The Empress Elisabeth Bridge (german: Kaiserin-Elisabeth-Brücke) was a

chain bridge A chain bridge is a historic form of suspension bridge for which chains or eyebars were used instead of wire ropes to carry the bridge deck. A famous example is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest. Construction types are, as for other suspen ...

that spanned the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

between Tetschen (now Děčín) on the east bank with Bodenbach in northern Bohemia. It was opened in 1855, named after

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Elisabeth was ...

, and connected Tetschen to the major railroad from

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

to Prague. The bridge was demolished in the early 1930s, but its piers were used for the modern bridge replacing it.

History

When a railway line was opened connecting Dresden and Prague on the west bank of the

in 1851, it became commercially vital for Tetschen on the east bank of the river to be connected to the station in Bodenbach. Local entrepreneurs, textile manufacturer Johann Münzberg, and Count Franz Anton von Thun, promoted the building of a bridge. They founded a stock company, and Thun provided a section of his garden for the bridge head. The bridge was built from 1853 to 1855, by Firma Schertz from

Pirna Pirna (; hsb, Pěrno; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as ...

using designs by Werner, an engineer who modified the original design of Josef Schnirch. When it was opened in 1855, it was the only

over the Elbe. It had a length of and was wide. It was named after Elisabeth of Austria, who had become Empress on her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1854. The bridge was regarded as one of the greatest and most beautiful bridges in Bohemia, and was favorably compared to the

Széchenyi Chain Bridge The Széchenyi Chain Bridge ( hu, Széchenyi lánchíd ) is a chain bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest, the western and eastern sides of Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark ...

in Budapest. On 8 July 1915, a fire on the bridge damaged the timber planks of the construction. The bridge could not be used but was restored to service after many months. On 1 July 1917, Austria took over the responsibility of the bridge from Tetschen, and promised to pay the shareholders of the ''Kettenbrücken-Aktiengesellschaft'', which had financed the building, restoration, and maintenance. However, only the first installment was paid on 1 January 1918, because then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

was dissolved and the

Czechoslovak Republic Czechoslovak Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá republika, ČSR''), was the official name of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1939 and between 1945 and 1960. See: *First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) *Second Czechoslovak Republic ...

founded. Repair was funded by the state in 1919, and more in the following years. The bridge, largely built from wood, was hard to maintain and no longer fit for growing traffic. It was demolished in the early 1930s, and replaced in 1933 by a new bridge which retained the original pier footings. It is named the Tyrš Bridge (''Tyršův most'') after

Miroslav Tyrš Miroslav Tyrš (born Friedrich Emanuel Tirsch, in Czech: Bedřich Tyrš; 17 September 1832 – 8 August 1884) was a Czech philosopher, art historian, sports organizer and together with Jindřich Fügner the cofounder of the Sokol movement. Ea ...

References

External links

Tetschen-Bodenbach
nemelkafamily.com
Brand der Kaiserin Elisabeth Kettenbrücke 1915
oldthing.de
Kettenbrücke um 1930
boehmisches-erzgebirge.cz
Tetschner Kettenbrücken-Gesellschaft
historische-wertpapiere.de Chain bridges Bridges completed in 1855 Bridges over the Elbe Suspension bridges 1855 establishments in the Austrian Empire Děčín

History

See also

References

External links