Brücke der Solidarität

Bridge of Solidarity
Brücke der Solidarität

Bridge as seen from the southern approach
Coordinates 51°24′54″N 6°44′19″E / 51.41500°N 6.73861°E / 51.41500; 6.73861Coordinates: 51°24′54″N 6°44′19″E / 51.41500°N 6.73861°E / 51.41500; 6.73861
Carries Moerser Straße
Crosses Rhine
Locale Duisburg
Other name(s) Admiral-Graf-Spee-Brücke
since 1988: Brücke der Solidarität
Characteristics
Design Tied-arch bridge
Total length 255.9 m
Height 35 m
History
Construction begin July 1945
Inaugurated 3 July 1950

The Bridge of Solidarity (German: Brücke der Solidarität) is a bridge across the Rhine between the boroughs of Rheinhausen and Hochfeld in the city of Duisburg.

Bridge history

Lanes with name plate

Construction on the bridge's predecessor, the Admiral-Graf-Spee-Brücke, was started on 12 January 1934 and the bridge was inaugurated on 22 May 1936 by then-minister Joseph Goebbels. Total building cost was 6.75 million Reichsmark. Like the Duisburg-Hochfeld Railway Bridge, the bridge was blown up by the retreating Wehrmacht on 4 March 1945. Only the floodplain bridge on the left bank of the Rhine remained.

In July 1945, a new bridge was already under construction and the bridge was opened to traffic on 3 July 1950. Following a recommendation of Krupp Stahlbau Rheinhausen, the new bridge was built as a Tied-arch bridge, the largest of its kind in Germany at the time with a span of 255.9 metres. While the previous bridge had four lanes, the British Military government insisted on a three-lane bridge. The bridge was thoroughly renovated in the early 1990s, especially the old floodplain bridge parts. Since a few years, it is possible to adjust the direction of the lanes to current demand by a traffic light system.

Technical data

Naming

In 1987, Rheinhausen was present in the media durch den Widerstand gegen die Schließung des dortigen Stahlwerks große Medienpräsenz. On 10 December 1987 the bridge was occupied by Krupp workers to protest against the closure of their plant.[1] During the whole winter of 1987 and 1988 folgten große Demonstrationen gegen die Schließung des verbliebenen Hüttenwerks. Apart from the Rhine bridge, protesters also occupied the Bundesautobahn 40 and blockaded the Krupp head offices at Villa Hügel in Essen besetzt. Monatelange Mahnwachen begleiteten die Auseinandersetzungen. Rheinhausen wurde damit zum Synonym für Stahlkrise. The Rheinhausen-Hochfeld bridge was renamed to Brücke der Solidarität by the protesting workers on 20 January 1988 by the workers to Brücke der Solidarität. An diesem Tag zogen 50.000 Stahlkocher aus über 60 Hüttenwerken zur Brücke. The apprentices of the Krupp training workshop manufactured the new name plate overnight.[2] Soon thereafter, the name was officially adapted by the city of Duisburg.

Panoramic view from the left side of the Rhine

See also

List of bridges over the Rhine

References

  1. ↑ Deutsches Historisches Museum: Fotografie Demonstration auf der Rheinhausener Rheinbrücke
  2. ↑ Der Mythos von Rheinhausen Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. (PDF; 8,0 MB). Was machen die Gewerkschaften heute? fluter. Magazin der bpb, Dezember 2007, Seite 12, abgerufen am 3. Oktober 2012
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