Nibelungen Bridge (Regensburg)
The Nibelungen Bridge spans two arms of the Danube in Regensburg at river kilometer 2378.39 . The current construction consists of two road bridges , which together with an average of 42,000 vehicles per day are among the most important Danube bridges in the Regensburg area. The first bridge that was built here between 1935 and 1938 and that was blown up at the end of the war in 1945 was called the Adolf Hitler Bridge . It was replaced in 1950 by the new Nibelungen Bridge, which was followed by new buildings built between 2001 and 2004.
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prehistory
The planning of another Danube crossing next to the then only Danube bridge in Regensburg, the Stone Bridge , goes back to the end of the 19th century. At that time, the stone bridge was already overloaded by the volume of traffic at the time (inner-city and national traffic on two imperial roads), but the city hesitated to find a solution for unknown reasons. In the meantime, several smaller bridges, such as the Eiserne Brücke in 1863 or the Eiserne Steg in 1901 (the latter only as a pedestrian bridge), were built between the southern bank of the Danube and the Wöhrden, but no continuous route with two bridges. This changed in 1926 when a pontoon bridge was built between the Weichs and the Untere Wöhrd (corresponds to today's north bridge of the Nibelungen Bridge). This could only moderate the traffic situation, since heavy carts and motor vehicles were not allowed to pass the bridge and still had to use the stone bridge.
In 1930, plans finally began to build a new high-performance Danube crossing. There were three options:
- The continuation of the Iron Bridge over the northern arm of the Danube with a second bridge
- The construction of a new bridge on Obere Wöhrd (replacement or addition to the Eiserner Steg)
- The construction of two Danube bridges as a continuation of Weißenburgstrasse to Weichs (corresponds to today's Nibelungen Bridge)
In 1933 the new building plans entered a concrete stage, the architect Roderich Fick was appointed as artistic advisory board for the design of the bridge views at the suggestion of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior , the structural work on the steel bridge was carried out by the engineering office Gerhard und Zenns from Munich. In the spring of 1934, a traffic census was carried out on the Steinerne Brücke, which counted 40,000 pedestrians, 14,500 cyclists, 5,500 vehicles of "all kinds" and 278 trams on a Saturday. Therefore, the administration decided on the solution of the eastern bypass of the old town, at the same time planned today's "Frankenbrücke" over the Regen and introduced the two bridges into the budget of the city. In the summer, the cost of both bridges was estimated at just under 5.05 million Reichsmarks , which subsequently led to a dispute between the city, the state of Bavaria and the Reichswehr . The Reichswehr had a strong interest in the new Danube bridge, because the construction of the bridge was also of strategic military importance, because the stone bridge could not be used for the passage of tanks and military columns. The financing dispute was settled in the summer of 1935. The construction costs were divided between the Reich, the city, the state of Bavaria and the Reichswehr, and construction management began its work in the same year. The start of construction in 1935 also had a symbolic meaning. 800 years after the construction of the Stone Bridge, the new bridge was to be stylized as a symbol of the interlocking of the north and south of the German Reich in the sense of National Socialist ideology.
Bridge from 1938
On 21 December 1935, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new bridge through the Bavarian Interior Minister, took place Adolf Wagner , dedicated "to the glory of the city, the glory of the Bavarian Ostmark and the glory of Nazi Germany." At that time the bridge was named Adolf Hitler -Brücke , the national eagle that was to be erected as a bridge memorial, was commissioned by the Munich sculptor Albert Allman. Work began first on the north bridge, between the Untere Wöhrd and Weichs, followed by the south bridge between the Weißenburgstrasse and the Untere Wöhrd in the summer of 1936. In 1937 the north bridge was opened to traffic, and the stone bridge was repaired immediately after it was opened to traffic. On June 18, 1938, the southern bridge and the Franconian bridge were finally put into operation at the same time, and on July 16, 1938 the bridge was christened by Interior Minister Wagner. Several thousand Regensburg residents cheered this event and the fireworks that were set off on the same evening.
On the evening of April 23, 1945 units of the Wehrmacht blew up the bridge (which was extensively destroyed) and several other Danube bridges in view of the approaching Allies .
Bridge from 1950
Immediately after the end of the war, the evacuation and installation of a ferry between Weichs and Untere Wöhrd began in order to maintain traffic; later a pontoon bridge took over this task. In 1950 the newly built structure was opened to traffic as the Nibelungen Bridge, and the sovereign eagle was erected as a bridge memorial. From 1953 to 1963 the Regensburg trolleybus also ran across the bridge, before the city widened the lane from initially two to four lanes at the expense of the sidewalks and cycle paths. This turned out to be problematic in 1997, as the Stone Bridge was closed to private traffic that year and almost 50,000 vehicles had to use the Nibelungen Bridge every day. Increasing damage to the steel structure meant that heavy transports had to avoid the bridge. It was decided against renovation / reinforcement and a new building. This started in 2001.
New construction of the Nibelungen Bridge (2001-2004)
The foundation stone for the new Nibelungen Bridge was laid on March 3, 2001 by the officials at the time, the Lord Mayor of Regensburg, Hans Schaidinger, and the Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Günther Beckstein . A construction with a superstructure for each lane was planned as the new bridge. First the transverse displacement of the old bridge was carried out, as it had to remain passable for traffic. In July, the bridle eagle was brought to the depot for restoration. It is still in the depot, but its further use is still unclear. The traffic remained unaffected until August, but this month the bridge had to be closed for four weeks due to the planned transverse displacement by 8 meters in an easterly direction. For this purpose, the bridge piers were extended by 10 meters in advance and the slide rails required for the movement were installed. A special feature was that all bus lines only had to be rerouted over other bridges on the shifting days, otherwise the buses could continue to use the north arm of the bridge. On August 30, 2001, the bridge was reopened to its full length after transverse displacement.
In August 2001, construction work began on the new western half of the bridge, which was completed on November 9, 2002. This was followed by the traffic management over the new partial bridge, the old bridge was immediately demolished or blown up. After the last rubble had been cleared, construction began on the eastern half of the bridge, which was completed in April 2004. The rest of the work consisted of installing the final traffic markings and building the sidewalks and cycle paths on the west side, which were not built during the construction work for reasons of space. The construction work was thus completely completed in mid-June 2004.
Nibelungen Bridge (since 2004)
The Nibelungen Bridge from 2004 leads over the Danube in six lanes, two of these lanes are reserved for public transport for buses and taxis. The bridge under construction by the City of Regensburg has been part of Bundesstraße 15 since March 2014 . Until then, it belonged to Bundesstrasse 8, which has now been graded in this area . Along with the Schwabelweiser Bridge, it is the only Danube bridge in the urban area that can be used by motor vehicles without restriction (the Pfaffensteiner Bridge , which is also located in the urban area, on the other hand, is subject to the restrictions of Section 18 (1) StVO as a motorway , so it can e.g. be used by small motorbikes and many tractors are not used). The bridge also plays an important role in the planning of a tram in Regensburg, as it is part of the so-called service axis. In the further course of traffic improvement in the north of the city, before the new Nibelungen Bridge was built, Weißenburgstrasse was expanded and provided with bus lanes. In addition, Nordgaustraße - as a direct northern continuation of the bridge - was also expanded from four to six lanes to Isarstraße. In addition, the four-lane expansion to Amberger Straße and the construction of the Sallerner Regenbrücke are planned, but this measure is not expected to be implemented in the short term.
construction
The structure consists of two bridges of the same type of construction, each over a branch of the Danube with the Danube island Wöhrd in between. The southern bridge has a total span of 168.9 meters and also spans a port track, the northern one is 206.90 meters long. Both bridges have a continuous beam with three fields as a structural system in the longitudinal direction and a main span of 90 meters. At the south bridge the two edge fields each span 39.45 meters, at the north bridge it is 58.45 meters. In the transverse direction there are two superstructures, each 15.4 meters wide and 3.2 meters high, with a single-cell hollow box in composite construction and a cantilevered reinforced concrete deck that is braced at an angle.
Curiosities
The bridge also had curiosities. For example, a fish hall was integrated in the old Nibelungen Bridge, which apparently did not exist for very long. In today's bridge, behind the southern abutment, there is a neighborhood garage for almost 70 vehicles on Bruderwöhrdstrasse. On the Unteren Wöhrd, right next to the bridge, there was also the ice stadium at the Nibelungen Bridge between 1964 and 2001 , which was demolished in the course of the construction work.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus Heilmeier: A desert island and more of a village than a suburb. Searching for traces on the Untere Wöhrd . In: City of Regensburg, Office for Archives and Preservation of Monuments (ed.): Preservation of monuments in Regensburg . tape 13 . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7917-2550-5 , pp. 124 .
- ↑ Peter Morsbach: Regensburg as a monument to the German spirit in the Third Reich . In: Working Group Regensburg Autumn Symposium (ed.): "To the devil with the monuments" 200 years of monument protection in Regensburg . tape 25 . Dr. Peter Morsbach Verlag, Regensburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-937527-41-3 , pp. 28 f .
- ↑ Bavarian Road Information System - BAYSIS - the supreme building authority in the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior
- ↑ Ingenieurbüro GRASSL GmbH Consulting Engineers Construction: References / project description of the bridge from 2004 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- max-boegl.de: Details about the new bridge ( Memento from March 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 49 ° 1 ′ 17 ″ N , 12 ° 6 ′ 47 ″ E