St. Severus Tower Bridge
The tower bridge of St. Severus Church in Boppard am Rhein , built at the beginning of the 17th century, was until its demolition - by decision of the council in 1859 - as the highest bridge structure on the Rhine. The rare sight of this construction made the former collegiate church the widely known landmark of the city of Boppard.
history
After the oldest building segments of the church, the towers, had begun around the middle of the 12th century, the exterior work on the church structure was completed around 1236. Apart from the report of a lapicida Wasmud, there were no further historical references to these buildings . The now mentioned by name Severus ed in a Ostansicht once a second coining of the city seal . The new version showed a church building with twin towers, towering behind the city walls , the towers of which ended with flat diamond-shaped helmets. As a round choir was built in front of the towers at their base , the storey heights of which, however, did not match those of the towers and the nave facing west, the building appeared squat and unbalanced in the representation of the seal.
Construction of the connecting bridge
In 1605 the exterior of the church changed, the original lozenge helmets of the towers gave way to slender, steep, slate-covered and widely visible four-sided Gothic gable helmets. At about the same time, a wooden connecting bridge covered with slate was installed between the two towers at the height of this gable. In addition to the quick connection between the upper tower areas and the excellent view over the entire city, the bridge provided an ideal workplace for the city night watchman, for whom a guard room with stove and fireplace had been set up in the middle of the bridge.
Writings and illustrations
The cultural-historical epoch of Romanticism, which extended well into the 19th century, experienced a true heyday on the Rhine and Moselle . Fonts and, above all, illustrations by various artists were created in countless variations. This also includes oil paintings and pen drawings (N. Schlad) that were created on site. Copper and steel engravers came to sketch their later works. Some came without intent and found motifs for their lithographs. It is thanks to these artists that the bridge structure, which has been forgotten despite 250 years of operation, can be brought to mind.
View from the Rhine around 1840
St. Severus around 1840
City view by Jakob Becker , 1856, three years before the tower bridge was demolished
The Boppard Museum in the Electoral Castle houses a large number of Schlad's pen drawings , which also includes the above drawing of the tower bridge from 1853. The management of the museum comments on the works of the artists and the Schlad brothers in the following words:
“This collection of 42 pen drawings is self-contained and is a unique pictorial documentation of the appearance of the city of Boppard in the 19th century. It is supplemented by the texts of the brother and chronicler Wilhelm Schlad "
- Wilhelm Schlad , The old Boppard in pictures and texts, 1983
- Nikolaus Schlad (draftsman)
- William Tombleson
today
Since 2002 St. Severus has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley . In February 2015, Pope Francis raised St. Severus to a minor basilica .
More historical gallery bridges
literature
- Alkmar Freiherr von Ledebur, Hans Caspary: State Office for Monument Preservation (Hrsg.): The art monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate , Volume 8. The art monuments of the Rhine-Hunsrück district, part 2. Former district of St. Goar, 1. City of Boppard. Publisher: Deutscher Kunstverlag Munich / Berlin 1988 ISBN = 3-422-00567-6
Individual evidence
- ^ A b State Office for Monument Preservation (ed.): The art monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate . tape 2 .1: The art monuments of the Rhein-Hunsrück district. Part 2.1: Former county St. Goar, the first town of Boppard I. . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-422-00567-6 , p. 204 f. and 223 f .
- ↑ History Association for Middle Rhine and Vorderhunsrück (Ed.): From the old Boppard - A continuous chronicle for the years 1855 to 1876 by Wilhelm Schlad . Rhedruck, Boppard 1989.
- ↑ Joy in Boppard: Parish Church of St. Severus is now a basilica ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: Rhein-Zeitung , February 21, 2015
