Roman bridge at Kroisegg
The "Römerbrücke" near Kroisegg probably dates from before or around 1750 and is located in the municipality of Pinkafeld and Grafenschachen in Burgenland . It is a listed building and can only be entered on foot today.
location
The bridge spans the Stögersbach on the border between the communities Pinkafeld and Grafenschachen. It is part of an old traffic route on the shortest connection between Pinkafeld and Kroisegg and is halfway between Kroisegg and the Unterwaldbauern settlement.
history
The traffic routes in the Wechsel area are largely of Roman origin. Their alignment has hardly changed to this day. The meaning and use of the paths - from the mule track to the road - have changed over the centuries . It is therefore conceivable that the connecting road on which the Roman Bridge is located was also used in Roman times. In contrast to its name, which was presumably passed down orally, the bridge can only have been built in modern times due to the brick formats used in its construction.
Meyer discovered the history of the use of the bridge by studying old maps: At the time the Josephinische Landesaufnahme was made (1760–1780), the Kroisegg - Unterwaldbauern - Hochgericht - Pinkafeld road with a total length of 6,820 meters is clearly marked. The map comment says that the way to the Unterwaldbauern was "a bit torn out" and bad, from which one can see that the road connection had already lost importance at this point. In the Franzisco-Josephinische Landesaufnahme from 1844 the entire route between Kroisegg and Pinkafeld still exists, while the Franzisco-Josephinische Landesaufnahme lets the path from Kroisegg end with under forest farmers.
Today the old route between Kroisegg and Pinkafeld is interrupted by the south autobahn and continues from the autobahn along the state road L238 (Grafenschachener Straße) to Pinkafeld.
State of research on historical classification
In the paper from 1974 Meyer states that although the construction of various structures in the area is mentioned in the literature, there is nowhere a reference to bridge construction. Meyer therefore uses two components in his attempt to date the time of construction: the importance of the traffic route in connection with the economic situation of the nearby settlements and the brick format used.
In the late Middle Ages, the so-called Vorauerstraße led from Vorau via the area of today's Kroisegg to Pinkafeld. Pinkafeld was part of the Bernstein rule since 1291 . The Rolnyk settlement, which had already fallen desolate in the 16th century, was probably located in Kroisegg . Kroisegg was founded before 1600 and belonged to the Bernstein rule by 1645 at the latest. In 1659 the Pinkafeld rule became independent under the Batthyány family . In 1668 the Rottensiedlung Unterwaldbauern was first mentioned. Before 1732 a tobacco mill went into operation in Pinkafeld. The tobacco grown in the Lafnitztal was collected in Kroisegg. In the first half of the 18th century Adam II. Batthány built a sheep farm in Unterwaldbauern and carried out larger clearings. In the middle of the 18th century there was a tavern in Kroisegg with a comparatively high turnover. In 1742 there were 23 draft animals in 22 households in Kroisegg, a high number of animals for comparable towns. In 1758 the church was renovated and the place was able to raise relatively high contributions for it itself. In 1772 the Kroisegg population decreased again, in 1783 the Schäfflerhof was closed again due to unprofitability.
With regard to the brick material used, it is unlikely that it would be built before 1716, with reference to the imperial brick patent valid between 1715 and 1785.
Assuming that the construction time of the bridge coincides with the heyday of the traffic route and that this in turn coincides with the greatest economic development of the two neighboring towns of Kroisegg and Unterwaldbauern, and the findings from the brick formats, Meyer draws the following conclusion:
"If the available data and facts are treated very carefully, a building period before or around 1750 can be assumed to be very likely."
description
The bridge abutments consist of jointed quarry stone masonry. The sheet support (vault) exists from the fighter of fired clay bricks of the format of 28.8 / 15 / 5.5 centimeter and is strong between 60 and 70 centimeters. Masonry above the girder and the 50 to 70 cm thick wing walls are made of quarry stone masonry. The total width of the bridge is six meters, the clear width five meters. The clear height above normal water level of the Stögersbach is 2.80 meters. The building shows high quality craftsmanship.
Coming from Kroisegg, the path leads over a short dam to the bridge that crosses the Stögersbach in a straight line in an easterly direction. The path then continues over a long dam through the lowland of the Stögersbach in the direction of Unterwaldbauern. The width of the path is around 2.50 meters, the width of the dam crest, which has already been severely damaged, varies between 2.50 meters and 4.0 meters. The dam, including the bridge, is 360 meters long and approximately one meter high. The bridge axis is slightly inclined compared to the road axis, which keeps the span across the stream short.
Status
The bridge is partly badly weathered. On the north side, the vault has already broken out and the abutments and wing walls are dilapidated. The south side is better preserved. The adjacent dams are in poor condition. The structure of the building blocks partially shows irregularities. These could already have arisen due to subsidence during construction (lowering of the falsework ), but they are certainly also the result of overloading. Despite the driving ban, the bridge was used by carts until at least the 1970s.
literature
- Wolfgang Meyer: The "Roman Bridge" near Kroisegg. In: Office of the Burgenland Provincial Government (Hrsg.): Burgenländische Heimatblätter . Volume 37, Eisenstadt 1975, pp. 64–85, PDF on ZOBODAT
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '35.9 " N , 16 ° 3' 39.7" E