Deutz ship bridge

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The Deutz ship bridge connected the banks of the Rhine between Deutz and Cologne from 1822 to 1915 as a pontoon bridge .

Deutz ship bridge

history

prehistory

A permanent bridge is mentioned as early as Roman times (in 315), the Constantine Bridge near Salzgasse to the Deutz fort opposite. From the 5th century this bridge fell into disrepair, so that the Archbishop of Cologne, Bruno (935–965), had the bridge demolished. The traffic between the right and left banks of the Rhine was only possible with boats. Since 1670 Cologne was connected to the other side of the Rhine with a ferry connection, a flying bridge ( Gierponte ). For a long time the ferry operators of the Gierponte resisted plans to create a permanent bridge over the Rhine, because this meant the loss of the ferry revenues.

Ship bridge from 1822 to 1915

On the order of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III , a standing bridge over the Rhine, the ship's bridge, was built and inaugurated with military honors on November 16, 1822. After 900 years it was the first bridge to connect the new parts of the country, the left and right parts of the Rhine, and Westphalia . The end of the ship bridge was Markmannsgasse on the Cologne side and Deutzer Freiheit on the opposite side. The ship bridge had the advantage over a conventional bridge that the traffic led directly to the city districts without the usual entrances and exits. The disadvantage, however, was that the bridge had to be temporarily closed to passers-by due to shipping traffic.

The bridge was 400 meters long and consisted of 42 boats , two boats being connected to a bridge yoke . With two - later with four - extension yokes, the bridge could be opened for ship traffic, initially with the use of physical strength, later with the help of gas engines . Each yoke had a winch and a rudder and could therefore be maneuvered. The bridge was illuminated in the evening with 20 kerosene lamps. Due to the increasing traffic, the bridge was expanded from 1871 to 1873 by adding a footbridge 1.80 m wide to the right and left. As the bank fortifications and port facilities of Cologne (1890–1898) and Deutz (1881–1907) were expanded, the bridge was thus a total of 34 m shorter. The bridge was initially opened three times a day, in the following years up to 30 times a day. Pedestrians paid a bridge fee of 2 pfennigs , carts and ships correspondingly more. Due to the increasing shipping traffic and the corresponding frequent closings of the bridge, the passers-by later increasingly used the parallel ferry connections with steam boats instead .

From 1913 to 1915 the Deutz suspension bridge was built 50 meters further south, later called the Hindenburg bridge. It made the old ship bridge unnecessary, so it was dismantled in 1915 and sold to the city of Linz on the Rhine .

Around the bridge

Cologne shore

Monument to Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm III., Heumarkt Cologne

The ship bridge ended on the Cologne side at Markmannsgasse, which was originally only 3 meters wide, but was widened in 1824. Via Heumarkt and Obenmarspforten you got to Hohen Straße . Out of gratitude for belonging to Prussia , a monument to Friedrich Wilhelm III was erected on Heumarkt in 1878 . inaugurated. So after leaving the ship's bridge, the monument was always in sight.

Deutzer Ufer

Cologne-Deutz with ship bridge, condition in front of the railway line, Wilhelm Scheiner

The construction of the ship bridge had a not inconsiderable influence on Deutz's economic boom. At the beginning of the 19th century, Deutz was an idyllic excursion destination. The people of Cologne liked to walk over the ship bridge and have fun on the Deutz side, where popular restaurants and hotels were located, such as the Bellevue and the Prinz Carl restaurant , which allowed an unobstructed view of the Cologne panorama.

Deutz railway jammer

View of Deutz, Wilhelm Scheiner

The beautiful view of Cologne was destroyed in 1882 by the so-called Deutz railway jammer, because the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahngesellschaft built a railway line with an arched bridge that separated the city of Deutz from the banks of the Rhine. Right at the end of Deutzer Freiheit, the former Hotel Bellevue was converted into the Schiffbrücke station.

Entertainment and celebrations

The puppeteer Millowitsch

When the Deutz Schiffsbrücke was closed, the puppeteer Franz Andreas Millowitsch with his small, ambulatory theater on the Deutz bank of the Schiffsbrücke passed the time until a ship had passed and the bridge was opened to traffic again. The Millowitsch family later opened a permanent theater in Cologne.

Bridge concerts

The so-called two pennings Kunzääte were popular on the ship bridge on Sundays . So you could hear the afternoon concerts of the Prussian garrison from Deutz for just two pfennigs .

Emperor's birthday

The bridge was duty-free every year on the emperor's birthday . Many citizens used the opportunity to visit Cologne or Deutz for free, so to speak. The youth on the left and right of the Rhine also met on that day in the middle of the bridge to fight their rivalries up close on the bridge, so that sometimes it was dangerous for other passers-by to pass the bridge.

Deutzer Schützenfest

Visiting the Deutzer Schützenfest on the Vogelsrut festival meadow on the dead arm of the Rhine, Schnellert, was very popular with Cologne residents . The operation on the ship's bridge was so large on those days that the bridge toll cashiers were even increased to six men.

Bathing establishments

Badeschiff Cologne

In 1824 a firmly anchored bathing ship was attached to the ship's bridge. It served as a bathing establishment . Inside there were 16 tubs with changing rooms and lounges . Later other bathing ships were built in which men and women could swim separately.

Sünner brewery

Deutzer Freiheit, Sünner Brewery, Wilhelm Scheiner

The Sünner brewery , the oldest Kölsch brewery , was located on the Deutzer Freiheit directly at the pier of the ship bridge that had been built eight years earlier. The reason for choosing the location was that the bridge toll house and the river swimming pool were very close. The brewery was initially called Zum Schiffgen . In 1882 the Schiffbrücke station of the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft was opened directly in front of the brewery, so that the turnover of the inn increased steadily due to the convenient location.

Deutz-Schiffbrücke station memorial

Today nothing can be seen of the Deutz ship bridge. Two arches of the old embankment wall of the “Deutz Schiffbrücke” station of the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn can be seen near the Deutz Bridge in the Deutz Historical Park .

literature

  • Kruppa, Hubert; A Cologne suburb with a great history: Deutz, Cologne 1978
  • Kruppa, Hubert; Deutz: A Cologne district with a great history, revised by Carl Dietmar, Cologne 2001
  • Pfennig, Jörg; Over bridges, Cologne and the Rhine, Cologne 1994
  • Schäfke, Werner, Carsten Laschet; Bridge city Cologne, photographs from 1900, Cologne 2014

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pfennig, Jörg .: Over bridges: Cologne and the Rhine . ConMedia, 1994, ISBN 3-929972-06-9 .
  2. ↑ Esch, Hans Georg, 1964- Ill. Schäfke, Werner, 1944-: Bridge City Cologne: Photographs from 1900 to today; HGEsch, Hugo and Karl Hugo Schmölz, August Sander . Bachem, 2014, ISBN 978-3-7616-2483-8 .
  3. ↑ Family history - VOLKSTHEATER Millowitsch. Retrieved August 5, 2019 .
  4. ^ Kruppa, Hubert .: A Cologne suburb with a great history, Deutz . Bachem, 1978, ISBN 3-7616-0466-1 .
  5. ↑ Historischer Park Deutz - Förderverein Historischer Park Deutz eV Accessed on August 5, 2019 (German).