Middle Bridge (Bensheim)
The central bridge is under monument protection standing cultural monument in Bensheim on the mountain road . It is a bridge built in 1732 over the Winkelbach .
History and the present
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At the site of today's stone bridge, there was probably a wooden drawbridge that was secured by towers. The bridge was a connection between the old Bensheimer core city and the Bensheimer suburb. The wooden bridge was destroyed in a flood on September 29, 1732. A year later, construction of the bridge began according to plans by the council builder Johann Joseph Heckler. The order was carried out by the Weinheim master mason Johann Thomas. The lost old inscription plaque read: "THE BRICK NEI MADE IN 1733 WORD DAAHLEN BUILDING MASTER IOSEF HECKLER". Below the text were two palm branches crossed in stone.
The Ernsperger couple from Bensheim probably donated two saints for the middle bridge in 1747: Johannes von Nepomuk and Franz Xaver . Both stand diametrically opposite each other on the parapet wall. Around 1880 the damaged figure of Franz Xaver was replaced by a newer representation. Presumably a few years later, the representation of Franz Xavier was supplemented by an assistant figure, an Indian boy. In 1900 the badly damaged figure of John of Nepomuk was replaced by an original baroque figure . The two sculptures were restored in the 1920s and 1970s and exchanged for artificial stone copies in 1987 . The original sculptures are in the parish church of St. Georg . The pedestals and plinths of the two figures have inscriptions about their origins in the form of a chronogram . However, it is questionable whether the text has been preserved true to the original in the course of the restoration. Below the figure of Nepomuk is written: “MIChaeLstag / that uns WohL / WeIssen / The so great downfall / DRUM Iohann / We praise all / stand by / In water compulsion”. On the base: "EX VOTO / IOHANN GEORG / ERNSPERGER / MARIA MARGRETHA / HIS WIFE". The same wording can be found on the pedestal of Franz Xaver. On the pedestal of the figure is written: "franCIsCo XaVerIo / gLorIoso / noVI orbIs apostoLo / benIgno / In neCessItatIbUs patrI / ponIt / ULtIMa oCtobrIs / gratI CLIentIs pIetas"; including additionally: "qUantIs In res a VentIs IaCtaMUr et UnDIs / anCHora tU nostrae XaVIer esto ratI" ("To Franziskus Xaverius the glorious of the new world apostle to the benevolent father in need puts [this monument] on last October a grateful patronizing piety .. ..If we are shaken by strong winds and waves in need, you should be anchor, you Xavier, our raft. "According to a translation by Kieffer, 1911)
In 2013 the bridge was extensively renovated. During the work, two reinforced concrete girders that supported the bridge in the previous decades could be removed and the original natural stone vault restored. Since then, the bridge has been resting on the two arches again.
construction
The bridge structure consists of two round arches with different spans. Red sandstones , yellow sandstones and rubble stones were used as building material . The two arches are separated by a sharpened river pillar. The upper part of the parapet was raised and plastered on both sides with bricks in the 20th century.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Cultural monuments in Hesse: Mittelbrücke , accessed on April 21, 2008
Web links
- State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse (Ed.): Mittelbrücke In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hesse
Coordinates: 49 ° 40 ′ 48.7 ″ N , 8 ° 37 ′ 20 ″ E