Bridge of Solidarity

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 51 ° 24 ′ 54 ″  N , 6 ° 44 ′ 19 ″  E

Bridge of Solidarity
Bridge of Solidarity
Bridge of Solidarity, view from the south
Official name originally: Admiral Graf Spee Bridge
since 1988: Bridge of Solidarity
use Road bridge
Convicted Moerser Strasse
Crossing of Rhine
place Duisburg
construction Tied arch bridge
Longest span 255.9 m
start of building July 1945
opening 3rd July 1950
location
Bridge of Solidarity (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Bridge of Solidarity
Above sea level 21  m

The Bridge of Solidarity is a Rhine bridge between the Duisburg districts of Rheinhausen and Hochfeld at Rhine kilometer 775.29.

Bridge story

Bridge story

Road with nameplate

The previous bridge , the Admiral-Graf-Spee- Bridge , was built from January 12, 1934 as part of a state employment program and opened to traffic on May 22, 1936 by Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels . The construction costs amounted to 6.75 million Reichsmarks . There were tollbooths for the use of the bridge on both sides.

On March 4, 1945 soldiers of the Wehrmacht blew up the Admiral-Graf-Spee-Bridge, the Duisburg-Hochfelder Railway Bridge , the Friedrich-Ebert-Bridge (Duisburg-Ruhrort) and the Krefeld-Uerdinger Bridge in front of the approaching 9th US Army , which had crossed the Rur on February 23 at Linnich, Jülich and Düren and advanced between Neuss and Rheinberg to the Rhine ( Operation Grenade ). The flood bridge on the left bank of the Rhine was not blown up. The Western Allies later crossed the Rhine in other places ( Operation Plunder , Bridge von Remagen ) and surrounded the Ruhr area .

A new road bridge was built from July 1945 and opened to traffic on July 3, 1950. In place of the earlier construction, a tied arch bridge was proposed by Krupp Stahlbau Rheinhausen . It has a span of 255.9 meters and is considered the longest of its kind in Germany .

The earlier bridge had four lanes ; the new one was built with only three lanes on the orders of the British occupation authorities . The middle lane is released for one direction of travel by a light signal. The bridge was expanded in the early 1990s, especially the old parts of the flood bridge on the left bank of the Rhine.

Technical specifications

  • Construction type: Langerscher beam
  • Span of the arch: 255.91 m
  • Arrow height 35.5 m
  • Reinforcement beams: single-walled riveted sheet metal beams with a web plate height of 4320 mm
  • Distance between stiffening beams: 12.4 m
  • Bar height of the hat cross-section: 1.7 m at the top, 2.10 m at the fighter
  • Lane width: 9 m (3 lanes of 3 m)
  • Usable cycle path width: 1.1 m
  • Usable sidewalk width: 1.8 m

Naming

In 1987 Rheinhausen gained nationwide attention through resistance to company plans for a steelworks . On December 10, 1987, Krupp workers occupied the Rhine Bridge to protest against its closure. There were local demonstrations against the project throughout the winter. In addition to the Rhine bridge, a driveway to the federal motorway 40 was temporarily blocked and the iconic Villa Hügel of the Krupp Foundation in Essen was occupied. Month-long vigils accompanied the clashes. Rheinhausen became a symbol of resistance against the steel crisis .

The Rhine Bridge was renamed the Bridge of Solidarity by the workers on January 20, 1988 . On that day, 50,000 steelmakers from over 60 German steelworks moved to the bridge. Youth representatives from the Krupp training workshop had made the new name badge. This name was later officially adopted by the city of Duisburg.

General view with the flood bridge on the left bank of the Rhine

literature

  • Waltraud Bierwirth: AufRuhr. Rheinhausen 1987/1997 . Klartext, Essen 1997, ISBN 3-88474-596-4 (photos by Manfred Vollmer).
  • Hartwig Untouched: Rhine crossings in the Duisburg area . In: Freundeskreis lively Grafschaft Duisburg (ed.): Yearbook 1988/1989 of the districts of the city of Duisburg on the left bank of the Rhine . ISSN  0931-2137 , p. 84 ff .
  • Willy vom Felde: Building bridges . In: Freundeskreis lively Grafschaft (Ed.): Yearbook 1988/89 of the districts on the left bank of the Rhine in the city of Duisburg . 1989, ISSN  0931-2137 , pp. 90 ff .

See also

Web links

Commons : Bridge of Solidarity  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Demonstration on the Rheinhausener Rheinbrücke , photo, German Historical Museum
  2. Johannes Nitschmann: freedom of movement. 20 years ago 6,000 workers successfully demonstrated for the preservation of their plant. But where has the strength of the trade unions gone today? Fluter , Federal Agency for Civic Education , BpB, 25, Bonn, December 20, 2007