Mühlgrabenbrücke (Kłodzko)

Coordinates: 50 ° 26 ′ 17 ″  N , 16 ° 39 ′ 20 ″  E

Mühlgrabenbrücke Brückorbrücke
The bridge with Mühlgraben and footpath
Official name	Most na Młynówce
use	pedestrian
Convicted	Wita Stwosza Street
Subjugated	Młynówka, Nad Kanałem footpath
place	Kłodzko (Glatz)
construction	Stone arch bridge
overall length	52 m
width	about 4 m
completion	14th Century
location

The most popular motif of the bridge -
view to the south of the Minorite Church (Kościół MBR)

Looking north

The mill race bridge ( Polish Most na Młynówce ), formerly Brücktorbrücke , Stone Bridge , in the Polish and św Most. Jana ( Johannis Bridge ) Most gotycki ( Czech most malý Karlův even Gotický most sv. Jana ), is a medieval stone arch bridge in the center of Kłodzko (Glatz) in the Province of Lower Silesia in Poland. It was created during the reign of the Bohemian sovereign King Wenceslaus .

Location and description

In the Middle Ages, the four-arched bridge connected the town of Glatz with the sand suburb outside the fortifications with the Rossmarkt and the Franciscan monastery. Today it is located on Wita Stwosza ulica (Veit-Stoss-Strasse) . One of the arches spans an artificial, walled arm of the Glatzer Neisse , the Młynówka. This was the former Mühlgraben, which served to drive the two Glatzer mills . Under the northern arch, a footpath leads along the city's former defensive wall .

The bridge is 52 meters long and around four meters wide. Massive parapets run on both sides, carrying six bridge figures above the pillars. The bridge is only permitted for pedestrians. It connects the sand island suburb with the old town located higher up. The bridge has an incline of around eight percent, which is why the street leading to the old town was called Brückorberg .

history

The bridge, which originally belonged to the city fortification system, was probably built from 1379 in place of an earlier wooden bridge . It was completed in 1390, making it one of the oldest bridges of its kind in Europe. It was built from around the Prague building works of the cathedral builder Peter Parler . In addition to other orders, the Parler-Bauhütte also built the parish church “Assumption of Mary” during these years, which was financed from a legacy of the Prague Archbishop Ernst von Pardubitz . Irregular sandstone blocks were used to build the bridge, and egg white from hen's eggs is said to have been added to the mortar .

At both ends of the bridge there were bridge gates, from which the name "Brückorbrücke" can be traced back. The upper one was integrated as a bastion in the defensive walls of the city, the lower one was only used for access control. After the fortifications were razed after 1877 , the two bridge gates were also removed in 1904. After that, the bridge received gas lamps .

In the course of its history, the bridge has been repaired, reinforced or rebuilt several times after damage or destruction due to the effects of war, floods and normal wear and tear. The last repair took place in 2009.

On November 25, 1949, the bridge was entered under the number A / 4395/59 in the register of architectural monuments of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (as most na młynówce , page 72).

The bridge figures

In the course of the re-Catholicization after the Thirty Years War , the six baroque sculptures were created within 80 years. They are located above the bridge piers and are said to have been modeled on those on Prague's Charles Bridge . There are figures with the representations of the Trinity , the coronation of Mary , the Bohemian saints Wenceslaus and Johann Nepomuk , the crucifixion of Christ , the plague saint Franz Xavier and the Pietà . The sculptures of the Pietà from 1655 and the crucifixion group with Maria Magdalena from 1734 are particularly valuable .

On the east side of the bridge are the figures:

• The sculpture of the town patron St. Franz Xavier was probably created by the sculptor Karl Sebastian Flacker and was erected in 1714 by the town and the citizens of Glatz out of gratitude for surviving the plague . Below the saint there are three plague sufferers and an Indian with the city coat of arms of Glatz. The Latin inscription reads: DeLeCto Iterata In LVe Magno serVatorI StatVaM In LapIDeponIt Vrbs gLaCensIs (The city of Glatz, plagued by the plague, erected the monument to its Savior) . Since the sandstone used had become porous, the sculpture was replaced in 1920 by a true-to-original copy.
• The crucifixion group depicts Christ crucified and Maria Magdalena. It was donated in 1734 by Count Johann Hieronymus von Herberstein (1772–1847), the owner of the Grafenort estate and his wife Henriette Countess von Salm-Kyrburg . Below is the coat of arms of the founder and the year "MDCCXXXIV" as well as the inscription: "In 1281 the bridge was built, in 1701 on August 22nd it was renewed".
• The group of two sculptures with St. Trinity and the Coronation of Mary was erected in 1714. It is a foundation of Baron Franz Ferdinand von Fitschen, the owner of the Möhlten estate . His coat of arms is on the base.

On the west side of the bridge are the figures:

• The sculpture of St. Wenzel represents the Bohemian duke and national saint in armor and with a flag in his right hand. The shield in the other hand shows the one-headed Bohemian eagle.
• The Pietà with St. Maria as Mater Dolorosa with the body of Jesus Christ who was removed from the cross was donated by the Glatzer Governor Johann Georg von Götzen and his wife Maria Elisabeth Countess von Hoditz. Below are the coats of arms of both spouses and the inscription: “JG Graf von Götzen, Governor of Glatz. ME Graefin von Götzen born Size von Hoditz 1655 ”. The rest of the inscription is blurred and illegible.
• The sculpture of the Bohemian national and bridge saint Johannes Nepomuk was erected at the beginning of the 18th century by Count Johann Ernst von Götzen (1667–1707) and his wife Maria Franziska Countess of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn on Teltsch († 1702).

• 

  St. Francis Xavier

• 

  Crucifixion
  group

• 

  Coronation of Mary

• 

  St. Wenceslas

• 

  Pietà

• 

  St. John Nepomuk

literature

• Dehio Handbook of Art Monuments in Poland. Silesia. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich a. a. 2005, ISBN 3-422-03109-X , p. 460
• Hugo Weczerka (Hrsg.): Handbook of the historical places . Volume: Silesia (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 316). Kröner, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-520-31601-3 , p. 116f.
• Roland Gröger, Marek Sikorski: The Brückorbrücke in Glatz or about the magic of art. In: At the border of legend and belief - sights and art treasures of the county of Glatz , Marx-Verlag, Leimen 1994, ISBN 3-87854-102-3 , pp. 56–60
• Arno Herzig , Małgorzata Ruchniewicz : History of the Glatzer Land. DOBU-Verlag u. a., Hamburg u. a. 2006, ISBN 3-934632-12-2 , p. 46

Web links

Commons : Johannisbrücke (Kłodzko)  - collection of images

• The medieval stone bridge , on citywalk
• Historical and current images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kladsko do roku 1454. Retrieved December 15, 2013 (Czech). 
2. ↑ Východní Čechy, Kladsko a Dolní Slezsko ( Memento from December 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ Kłodzko. Plan miasta, 1:10 000 (city map), wyd. 3, wyd. PPWiK, Wrocław-Warszawa 1999.
4. ^ T. Broniewski: Kłodzko. Śląsk w zabytkach sztuki , Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków 1970, p. 90.
5. ↑ According to Stanislav Brandejs: Umělecký místopis Kladska . In: Václav Černý : Kladský sborník 1946 , p. 85, the wooden bridge was built before 1300.
6. ↑ According to the Handbuch der historical places Schlesien , p. 117.
7. ^ František Musil: Kladsko v době vlády Lucemburků . In: 550 let Hrabství Kladského 1459–2009 . Trutnov 2009, ISBN 978-80-903741-3-3 , p. 70.
8. ↑ Zpravodaj Euroregionu Glacensis. 2009, p. 9 , accessed December 15, 2013 (Czech). 
9. ↑ Rejestr zabytków nieruchomych woj. dolnośląskiego. Woj. dolnośląskie - pow. kłodzki. Retrieved April 23, 2019 (Polish). 
10. ↑ Ryszard Gładkiewicz (ed.): Kłodzko. Dzieje miasta , Kłodzko 1998. ISBN 83-904888-0-9 , p. 211.