.): Dresdner Elbbrücken in eight centuries , Dresdner Hefte No. 94, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-910055-90-2 . In this:
    • Norbert Oelsner: The Dresden Elbe Bridge in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. Pp. 5-14.
    • Heinrich Magirius: The Augustus Bridge. A baroque redesign of the old Elbe bridge in Dresden by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann 1728–1732. Pp. 25-34.
    • Ulrich Hübner: The new construction of the Augustus Bridge from 1910. P. 35–43.
  • Hans-Dieter Pfeiffer, Joachim Schmiedel: Elbe Bridge Dresden (Augustus Bridge). In: Stone bridges in Germany. Verlag Bau + Technik, 1999, ISBN 3-7640-0389-8 , pp. 194–197.
  • Hagen Bächler : The former Augustus Bridge - contemporary assessment and cultural-historical significance. In: Sächsische Heimatblätter Heft 5/1984, pp. 199–202.
  • The picture under the Augustus Bridge - a sight in Dresden - created by Professor Hans Nadler . In: Die Schwarze Elster , No. 539, 1937.
  • Willy Nagel: The old Dresden Augustus Bridge . Association for the History of Dresden, Dresden 1924 ( digitized version )
  • Deutsche Bauzeitung 44.1910, No. 46 / No. 47 / No. 50 (three-part report)
  • Christoph Christian Hohlfeldt: The fate of the Dresden Elbe Bridge for 4 centuries , Arnold, Dresden 1844. ( digitized version )
  • Carl August Weinhold: The Elbe Bridge to Dresden, historically and pictorially depicted . Arnold, Dresden 1813. ( digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Augustusbrücke  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Historical Views of the Augustus Bridge  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
  1. Old plans and views of the bridge from before 1547 to 1845
  2. View of the crucifix, as well as views of the bridge on seals and coins
  3. various old bridge views and historical Elbe water levels (from September 13, 1050 to January 29, 1846)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The planned layout of the merchant settlement from 1175 with its right-angled streets is completely ignored.
  2. ↑ a b Stadtlexikon Dresden A – Z , Verlag der Kunst Dresden 1995, ISBN 3-364-00300-9
  3. ↑ Apart from the 853 m long Pont Saint-Esprit over the Rhône near the place of the same name , 36 kilometers north of Avignon , and the formerly around 900 m long Pont d'Avignon .
  4. ↑ See the painting by Kilian Ponheimer the Younger .
  5. ^ Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Erbstein: Numismatic fragments in relation to Saxon history , 10th fragment (1828), pp. 24–42
  6. ↑ Lars Kühl: Bankruptcies, bad luck and breakdowns on the Elbe . In: Saxon newspaper . March 22, 2016 ( sz-online.de ).
  7. ^ Postcard of the accident in 1906. Retrieved on March 22, 2016 .
  8. ↑ a b c Peter Hilbert: Dresden's gray miracle . In: Saxon newspaper . September 27, 2014 ( saechsische.de [accessed October 7, 2014]).
  9. ↑ Concrete bridges. In: Viktor von Röll (ed.): Encyclopedia of the Railway System . 2nd Edition. Volume 2: Building Design - Brazil . Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin / Vienna 1912, p.  271 ff. (Table of executed stamped concrete arch bridges).
  10. ^ Lars Kühl: Olympia on the Königsufer . In: Saxon newspaper . July 30, 2016 ( online [accessed July 30, 2016]).
  11. ↑ Andrea Prause, Ellen Wallraff: 24 hours Dresden - everyday life in a city. In: Dresden: Ethnographic explorations of a royal seat (writings on Saxon history and folklore). Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-86583-118-4 , p. 82.
  12. ↑ Folke Stimmel et al. a .: City Lexicon Dresden. Verlag der Kunst Dresden, Basel, 1994, ISBN 3-364-00300-9 , p. 55.
  13. ^ Dresden Waterways and Shipping Office
  14. ↑ Council Information Dresden VEP 2025plus Page 119.155 . ( online ).
  15. ↑ 2009 census, 2020 forecast and 2025 forecast ( Memento from May 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 12 kB)
  16. ↑ Flügelwegbrücke is in front , Dresden Latest News from February 25/26, 2017
  17. ↑ Flügelwegbrücke is in front , Dresden Latest News from February 25/26, 2017
  18. ↑ Sandro Rahrisch and Bettina Klemm: The crumbling Augustus Bridge is being repaired . In: Saxon newspaper . March 21, 2015 ( paid online [accessed March 28, 2015]).
  19. ↑ Augustus Bridge is to be closed to motorists. MDR Saxony, September 26, 2014, archived from the original on August 24, 2015 ; accessed on July 1, 2018 .
  20. ^ Dresden gauge. In: Electronic Waterways Information Service (ELWIS). Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, archived from the original on June 10, 2015 ; accessed on June 10, 2015 .
  21. ^ Dresden gauge. In: Electronic Waterways Information Service (ELWIS). Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, accessed on July 1, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Grav. V. E. Böhme .: Overview of the great flooding in Dresden on March 31, 1845. Elbe knife with high water levels since 1366. (No longer available online.) 1845, archived from the original on October 22, 2014 ; accessed on June 10, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Dresden Flood Trail. Retrieved June 10, 2015 .
  24. ^ Art in public space . Information brochure of the state capital Dresden, December 1996.
  25. ↑ Peter Hilbert: The hidden bridge work of art . In: Saxon newspaper . February 10, 2015 ( online [accessed February 13, 2015]).
  26. ^ Art in public space . Dresden Cultural Office, Dresden 1996.
  27. ↑ Woge auf der Augustusbrücke - Jury decided on design on the subject of flood 2002. In: dresden.de. State capital Dresden, June 27, 2005, accessed on August 15, 2015 .
upstream Bridges over the Elbe downstream
Carolabrücke (Dresden) Augustus Bridge
 Marienbrücke (Dresden)

Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 19 ″  N , 13 ° 44 ′ 22 ″  E