Moltke Bridge
Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 19 ″ N , 13 ° 22 ′ 8 ″ E
| Moltke Bridge | ||
|---|---|---|
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| use | Road traffic and pedestrians | |
| Convicted | Willy-Brandt-Strasse | |
| Crossing of | Unterspree | |
| place |
Berlin districts Tiergarten and Moabit |
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| overall length | 78 m | |
| width | 26.70 m, of which 15 m is carriageway | |
| Longest span | 20.6 m | |
| Headroom | in the middle arch 4.50 m | |
| start of building | 1886 | |
| completion | April 1891 | |
| location | ||
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The Moltkebrücke is a car and pedestrian bridge with a load-bearing steel structure on stone pillars and leads over the Spree in Berlin's Mitte district , which here belongs to Moabit .
The bridge, veneered with red sandstone, connects Willy-Brandt-Straße (until January 1998: Moltkestraße) with Alt-Moabit and thus the government and parliament district in the Spreebogen in the Tiergarten district with Moabiter Werder and the main train station in the district Moabit. The area of the Federal Chancellery connects directly to the south-western end of the bridge .
The bridge, which is richly decorated with pictures and sculptures, is named after Helmuth von Moltke , the chief of the Prussian General Staff from 1857 to 1888. It was built from 1886 to 1891 under the artistic direction of Otto Stahn . The structure, damaged in World War II , was put back into operation in 1947 and extensively restored and modernized from 1983 to 1986.
The Moltkebrücke is a listed building .
Another Moltke bridge is located in the Berlin district of Lichterfelde .
history
Predecessor buildings from the middle of the 19th century
Today's massive bridge has two predecessors. A wooden swing bridge, known as the Unterspree Bridge , had stood about 70 meters upstream since 1851 . It was designed so that the connecting line between Hamburger Bahnhof and Potsdamer Bahnhof could run across the Spree. Because the wooden structure quickly became dilapidated, was built 1864-1865 south of it the first wrought-iron three-hinged arch - truss bridge in Germany. It was used for road traffic and the connecting railway, but showed deformations soon after its opening because the pillars were insufficiently founded. The problem increased with the expansion of the railroad tracks, so that the bridge (after the extensive loss of importance of the connecting railway) was closed in 1884 and demolished in 1887 as the Spree was canalized.
The Moltke Bridge was built in its place. Due to the bad experience with the metal construction of the second sub spreader bridge, it was built as a solid structure. Work on it began as early as 1886, before the previous structure was demolished, and lasted until 1891. As with many bridges in the city of Berlin, the architect Otto Stahn was responsible for the artistic design as the municipal building officer. Together with James Hobrecht, he designed a five-arched, massive vaulted bridge , under whose three large central arches (16.56 meters to 17.26 meters clear width) the Spree flows. A riverside path crossed the smaller southern segment arch (each 10.37 meters clear width), and an equally large blind arch at the northern end of the bridge created the desired symmetry. The visible surfaces of the bridge were covered with red Main sandstone. The three associated staircases (two at the southern end of the bridge, one at the northeastern end), the paintings and sculptures as well as the parapets and lantern bases are made of the same material.
The new bridge connected to Moltkestrasse, dedicated in 1867, in the Spreebogen. In the General Staff Building in building block Königsplatz / Moltke street / Herwarthstraße resided Helmuth von Moltke, the 1857-1888 head of the General Staff was. Moltkestrasse formed the western end of the elegant Alsenviertel , which (on the site of today's Spreebogenpark ) extended to the Reichstag. Next to the Lehrter train station north of the bridge, the Marine Panorama was built in 1892 , a round building with a glass dome in which the German Colonial Museum was opened in 1899 .
The red stone bridge was built and suffered severe war damage in the 1940s
The completion of the Moltke Bridge in April 1891 coincided with the death of its namesake. The unofficial inauguration of the building therefore took place on April 28, 1891 when Moltke's coffin was transferred from the General Staff building to the Lehrter station. The Berliner Volks-Zeitung described the bridge, which was festively decorated for the occasion:
“The wooden fence, which had previously hidden the roadway of the new Moltke Bridge from the gaze of passers-by, fell under the carpenter's ax and the magnificent monumental work of art was presented to the amazed gaze of the public for the first time. [...] The Moltke Bridge is particularly beautiful. The four old men, carved in red sandstone, who, holding the Moltke coat of arms, flank the parapets of the bridge, are covered with pile and garlands, as are the splendid young warriors who are grouped around the pillars of the candelabra. Moltke's medallion picture that adorns the arch of the bridge is framed by a wonderful wreath plaited with white flowers. From the medallion, foliage threads run along the arch. "
During the Second World War, the Moltke Bridge was badly damaged. In 1942, the bronze decorative elements of the bridge and the lanterns attached to it were dismantled and melted down for war purposes . In the last days of the Battle of Berlin , the bridge gained strategic importance when units of the Red Army from Moabit attacked the Reichstag building . There were heavy fighting, in the course of which the southern arch of the bridge was blown up and the parapets and sculptures were badly damaged.
Emergency repairs and a possible demolition
The poorly repaired structure was able to resume its function in 1947. A component made of inferior concrete now replaced the southern arch of the bridge. Instead of the sandstone parapets, brick walls were erected. In 1958, a bomb dud from the war was discovered, which could be disposed of after defusing.
At the end of the 1960s, a demolition of the bridge was already planned because of the increasingly obvious structural damage and the planned expansion of the urban motorway. Only a change in direction in traffic planning ensured that it was retained.
Complete restoration in the 1980s
A comprehensive restoration finally took place between 1983 and 1986. The southern arch of the bridge was reconstructed, the blind arch at the northern end of the bridge was replaced by a real arch, so that a planned riverside path could be passed under. A steel supporting structure was built in that was supposed to cope with the increased load. The new route has a lightweight concrete substructure. Replicas by August Jäkel based on original pictures replace the lost parts of the original picture, sculpture and lantern decorations. Original sandstone parts that have been preserved were carefully integrated into the ensemble during the reconstruction.
In the restoration work, the workers discovered in a bridge pier a 1889 walled instrument box with a "composition of the main points in the construction of Moltkebrücke to the walling of this certificate of the enclosing box." The content provided detailed information about the planning, preparatory work, costs and construction of the bridge as well as about the people involved.
Today, plaques placed in the middle of the parapets remind of the stages in the construction, destruction and reconstruction of the Moltke Bridge.
Bridge jewelry
The paintings and sculptures on the bridge, designed by important artists of the Wilhelmine era , refer to Moltke's military achievements.
The river pillars on both sides of the central arch bear allegories by Johannes Boese . An owl sitting over books and maps stands for the general's wisdom and a Prussian eagle rising above trophies for the victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 under Moltke's military responsibility .
The keystones of the three river arches bear portrait heads made by Karl Begas and crowned with laurel wreaths. On the middle arch of the bridge there are portraits of Moltke on both sides. These are flanked downstream on the subsequent arches by the heads of Gebhard Leberecht von Blüchers (left) and Georg von Derfflingers (right). The heads of Caesar and Athena appear upstream . The flanking by generals refers to the military tradition in which Moltke was placed, Athene indicates his wisdom.
Bronze lanterns rise above the eight ornamental sculptures on the bridge balustrades, also created by Begas, the shafts of which are each surrounded by three children with Roman soldiers' clothing and armament. These candelabra were made in the Lauchhammer art foundry around 1890. On the pedestals above the bridge abutments , griffins designed by Carl Piper are enthroned with copper coats of arms. These show the family coat of arms of the Moltkes as well as the coats of arms of Prussia, Berlin and Parchim , the latter the birthplace of Helmuth von Moltke.
As a reminder of the Second World War, one of the destroyed original griffins at the bridge ends has been re-erected on a plinth on the riverside path on the north-western side of the bridge. A memorial plaque in the arch of the bridge describes it as a "constant reminder for peace and understanding".
Gripping sculpture at the southeast end of the bridge with the inscription: “First weigh, then dare”.
Gripping sculpture at the southeast end of the bridge
Portrait head of Moltke, keystone in the middle arch of the bridge
Portrait head of Blücher on a bridge arch
Bridge balustrade with ornamental lantern
Sculptures of children in Roman soldiers' clothing on a lantern shaft
Destroyed original sculpture of a griffin on the banks of the Spree
literature
- Andreas Hoffmann: Moltke Bridge . In: Helmut Engel u. a. (Ed.): Berlin history landscape. Places and events . Volume 2: Tiergarten . Part 1: From the Brandenburg Gate to the Zoo . Nicolai, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-87584-265-0 , pp. 176-181.
- Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (Ed.): Monuments in Berlin. Mitte district. Districts Moabit, Hansaviertel and Tiergarten . Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2005, ISBN 3-86568-035-6 , p. 111.
- H. Metzing: Building history of the Spreebrücke Berlin - Moltkebrücke . In: Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Housing (Hrsg.): Stone bridges in Germany . Verlag Bau und Technik, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-7640-0240-9 .
- Eckhard Thiemann, Dieter Desczyk and Horstpeter Metzing: Berlin and its bridges . Jaron Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89773-073-1 , pp. 111-114.
Web links
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List with further information
- Moltke Bridge. In: Structurae
- Moltkebrücke in the district lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
- Information and data on building history and reconstruction at baufachinformation.de
- Claudia Leverentz: View of the Moltke Bridge from the Water (2006)
- Photo by Albert Schwartz from 1886
Individual evidence
- ↑ Katrin Lange: Construction of the Moltke Bridge will begin at the end of 2020 , morgenpost.de, December 19, 2019, accessed on December 21, 2019
- ↑ Two views of the second Unterspree bridge from 1865 can be viewed online at the Architecture Museum of the Technical University of Berlin .
- ↑ Reference list of the art foundry; here: 1836–1894 ( Memento from October 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )