Müngsten Bridge Park
Coordinates: 51 ° 9 ′ 38 ″ N , 7 ° 8 ′ 0 ″ E
The Müngstener Brückenpark is a park on the Wupper River in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Solingen on the city limits of Remscheid and Wuppertal, which was expanded as part of the Regionale 2006 as their joint project. The bridge park got its name because of its location under the Müngstener bridge , which is very popular with tourists .
The bridge park was accepted by the European Garden Heritage Network (EGHN) in the network of particularly attractive parks and was awarded the EGHN plaque.
Location and transport links
The bridge park is located away from the more densely populated areas on the banks of the Wupper between Solingen and Remscheid below the bridge. It is accessed by a spur road from the Solingen side, Müngstener Brückenweg, which branches off from Bundesstraße 229 , Remscheider Straße. A bus turning loop is located on site. The following bus lines operate from there:
| line | route | operator | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 605 | Müngsten, Brückenpark - Wuppertal, Zoological Garden | WSW mobile | Leisure line (on weekends) |
| 658 | Müngsten, Brückenpark - Morsbach - Güldenwerth  - Remscheid-Mitte - Rosenhügel - Central Point - Falkenberg
|
SR | |
| 687 | Müngsten, Brückenpark - Krahenhöhe - castle, cable car - castle, chateau | SWS | Leisure line (on weekends) |
| NE18 | Müngsten, Brückenpark - Morsbach - Stadtpark - Remscheid Mitte | SR |
history
Construction of the bridge
The area below the Müngstener Brücke has enjoyed great tourist popularity since construction began in 1893. Numerous visitors were interested in the technical structure, which, as Germany's highest steel truss bridge, received national attention. Therefore, gastronomic establishments settled quite early under the bridge and in the nearby town of Müngsten , which made the remote place a regional excursion destination popular with the population. This included the Bergische Schweiz Hotel-Restaurant below the bridge , built in the Bergisch half-timbered style before 1897, as well as the Müngsten house .
In addition to the bridge, the Müngstener Kirmes , the reservoir of the Morsbach at its confluence with the Wupper as well as the damming of the Wupper at the Schaltkotten and the Diederichstempel in the Wupperhang with a view of the Müngstener Brücke were tourist attractions at the beginning of the 20th century. Hikes from Müngsten along the Wupper under the Müngsten bridge over the Wiesenkotten to the nearby Bergisch ducal residence Schloss Burg were also popular .
After the Second World War
After the connection to Müngstens through the Ronsdorf-Müngstener Railway was discontinued in 1944, the destination increasingly lost its attractiveness. The destination experienced a brief tourist boom in the 1950s with the growth of private transport. Kiosks , a mini golf course and a fairytale park completed the area at this time.
The reasons for the loss of attractiveness were varied: On the one hand, the bridge lost its attraction as a visitor magnet, as other technical achievements caught up. The reservoir near Müngsten was abandoned, the place itself fell victim to the construction of state road 74 and the expansion of federal road 229 at the end of the 1960s . In addition, a large part of the area under the bridge itself was used as a parking lot, reducing the usability of the recreation area that closed the fairytale park. The network of hiking trails under the bridge was insufficiently integrated and did not open up the area around the bridge. Not least the smell of the Wupper itself, which until the 1970s was considered to be one of the most polluted rivers in Germany, kept many from visiting. The bank area was overgrown and no longer fully accessible. Parts of the gastronomic infrastructure closed, buildings and paths fell into disrepair.
Nevertheless, annual visitor numbers of up to 200,000 people are occupied at this time. The Bergische Switzerland was in the 1970s as a restaurant, nightclub and nightclub operated before 1986, the rock nightclub Exit found its way there. A popular motorcycle meeting place also settled under the bridge.
Redesign to regional 2006
For the centenary of the bridge construction in 1997, the recreation area experienced a brief boom, which quickly ebbed away again. This was taken as an opportunity to convene an inter-municipal working group of the municipal environmental and green space offices in Remscheid, Solingens and Wuppertal, which discussed a revitalization of the recreation area in the run-up to the Regionale 2006 structural funding project. In addition, a further working group of the Biological Station Mittlere Wupper and the environmental and nature conservation associations had been involved in their own project planning independently since 1999, since the south bank of the biologically recovered Wupper had meanwhile been designated as a nature reserve. Both working groups were combined into a working group. The aim was to set up a park with direct river access as a replacement for the previous state. The planning of the bridge park was declared a key project of the Regionale 2006 and left to the city of Remscheid as the responsible project manager and recipient of funding.
After a rough planning by the working group, a realization competition was launched in which 23 planning offices from all over Europe took part. The winner was the design The landscape is the star of Atelier Loidl from Berlin , which was realized from 2005. The planning included the creation of large open green areas with numerous seating and lounging areas under the bridge with direct access to the river and balconies over the water. A hand-operated transporter ferry ( location ) created a new Wupper crossing. Acoustic installations and information signs explain the history and nature of the bridge. The mini golf course, which was no longer planned, and the associated kiosk were subsequently included in the planning, as the question of ownership of these buildings was initially disregarded. The parking spaces were relocated to the outside and re-created on the site of the former reservoir, and marked hiking trails now connected the locations. The slope path to Wiesenkotten was paved and secured, artistic objects were installed, and an adventure playground was set up on the bridge abutment on the southeast slope above the park.
In addition, dilapidated buildings were demolished, including the former restaurant Nikos Biergarten , which was closed on October 7, 2005 and was demolished shortly afterwards, as well as the former restaurant Müngstener Brücke and the kiosk at the former fairy tale forest. The half-timbered building of Bergische Schweiz, or later the Rockdisco Exit , was finally demolished at the end of 2008 after lengthy negotiations with the owner. In its place, a new restaurant was built, which, like the transporter ferry , is operated by Lebenshilfe .
On May 20, 2006, Lorenz Kehl from Atelier Loidl officially opened the bridge park, but the celebrations were canceled due to the onset of a storm. The official handover took place on June 4, 2006, the transporter ferry started operating on October 7, 2006. On the weekends, a newly created bus connection connects the bridge park, and the access routes from the nearby Solingen-Schaberg stop have been expanded. The old stone bridge near Müngsten, the Napoleon Bridge , was extensively renovated by 2007 and now serves as a pedestrian feeder to the park.
The redesign of the park was awarded the National Prize for Integrated Urban Development and Building Culture by the Federal Ministry of Transport in 2009 .
Visitor center
The architects Pool 2 from Kassel designed the rust-red steel visitor center, which was completed in 2009. The center was awarded the Max 40 prize for young Hessian architects in 2011 by the State Association of Hesse of the BDA .
Events
The cultural event “Bridge Magic” took place several times in the bridge park. In addition to the appearance of actors, jugglers and artists, historical steam trains also traveled the bridge. Due to new reports on the stability of the structure, this was no longer possible from 2010. Instead, the trains ran between Solingen main station and the Schaberg stop, in the immediate vicinity of the bridge.
literature
- Iris Fryczewski, Stefano Panebianco, Jost Vitt: “The Müngsten Bridge Park. A first interim balance ”; Ed .: Institute for State and Urban Development Research and Construction of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Department of Urban Development and Housing; Dortmund; 2006 ( online version as PDF)
Web links
supporting documents
- ↑ Brückenpark on eghn.org ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ StadtbauenStadtleben.de: Results> Integrated and regional action. Retrieved on December 9, 2011.
- ↑ http://www.rp-online.de/bergisches-land/solingen/nachrichten/fest-ohne-dampfloks-auf-muengstener-bruecke-1.446606
