Wilhelmsbrücke (Hanau)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Wilhelmsbrücke in Hanau connects the city center with the Lamboyviertel over the Kinzig .

View from the south
Memorial plaque for the new building

history

First bridge

For strategic military reasons, there was only one Kinzig Bridge in the west of the city, the Kinzig Bridge, in front of the Hanau Fortress until the early modern period . The trade routes Frankfurt am Main - Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main - Nuremberg passed through them . This bridge, initially made of wood, from 1559 a stone arch bridge, was located in front of the Hanau suburb and was strongly secured by a bridge tower, the Margaret Tower, from 1615.

The main hunting ground of the Hanau Counts was, however, northeast of the city of Hanau, on the other side of the Kinzig. In order to get there, they had to take a considerable detour from their city ​​palace . Count Johann Reinhard III. therefore initiated the construction of a wooden bridge over the Kinzig in 1717, northeast of the city palace, about 50 meters downstream from today's Wilhelmsbrücke. In contrast to the “Kinzigbrücke” located west of the city, called “Neue Brücke”. A concession to military concerns was that one section was built as a drawbridge . The Kinzig flood and insufficient maintenance - Hanau had not been a residence since 1786 - caused the building to deteriorate, so that it was demolished in 1806 for safety reasons. The lack of the bridge had a devastating effect on the Bavarian army defeated in the Battle of Hanau , as the Kinzig cut off its escape route to the west. Many soldiers drowned in the river.

Second bridge

Elector Wilhelm II of Hesse, first namesake of the bridge

From 1817 onwards there were several initiatives from the citizens of Hanau towards the government of the Electorate of Hesse with the aim of rebuilding the "Neubrücke", which however did not lead to any result in Kassel , although donations of almost 550 guilders were received for the bridge construction were. In 1826, the government even formally rejected the construction of the new bridge. The city ​​council of Hanau's old town also launched an appeal for donations, as it was unable to raise the estimated cost of 3,500 guilders for the new bridge on its own. However, this only brought in 632 guilders. The government in Kassel continued to refuse the new building.

It was not until the July Revolution of 1830 , which severely shook the reactionary regime of Elector Wilhelm II , that the turning point was also made on the bridge question. On the one hand, the citizens began building a new wooden bridge on November 11, 1831, without a permit, on the site of the former "New Bridge". The (revolutionary) government (retrospectively) agreed to this. On the other hand, the elector on September 15, 1831 thanked virtually from by his son, the prince-elector and later Elector I. Frederick William , left the government. Wilhelm II initially withdrew to Hanau. To what extent this resulted in a renewed need to get back to the nearby hunting area by the shortest route and whether this influenced the decision in favor of the bridge construction is unclear. The city palace was largely demolished in 1829, and the elector lived in Philippsruhe Palace . In any case, the bridge was named after Elector Wilhelm II, who explicitly agreed to this designation on April 30, 1832. It had been opened to traffic four days earlier when Elector Wilhelm II was the first to cross the bridge at 11 a.m.

The wooden bridge was repaired to a greater extent every few decades, for example in 1841, 1857 and 1871. The maintenance of the bridge also contributed to the redemption sum that the Hessian state had paid to replace its obligation to serve the market wine .

During the next revolution, in 1848 , citizens, uncertain about the outcome of the Hanau ultimatum and fearing that the military would occupy the city, removed a 5-meter-long section from the bridge.

Third bridge

Kaiser Wilhelm I, second namesake of the bridge

In 1878 the bridge was so dilapidated that it had to be rebuilt. The fact that the Prussian military stationed in Hanau had set up their training area on the other side of the Kinzig, in part of the former count's hunting ground, was certainly beneficial for a new building. The construction work for the new iron bridge with stone abutments was completed at the end of 1880, and the bridge opened on March 20, 1881. It was now 50 meters further north compared to its predecessor. New road connections were created here, on the one hand for Wilhelmstrasse , the northern bypass of the old town of Hanau, and on the east for Lamboystrasse . The name was not changed, but now - according to the council decision - it should refer to Kaiser Wilhelm I. Since October 15, 1881, the Friedberg – Hanau railway was also in operation. The Hanau Nord train station next to it is only a minute's walk from the eastern bridgehead. The transport importance of the bridge raised further: In 1908, did not carry the bridge only the road for road vehicles, but also track the Hanauer streetcar , on the line 2 of 8 August 1908 to September 1, 1928 between the North Station on the marketplace for Westbahnhof operated.

In 1936 the bridge was renovated. It survived the Second World War largely undamaged.

Fourth bridge

In 1953 it turned out that large parts of the bridge were badly corroded . Again, the military initiated a remedy - now the US, which had been stationed in the barracks of the Lamboyviertel on the other side of the Kinzig since the end of the Second World War and for which the bridge was the most important connection to the Hanau city center. The traffic with heavy vehicles over the bridge was banned and in 1955 the historic bridge was replaced by a reinforced concrete bridge. The pillars of the old bridge proved to be so stable that they could continue to be used. With this measure, the bridge was widened by one meter to nine meters and the road surface was lowered by 40 cm. The latter happened with a view to a ramp planned for a road underpass on the Friedberg – Hanau railway line immediately to the east of the bridge.

Fifth bridge

In 1997 it became clear that the reinforced concrete bridge required considerable renovation, so that demolition and new construction were cheaper. Construction began in 2004 and was completed the following year. The bridge now has four lanes for motor vehicle traffic and a pedestrian and bicycle lane on both sides.

literature

  • Karl Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard gave the impetus . In: Tages-Anzeiger for the Kinzigtal v. August 12, 1967, p. 17.
  • Reinhard Dietrich : The abdication of Ulrich V. von Hanau - causes and consequences . In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 31 (1993), pp. 7-33.
  • German: The Wilhelmsbrücke is being rebuilt . In: Hanauer Anzeiger v. March 26, 1955.
  • City of Hanau (Ed.): The New Wilhelmsbrücke built in 2005 for more attractiveness, more security, more quality of life. (Leaflet. Hanau 2005).
  • Ernst Julius Zimmermann : Hanau city and country. Peters Verlag, Hanau 1978, ISBN 3-87627-243-2 (reprint of the Hanau edition 1919).

Remarks

  1. ↑ The bridge is inappropriately drawn in the city map by Johann Jakob Müller from 1809 (see: Zimmermann, p. 766 c, d). At that point in time, however, it no longer existed, as Zimmermann points out (p. 766 b).
  2. ↑ Whether this date was symbolic because that evening in Hanau, in memory of a citizen-supported coup d'état by the (later) Count Reinhard II of Hanau in 1404, the Märteswein was served by the state , which has now been replaced and benefited the construction of the bridge , has not been clarified (Dietrich, p. 31).
  3. ^ That should have been the last official appearance of Elector Wilhelm II as head of state of Electorate Hesse.
  4. ↑ The construction work on the Hanauer Nordbahnhof next to the bridge was not completed until 1882 (Zimmermann, p. 786).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zimmermann, p. 750.
  2. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  3. ↑ Zimmermann, p. 766b.
  4. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  5. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  6. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  7. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  8. ^ City of Hanau: The New Wilhelmsbrücke .
  9. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  10. ↑ Dietrich, p. 31.
  11. ↑ Zimmermann, p. 780.
  12. ↑ Zimmermann, p. 786.
  13. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  14. ↑ Zimmermann, p. 786.
  15. ↑ 75 years of Hanauer Straßenbahn AG 1908–1983. Commemorative publication on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Hanauer Straßenbahn AG . Hanau 1983, p. 21ff.
  16. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard ; NN: The conversion of the Wilhelmsbrücke . [Photo documentation]. Hanau City Library - Department Hanau / Hessen, signature: I 20 A718.
  17. ^ Dielmann: Count Johann Reinhard .
  18. ↑ German
  19. ^ City of Hanau: The New Wilhelmsbrücke .

Coordinates: 50 ° 8 ′ 25.5 ″  N , 8 ° 55 ′ 26.1 ″  E