Rathausbrücke is a

pedestrian bridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

which crosses the river

Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, after 35 km reaching the river Aare. The confluenc ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It is colloquially named ''Gmüesbrugg'' (Swiss German for "vegetable bridge"), and is a popular public square connecting

Limmatquai ''Limmatquai'' is a street in the Swiss city of Zürich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the '' Altstadt'', or historical core, of the city. The street was once important ...

, and the Weinplatz plaza and the historical

Schipfe Schipfe is a residential district in Zürich, Switzerland, located on the eastern slope of the Lindenhof, one of the oldest parts of the Helvetii Oppidum Zürich-Lindenhof, by the river Limmat. Historians and the '' Weinplatz'' suggest that the ...

quarter.

Gmüesbrugg - Limmat - Limmatquai 2015-07-16 12-17-59

Geography

Rathausbrücke is situated in the historical center of Zürich, previously known as Celtic-Roman ''Turicum'', on the southeastern foothill of the

Lindenhof The Lindenhof, in the old town of Zürich, Switzerland, is the historical site of the Roman castle, and the later Carolingian Kaiserpfalz. It is situated on Lindenhof hill, on the left side of the Limmat at the Schipfe. In 1747, a second-century ...

, near the

– Weinplatz–

Münsterhof Münsterhof (literally: Fraumünster abbey courtyard) is a town square situated in the Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zürich, Switzerland. Münsterhof is the largest town square within the ''Altstadt'' (old town) of Zürich, and is ...

area on the eastern bank of the

. Today, the bridge is used as a public square and pedestrian bridge connecting the Lindenhof

quarter and the Rathaus quarter.

Transportation

Although Rathausbrücke is a historically important bridge in Zürich, it is not a nodal point of the present tram railways. Neither the road traffic between General-Guisan-Quai and

, nor the traffic from Rämistrasse and Utoquai, use the Rathausbrücke as a primary thoroughfare. The

Zürich tram , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

lines 2, 4, and 15, as well as the

Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft The ''Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft'' or Lake Zürich Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zürich. The company operates services connecting lake-side towns ...

provide public transportation. Individual transportation usually is limited to commercial traffic. The area is a

pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

, hence, vehicle traffic is limited between lower

and the

Bellevueplatz Bellevueplatz ("Bellevue Square", from the French ''bellevue'' meaning "beautiful sight") is a town square in Zürich, Switzerland built in 1856. Named after the former Grandhotel Bellevue on its north side, it is one of the nodal points for ro ...

square upstream.

Architecture

The first extensions of the medieval wooden bridge were carried out in 1375 and 1420/21. The medieval bridge was wider than necessary, and housed the mills of the

Oetenbach Nunnery Oetenbach was a Dominican nunnery in the medieval municipality of Zürich in Switzerland. Oetenbach was named after the small stream of the same name at its first location at Zürichhorn, situated outside of the European Middle Ages town walls, bu ...

, as shown by the altarpiece of the ''Grossmünster'' ''Zwölfbotenkapelle'' by Hans Leu. Only the breakwaters at the inflow side were built of stone, which can be seen on the

Murerplan The Murerplan is a map of Zürich, printed in 1576 by Jos Murer (1530-1580). It was combined from six pearwood plates measuring 45 cm squared each. A smaller extra plate was made for the Grossmünster, which would otherwise have been divided ...

. All other sections of the bridge consisted mostly of wood. As

expanded, it became necessary to expand the bridge to accommodate the new traffic. From 1602 to 1605 the bridge was rebuilt with the present dimensions. the bridge was bound on the east by the former Hotel Zum Schwert (now a commercial building), and in the west with a wooden platform made of oak planks. The bridge section between the town hall and the ''Hauptwache'' was rebuilt from stone. From 1881 to 1893, the remaining wooden bridge was replaced by a cast-iron construction. The old stalls and shops were slowly replaced by modern commercial buildings, including a café and sanitary installations. In 1972, it once again became necessary to rebuild the bridge. The new design, made of reinforced concrete, was designed by the architect Manuel Pauli and completed in 1973.

History

The bridge is commonly known as ''Gmüesbrugg'',

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

for "vegetable bridge." It received its name after the medieval market on the bridge. However, the first bridge at that location may have been built in the Roman era. In medieval times it was named ''Untere Brücke,'' or "lower bridge," as opposed to the Münsterbrücke Limmat crossing called the "upper bridge." It was later it was renamed after the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, rathaus that was built between 1692 and 1698.

Points of interest

Today the plaza serves as a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

, and is a

. Rathausbrücke also serves as the setting for numerous local festivals and public events. At the site of the former ''Rother Turm'' the ''

Hotel zum Storchen A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

'' was built. Opposite of the building, the former seat of the medieval ''Mülner'' family is located, the ''Haus zum Schwert'', named after the sword holder on the banner of the Zürich.

Weinplatz

The square in front of the lower bridge, thereafter the old ''Kornhausplatz'' was used as a grain and vegetable store in medieval times, and became in 1630 the public market for local wines, the present ''Weinplatz'' square. Despite the relocation of the market to the

plaza in 1647, the name is still the same. Some medieval sources mention the ''Rother Turm'' building, meaning the "red tower" which was used by the

House of Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Gl ...

as its seat in Zürich in the early 13th century; much later it became a 'literature café' and was demolished. Not yet archaeological proven but suggested by the historians, Weinplatz was also the former civilian harbour of the Celtic-Roman settlement ''Turicum'', and so the term ''Weinplatz'' may have an ancient meaning.

Reconstruction

In July 2015 the city's authorities announced plans to either rebuild or replace the bridge, as the concrete construction of does not meet the modern flood code.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rathausbrucke Zurich Altstadt (Zürich) Bridges completed in 1893 Bridges in Zürich Bridges over the Limmat Pedestrian bridges in Switzerland Squares in Zürich