The Pfrimm Viaduct (german: Pfrimmtalviadukt), colloquially also called the Marnheim Bridge (''Marnheimer Brücke''), was a

railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

near

Marnheim Marnheim is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe aft ...

in the county of

Donnersbergkreis The Donnersbergkreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel. History The district was created in 1969 by merging the dis ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. It was built as a stone arch and

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

from 1872 to 1874, was 260 metres long and 30 metres high, and carried the

Donnersberg Railway The Donnersberg Railway (german: Donnersbergbahn) is a branch line from Alzey to Kirchheimbolanden, which originally ran as far as Marnheim. Although it was once part of the main line (railway), main line from Kaiserslautern to Mainz, the Pfrimm V ...

from Hungerberg over the valley of the Pfrimm to the Zeller Valley Railway, which is only open at weekends today. The bridge is a protected monument and forms the "Gateway to the Zellertal" (''Tor zum Zellertal'').

Location

The viaduct was built east of Marnheim. The remains of its northern stone arch bridge are located on the northeastern edge of the village at about . It is 45 metres south of the B 47 and 200 metres north of the confluence of the ''Goldbrunnengraben'' ''(Goldbrunnenbächlein)'' and the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

tributary, the Pfrimm, and carries a field track. About 240 metres south-southeast of the centre of the northern part of the bridge at a height of about near the south bank of the Pfrimm are stone pier remains of the southern

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

History and description

The Pfrimm Viaduct was built as a 260-metre-long and 30-metre-high stone arch and

with a superstructure of lattice and steel girder design between the years 1872 and 1874. Its bridge piers were built on post

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

. On 20 March 1945, Shortly before the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the bridge was blown up by withdrawing

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

troops. The link to

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

via Alzey was thus cut. After the war there were attempts to rebuild the viaduct, but they foundered – as did a new route without a viaduct – due to the cost. In addition the railway had transferred services to buses. Since the construction of the B 47 north of the viaduct, when the adjoining railway embankment (in the upper photograph the formerly covered stones are still visible during related work) was removed, the northern bridge remains have stood isolated in the open.

References

''Geschichte der Marnheimer Eisenbahn''
, at kirchheimbolanden.de
in ''Rundgang'', at kirchheimbolanden.de Klaus D. Holzborn: ''Eisenbahn-Reviere Palatinate'', Verlag Transpress, Berlin, 1993,

External links

at kirchheimbolanden.de

in ''Rundgang'', at kirchheimbolanden.de {{Coordinate , NS=49/38/16/N , EW=8/2/49.1/E , region=DE-RP , type=landmark 1870s architecture Buildings and structures demolished in 1945 Railway bridges in Germany bridges in Rhineland-Palatinate Heritage sites in Rhineland-Palatinate Donnersbergkreis