Bremgarten Reuss Bridge
The Reuss Bridge is a bridge in Bremgarten in Switzerland . It crosses the Reuss and connects the old town with the lower suburb. The covered wooden bridge dates back to the first half of the 13th century and was rebuilt several times, most recently in 1953. On one of the bridge piers there are two small baroque chapels, which are dedicated to the bridge saints Agatha and Nepomuk . The Bollhaus (part of the former fortification) and the Bruggmühle hydropower station , which also houses a museum, are located at the southern bridgehead .
history
The first bridge is believed to have been built around 1240 at the time the Habsburgs were granted city rights to replace a previously existing ferry connection. The "Brugg ze Bremgarten" was first mentioned in a document in 1281. King Rudolf I ceded the bridge toll to the city in 1287 so that the city could finance the maintenance itself. The Bremgarten Bridge was only of regional importance, as the most direct route between Bern and Zurich , the most important cities of the old Swiss Confederation , led over the more conveniently located bridge in Mellingen , ten kilometers down the river .
When the lower town burned in 1434, the bridge was also destroyed and had to be rebuilt. Master bricklayer Albrecht Murer replaced the wooden pile yokes with four stone pillars in 1544/49 . In 1672 renovation was necessary due to severe flood damage. In 1903 the city planned to build an uncovered stone bridge, but ultimately decided to replace the wooden bridge, which was carried out by Locher & Cie in 1912 . After the Second World War, the narrow bridge could no longer accommodate the rapidly increasing motorized traffic. It was demolished in 1953/57 and rebuilt almost true to the original, but widened significantly and provided with a concrete roadway. Since the opening of the bypass road in the north of the city in 1994, the bridge has been closed to through traffic.
Building
The bridge, which rests on four massive stone pillars from the middle of the 16th century, is around 100 meters long, of which 50 meters are in the covered middle section. The second and fourth pillars are included in the strike weir in the Reuss. The yokes are spanned by a suspension system . The slightly curved roof is covered with plain tiles, while the parapets are covered with vertical boards.
The third bridge yoke has a small chapel in polygonal oriels on both sides. The chapel on the west side is of medieval origin and was renewed in 1544/49 when the stone pillars were built. It was once consecrated to Saint Nicholas , who then gave way to Saint Nepomuk in 1730. A late Baroque statue represents this in life size. The Agatha Chapel on the east side was built in 1547 and contains a small early Baroque columned altar with a statue of Saint Agatha, flanked by two paintings depicting the Annunciation to Mary and the death of Saint Joseph.
On the east side of the southern approach to the bridge is the Bollhaus, a two-storey building built around 1500 with a wedge-shaped narrow front facing the current. It consists of hewn stone blocks and plastered rubble stones and served to strengthen the outer Reus gate, which was demolished in 1840. Opposite the Bollhaus is the Bruggmühle, also known as the outer mill. It supplied the hydropower for several businesses, including a flour mill, a sawmill and a spinning mill. The Bruggmühle has had a small hydroelectric power station since 1895 . The original mill building was demolished in 1939 and replaced by a historicizing new building. In 2005, a museum was opened in the mill building, which provides information about the old listed facilities of the power plant and organizes changing exhibitions on the history of the mill.
literature
- Eugen Probst : The old bridge over the Reuss in Bremgarten in Switzerland. In: Die Denkmalpflege , Volume 11, No. 2 (February 3, 1909), pp. 9-10.
- Peter Felder: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume IV, Bremgarten district. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1967, ISBN 3-906131-07-6 , p. 32-36 .
Web links
- Virtual city tour
- Museum Reuss power plant Bruggmühle
- Reussbrücke Bremgarten in the inventory of the canton Aargau
Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '0.2 " N , 8 ° 20' 25" E ; CH1903: 668,128 / 244746