Camsdorf Bridge
The Camsdorfer Bridge is a bridge over the Saale and is considered the oldest stone arch bridge in Jena . It connects the Jena city center with Wenigenjena .
history
In the place of the first bridge there was a wooden previous building until the middle of the 15th century. In 1416 it had a hermitage in which a man should ask for alms for the bridge. The stone arch bridge was built around 1480 and consisted of nine arches. It was an important passage over the Saale, which was often flooded at that time, and established a connection to the settlements in the east of the city. The stones of the building came, among other things, from the castles on the Hausberg, which were destroyed in 1304 .
On the old Camsdorf bridge, which is one of the seven wonders of the city under the name of Pons , there was a separate chapel, and until 1842 a stone or wooden cross stood in the middle to mark the boundary between the city and Camsdorf. Tradition has it that Goethe wrote the Erlkönig in the Zur Tanne pub by the bridge, but this can be considered refuted.
After the bridge was built, two additional arches were added on the Camsdorf side in 1575. The history of the bridge also knows tragic events:
- During the Thirty Years' War towards the end of January 1637, Swedish troops marched into Jena and already had the city under their control when pursuing imperial troops under Count Götze were sighted. One arch of the bridge was blown up to prevent the enemy from advancing. Up to 36 workers and soldiers were killed in the explosion. The blown bridge arch was not repaired until 1655 by the master builder Moritz Richter on the orders of Duke Wilhelm IV of Saxony; until then, a wooden temporary structure spanned the gap.
- In 1716 a frightened riding horse unexpectedly jumped over the bridge railing and dragged the unfortunate rider with him to his death.
- In 1823 a peasant woman, tired from the long journey, drowned in the Saale; Without unbuckling the heavy stretcher, she had leaned against the parapet wall and lost her footing.
The need to build a new bridge was recognized as early as the 19th century when the industrialization of the city increased. The majority of the population at the time saw the old bridge as a valuable architectural monument and demanded that it be preserved.
In order to cope with the increasing traffic, the Camsdorf Bridge had to be removed from July 1912. The new building was completed by November 1913. A small pavilion was built on the southwest pillar of the bridge, which carried a statue of the Archangel Saint Michael as the patron saint of the city of Jena.
A tram line also ran over the new bridge in 1913. The bridge was again blown up in 1945, this time carried out by German pioneers. This demolition was also pointless from a military point of view, as the Americans had already crossed the Saale at other points. In the first post-war weeks, the damage to the bridge was investigated, and from 1946 the bridge was rebuilt with the help of Soviet forces. It was therefore called the "Bridge of German-Soviet Friendship". It was the first building in Jena to be rebuilt after the war. For a long time, the Camsdorfer Bridge was the only crossing in the Jena city area that was passable for heavy goods vehicles.
Current situation
The bridge had to be completely renovated in 2005 due to serious damage. The tram route was also expanded from a single to a two-lane route. For the reopening in summer 2005, a bridge festival was held on the bridge for the first time.
See also
literature
- Carl Christian Schramm: Historical scene in which the strangest bridges from all four parts of the world, but the specialty The Dreßdner Elb-Brücke, which has been brought into the most perfect state, In clean prospectuses, coins and other copperplate engravings, are presented and described: by useful notes and special documents explained, also provided with necessary registers. Leipzig, 1735 pp. 139–142 ( bird's eye view of the bridge (around 1700) digitized version . The original is in the Heidelberg University Library. )
Web links
- The Camsdorf Bridge from 1913. In: Structurae
- Homepage of the association Brückenheiliger St. Michael.eV
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b J.C. Zenker: Historical-topographical pocket book of Jena and its surroundings , Friedrich Frommann-Verlag Jena 1836
- ↑ Heinz Voigt: Did Goethe write the Erlkönig in the "Tanne" in Jena? In: Ostthüringer Zeitung . September 14, 2013, accessed October 27, 2018 .
- ^ The first destruction (1637) : Details on the demolition of the bridge can be found near Jena during the Thirty Years' War: from handwritten messages . In: Christian August Vulpius (Ed.): Curiosities of the physical-literary-artistic-historical past and present . tape I , no. IV . Weimar 1811, p. 373-375 . : (January 20, 1637) ... the Swedish General Stahlhantsch arrived here, he was pursued by the imperial (General Goetz), and came down the Steiger. This general had the last arch of the Saalbrücke, towards Kamsdorf, thrown on February 3rd, and 23 people were killed, some of them by stones, and some perished in the water. But so that his (war) people could pass the river, he had barrels and boards built a gangway. Meanwhile the Imperial advance troops fell on the Swedes' necks, and there, on February 4th, at the gate and around there, bloody skirmishes began. The following night the Swedes had the wooden gangway demolished ... But the Saalbrücke remained ruined for a whole year and one had to be put across the river with fishing boats.
- ^ Thuringian Association for Home Care (Ed.): Yearbook 1912 . Self-published, Erfurt 1913, Die Camsdorfer Brücke, p. 86-87 .
- ↑ For several years now, an association of committed citizens has been pursuing the goal of rebuilding this pavilion.
- ↑ In the meantime, tram lines 2 and 3 from Lobeda run across the bridge.
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 42.4 " N , 11 ° 35 ′ 45.8" E