Drusus Bridge

Drusus Bridge over the Nahe in Bingen

The Drusus Bridge leads over the Nahe near Bingen am Rhein . Built in the 11th century, it is the oldest stone bridge of the Middle Ages in Germany . It rests on seven bridge piers and is a total of 126 meters long, the individual field lengths vary from approx. 12.50 meters (outer fields) to almost 15.00 meters (central field).

Location and surroundings

The Drusus Bridge is located on the lower reaches of the Nahe, just before its confluence with the Rhine. It is an important link between the city of Bingen and the Bingerbrück district on the left bank and the municipality of Münster-Sarmsheim . It is part of the long-distance connection from the Hunsrück towards Mainz ( Ausoniusstraße ).

architecture

Sectional view of the bridge chapel

It is a stone bridge with seven pillars. The current basic construction dates from the 11th century. A small Romanesque bridge chapel is embedded in an underground cavity east of the first bridge pillar on the right bank of the Nahe . There are three cavities in front of the first pillar above the slate rock. Today Stefan-George-Strasse and Saarlandstrasse lead over it. The cavity located directly on the pillar was expanded with groin vaults, windows and an apse facing east. Since the bridge was widened during the reconstruction in 1951/1952, the window of the chapel room had to be walled up.

The chapel is open to visitors on the day of the open monument .

history

The name of the bridge is derived from the Roman general Drusus . However, there is no connection between the current bridge and the Roman one, which was located a little downstream approximately at the level of the basilica. The year of construction could be fixed at 77 on the remains of bridge piles. A new stone bridge was built probably in the middle of the 11th century, which was destroyed by French troops in 1689 during the War of the Palatinate Succession and rebuilt in 1772. In the course of the construction of the railway, the seventh pillar on the left was removed. The last destruction happened in March 1945 by German troops retreating from the Allies . During the reconstruction in 1951/52, the bridge was widened by three meters. From May 2005 to March 2006 it was renovated for approx. 850,000 euros with funds from the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Drusus Bridge is part of the Rhine-Main Industrial Culture Route .