Regensburg strudel

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The Regensburger Strudel is a rapids caused by the Stone Bridge in Regensburg with very strong eddies below (downstream) the pillars. The construction of the bridge over the Danube (1135–1146) created a land connection that was very important for centuries on important trade routes. For traffic on the Danube, however, it was an obstacle to shipping. As long as there was little water transport, this disadvantage was irrelevant.

Danube vortex

The stone bridge

The 16 pillars and arches (14 visible today) of the Stone Bridge considerably restrict the flow cross-section of the Danube. The water masses flowing towards the bridge from upstream must push through between the pillars. The piers accumulate, the water level rises and the flow speed of the Danube water increases considerably. This creates strong eddies (whirlpools) with considerable water depth directly behind (downstream) the bridge piers.

Until the Geisling lock was built in 1988, the water level in front of the piers (upper water) was around 0.7 m higher than the water level after the piers (underwater). Today the difference is about 0.3 m. At high tide, the difference can be more than 1.0 m.

The flow speed in the southern 1st yoke, located directly on the city, with a passage width of only 7.4 m, was up to 14.5 km / h, after the construction of the Geisling lock it was about 10.0 km / h.

The eddies or whirlpools that develop about 30 m below the pillars are very strong due to the high flow velocity. They dig themselves in a vortex shape into the depths, carry away the river bed and thereby form pools 7 - 8 m deep. Swimmers are drawn into the depths by the whirlpool and are therefore at great risk. Ships are violently caught during passage by the cross currents acting across the direction of the river , they can cross and overturn.

shipping

In the days of rowing, i.e. boats with no propulsion, the valley drivers went with the current, the mountain drivers were grained . The very strong current and the violent eddies at the stone bridge were an extreme obstacle. Downhill riders had to navigate their ships with oars attached to the bow and stern in the current daringly and with extreme skill through the bridge yokes and the vortices behind. Ships with grains going uphill required additional horses and were sometimes also reloaded.

Therefore, a winch was built above the bridge in 1559 , with which ships could be towed uphill. In 1883 this had to be demolished due to its dilapidation. Uphill means that the ships actually had to be pulled up about 0.7 m from the lower water to the upper water against a strong current. The first steam and motor ships were weakly motorized and could not cope with the passage uphill against the strong Danube current below the stone bridge and through the bridge. With the opening of the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal in 1845, shipping increased with rather small cargo ships. A press report from 1911 indicates that ships above the stone bridge unloaded their cargo and turned back uphill.

After long preparations, including the consideration of demolishing the bridge, an electric pull-through system was inaugurated in 1914 to facilitate navigation in the bridge area . The length of the towing route from the sausage kitchen to a little above the winch house was 150–170 m., The length of the tow line 270 m. Downhill drivers could use the towing device as a brake. In 1964 the company was stopped. Sufficiently motorized ships were able to cope with the passage, but the shipping traffic was only moderate.

With the construction of the Main-Danube Canal , a passage for the much larger ships had to be made possible. For this purpose, a bypass of the Danube main stream, completed in 1978 and north of the city, was expanded to form the Regensburg European Canal.

song

Strudel at the Thonaw by M. Merian

The famous song When we were recently in Regensburg ... is first recorded in Regensburg in 1843 and probably comes from Austria around 1750.

After the Turkish wars at the end of the 17th century, colonists, mainly from southern Germany, settled in the depopulated areas of the lower Danube. The Danube was an excellent transport route. The dreaded strudel is located below Grein in Strudengau .

Trivia

  • Donaustrudel describes a variety of pasta products offered in Regensburg, e.g. B. organic dough, puff pastry, pizza dough.
  • Donaustrudl is a book project in Regensburg to reuse used books.

literature

  • Working group Maritime Museum Regensburg e. V. (Ed.): Donau-Schiffahrt . tape 10 . Self-published, 2012, p. 9-80 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Andreas Ottl: The Danube and the Stone Bridge - hydraulic features . In: Arbeitskreis Schiffahrtsmuseum Regensburg e. V. (Ed.): Donau-Schiffahrt . tape 10 . Self-published, 2012, p. 15-16 .
  2. ↑ a b Andreas Ottl: The Danube and the Stone Bridge - hydraulic features . In: Arbeitskreis Schiffahrtsmuseum Regensburg e. V. (Ed.): Donau-Schiffahrt . tape 10 . Self-published, 2012, p. 13 .
  3. ↑ a b Heribert Heilmeier: The electric ship passage at the stone bridge in Regensburg - a technical one-off . In: Arbeitskreis Schiffahrtsmuseum Regensburg e. V. (Ed.): Donau-Schiffahrt . tape 10 . Self-published, 2012, p. 19 .
  4. ↑ a b c Heribert Heilmeier: The electric ship passage at the stone bridge in Regensburg - a technical one-off . In: Arbeitskreis Schiffahrtsmuseum Regensburg e. V. (Ed.): Donau-Schiffahrt . tape 10 . Self-published, 2012, p. 21 .
  5. ↑ Photo of the pull-through system in operation. (JPG) Retrieved January 11, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Determined with Google Earth.
  7. ↑ Roland Kollert: Technology is Art - The Restoration of the Historic Ship Train Works on the Stone Bridge 2009-2012. In: Arbeitskreis Schiffahrtsmuseum Regensburg e. V. (Ed.): Donau-Schiffahrt . tape 10 . Self-published, 2012, p. 71 .
  8. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.herbert-fritz.de
  9. ↑ The Donaustrudel - When we were recently in Regensburg on YouTube
  10. ↑ Tobias Widmaier: When we were recently in Regensburg (2013). In: Popular and Traditional Songs. Historical-critical song lexicon of the German Folk Song Archive