Hohenzollern Bridge

50.9413888888896.9655555555556Koordinaten: 50 ° 56 ' 29 " N, 6 ° 57' 56" E

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Railway main station Cologne -Köln -Deutz

Rhine

The Hohenzollern Bridge is a bridge over the Rhine in Cologne in the amount of the Rhine river kilometer 688.5. The 1907 to 1911 built building originally consisted of two railway and a road bridge. After 1945 it was rebuilt, only for the two railway bridges, which were supplemented later by a third. As a replacement for the Discontinued road bridge foot and cycle paths were attached to the outer rail bridges.

The Hohenzollern Bridge provides the main train station with the adjacent one of the most important hubs in the German and European railway network Represents the building is an integral part of the cityscape of Cologne and the Cologne Cathedral.

The building is considered, together with the Cologne main train station, as a central bottleneck in rail transport in the Cologne region.

History

At the same place in 1859, the two-pronged Tumski Bridge was built, which was the grown traffic no longer meet at the beginning of the 20th century. The planning work for the new building were begun under the President of railway management Cologne, Paul von Breitenbach and 1906 passed to his successor Rudolf Schmidt. The line was in the hands of the railway engineer Fritz Beermann meanwhile Director Frederick Dircksen the designs worked out. The construction of the Hohenzollern Bridge was then 1907 to 1911. You was inaugurated on May 22, 1911 by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

The bridge consisted of three adjacent bridge sections, each with three iron truss arches ( passage openings ) in the longitudinal direction to accommodate four railroad tracks and a road. Although the location of the bridge and the railway station were basically already controversial in previous structures, the Hohenzollern Bridge took over the direction of the Tumski Bridge to the central axis of the dome.

At that time it was customary to beautify such a construction engineer with architecture, bridges, mostly with portals. Especially the vicinity of the Cologne Cathedral required in the opinion of contemporaries an architectural embellishment. The reinforced with high towers portals ( and the smaller towers on the piers ) of the Hohenzollern bridge was designed by the prominent contemporary Berlin architect Franz Schwechten in neo-Romanesque style.

Kaiser Wilhelm I. (southern right bank ramp)

Four equestrian statues of Prussian kings and German emperors of the Hohenzollern family flanking the respective ramps. The Tumski Bridge already graced the now rechtsrheinisch placed equestrian statues of Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia by sculptor Gustav Blaeser, Kaiser Wilhelm I by Friedrich Drake. In addition were linksrheinisch the equestrian statues of the Emperor Frederick III. and, in his own lifetime, William II, both by sculptor Louis Tuaillon, situated. They depict the era of Prussian rule in the Rhine Province.

Kaiser Wilhelm II (southern linksrheinische ramp)

The stone figural jewelry that display the city's history of important people, was created by the Berlin sculptor Gotthold bar man. A large part of this is obtained. As only one of three commemorative plates has remained the preserve of Rudolf Schmidt.

During the Second World War, the Hohenzollern Bridge was one of the most important and busiest railway bridges in Germany. However, the bridge was not significantly damaged by air raids. During the advance of the American troops in the city on March 6, 1945 the bridge piers were blasted by the pioneers of the retreating German Wehrmacht. The shore -side arches were partially only slightly damaged.

After the bridge was initially only made ​​makeshift usable, but was soon a reconstruction. It was left off the ( southern ) road bridge part, so that the bridge now only consisted of six individual bridge decks, which are being built partly in its old form. The completely preserved Portalbauten and bridge towers were not repaired, but demolished in 1958. The old road ramp on the Deutz side is obtained together with cobblestones and tram tracks to date on a very small section. The rest was removed in connection with the construction of the Kölntriangles and converted into a pedestrian and bicycle path. In 1959, the reconstruction of the bridge was completed.

On 8 March 1985, the work on the construction of an additional bridge began to integrate the Cologne main train station in the S-Bahn system clock. Built by a consortium of eight German companies building currently holds a 3.5 meter wide pedestrian and bicycle path on next two tracks. The construction work was completed in 1989. While three bridge parts were added for two more railroad tracks on the north side and widened the bridgeheads in style. Here you copied the old design, so as not to interfere with the ensemble as a historic structure ( which can be seen at very close inspection that the added northern bridge section was welded and not riveted). Since then, the Hohenzollern Bridge has again approximately their original size; for the non- reconstructed road bridge south of the northern third railway bridge part has been added. The lying in continuation of the cathedral central axis bridge section, which was originally the middle, is now the southern.

At the eastern bridgehead on the Deutz side of the German Alpine Club maintains since 1998 a public climbing facility with approximately 850 square meters wall surface.

The three bridge trains each having a length of 409.19 m. The spans of the different superstructures are 118.88 m at the western edge of the field, 167,75 m at the power box and 122.56 m at the eastern edge of the field. The width of the three adjacent bridges together is about 29.5 m. The construction is a two-hinged truss arch with drawstring.

Western entrance of the Hohenzollern Bridge in 1930

Reconstruction of the " Hohenzollern Bridge ", the first provisional was opened to traffic on May 8, 1948

The different methods of construction: 1911, 50s, 1986

Railway engineering

In the two southern bridges the tracks lie in a gravel bed, but are attached directly to the bridge substructure.

It is operationally by two lines in the direction of operation, ie, a route is inside, the other outside. In the adjacent stations and Köln Hbf Köln Messe / Deutz the direction indicator ( Zs2 ) is used for the outer track "R" and the inner "L". In addition, there is the possibility the inner track with signal Zs6 ( opposite track indicator ) to navigate to the main signal, contrary to the usual direction of travel, so the middle bridge section towards the east and the south -west direction, but this rarely happens. The outer tracks, so the whole southern and the northern middle of the bridge train, can be signally operating only in its control direction.

To the west is a part within the limits of the Cologne main train station (legal boundary definition: Entry Signals ), east part of the Köln Messe / Deutz railway station. In between is free range. The permissible speed is due to the Vorsignalabstandes of 400 meters in the area around Cologne main station 60 km / h

The newer suburban railway bridge, the northern bridge section, has two tracks in a gravel bed. Since the S-Bahn area in Deutz station ( tracks 9 and 10) from Cologne Hbf is controlled, here are the input and exit signals from Cologne main station in the east of Deutz railway station. The difference is in Deutz also at different signal systems between S -Bahn and long distance. (former entry: The western part is operational in Cologne main station ) The rest is free range. It is a top speed of 80 km / h from the entry signal Köln Hbf direction west 50 km / h

Poetry

In the 1913 poem incurred ride over the Cologne railway bridge at night, an Alsatian poet Ernst Stadler ( 1883-1914 ) visualized a train ride through the industrialized rechtsrheinische city landscape and the Hohenzollern Bridge in lyrical expressionist images.

Trivia

Part of the Hohenzollern Bridge demolished in 1945, was used for the new construction of the last Ruhrbrücke, the Karl-Lehr - bridge in Duisburg. 1949, the portion of the bridge was exchanged for iron coupons.

For the Church in 2007, the arches of the Hohenzollern bridge was temporarily partially covered by red cloths, so that the bridge is a stylized fish represented ( the symbol of the church the day).

On the bridge spreads since late summer 2008, a native of Italy custom of Love Locks of. This leads especially on the south side to the fact that the Rhine is only limited visible from the train. The German Bahn AG condone this practice. The question in this context occasionally emerging on the weight and number of locks is answered differently, estimates should move between two (April 2011 ) and 15 tonnes ( September 2011), in a number of allegedly 40,000 locks. The train looks according to media reports in both weights is no danger for the bridge static.

One wall of the right bank bridgehead is officially used as a climbing wall.

More images

Full view of the Hohenzollern bridge from Deutz bridge from

View from Deutz bank of the Rhine to Cologne Cathedral and the Museum Ludwig, right Hohenzollern bridge

Love Locks on the bridge

Decoration

Equestrian statue of Friedrich Wilhelm IV ( Prussia ) on the northern right bank of the bridge ramp