Munster Bridge (Zurich)

Münsterbrücke ; Helmhausbrücke
	Münsterbrücke, view towards Lake Zurich
Official name	Munster Bridge
use	Connection between Fraumünster and Grossmünster
Crossing of	Limmat
place	Old town (District 1), Zurich
construction	Arch bridge
construction time	1836–1838 current structure
Civil engineer	Alois Negrelli
	location
	Bridges in the city of Zurich

47.36959 8.54299Coordinates: 47 ° 22 ′ 11 " N , 8 ° 32 ′ 35" E ; CH1903: six hundred and eighty-three thousand four hundred thirteen / 247114

The Münsterbrücke , also popularly known as the Helmhausbrücke , spans the Limmat in Zurich between the Stadthausquai and Limmatquai . The road bridge connects the eponymous churches of Fraumünster and Grossmünster . The arch bridge , built with natural stones , is known as the most beautiful Limmat bridge in Zurich and is the oldest Limmat crossing in the city that has been preserved in its original state.

history

The cathedral bridge on the altarpiece by Hans Leu , around 1500

Münster bridge with horse tram

Munster bridge with lighting

The Zurich Commercial Association commissioned the construction of the bridge. The structure was erected in place of a wooden footbridge, known as the upper bridge, between 1836 and 1838 by the Zurich builders Conrad Stadler and Johann Jakob Locher-Oeri and the master stonemason Heinrich Staub according to plans by Alois Negrelli . After the Rathausbrücke it was the second navigable bridge over the Limmat in Zurich .

The Münsterbrücke has two lanes and sidewalks on both sides. A tram line initially used it until May 1901 and later again from 1910 to 1924. At the end of the 1990s, extensive repairs followed for around six million euros. An equestrian statue of Hans Waldmann , the work of the sculptor Hermann Haller , has stood on the western bridgehead since April 6, 1937 . The bridge has been illuminated as one of the three pilot projects since 2004 for the Lumière plan .

construction

The structure consists of four flat bridge arches with a clear width of 49 feet (14.7 meters) and an arrow height of 7 feet (2.1 meters) above the Limmat, as well as a fifth arch over an access canal to the former granary opposite the Fraumünster. Between the four 33 foot (9.9 meter) wide arches are three pillars 8 feet (2.4 meters) thick. Black marble (Jurassic limestone) from quarries on Lake Walen was used for the vaults and cladding, which are a maximum of 25 lines (75 centimeters) thick at the apex , while the cornices and pillars are made of Gotthard granite from Mellingen AG . The cast iron railing comes from the Grand Duchy of Baden . The pillars and abutments are based on 472 oak piles with lengths of up to 52 feet (15.6 meters). The foundations were made behind curbs or with caissons .

Web links

Commons : Münsterbrücke Zurich - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Adi Kälin: Why Zurich celebrated a new bridge with so much pomp. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , August 19, 2018.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Richard Heierli, Fritz Hirt, Heinrich Hofacker, Willi Hofmann, Urs Schneider, Erich Möschler: Quaibrücke Zurich. In: Swiss engineer and architect, 10/1985, p. 183
↑ Adi Kälin: Why Zurich celebrated a new bridge with so much pomp In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of August 18, 2018
^ Lumière Münsterbrücke
^ Negrelli: The new cathedral bridge over the Limmat in Zurich. In: Journal about the entire construction industry , Vol. 3 (1839), Issue 6, pp.190–191 (PDF, 14.6 MB)

[Heierli-1] Richard Heierli, Fritz Hirt, Heinrich Hofacker, Willi Hofmann, Urs Schneider, Erich Möschler: Quaibrücke Zurich. In: Swiss engineer and architect, 10/1985, p. 183

[2] Adi Kälin: Why Zurich celebrated a new bridge with so much pomp In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of August 18, 2018

[3] Lumière Münsterbrücke

[4] Negrelli: The new cathedral bridge over the Limmat in Zurich. In: Journal about the entire construction industry , Vol. 3 (1839), Issue 6, pp.190–191 (PDF, 14.6 MB)