The

Rapperswil Rapperswil ( Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dia ...

Seedamm is the partially artificial causeway and

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 somethi ...

at the most narrow area of

Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used to ...

, between Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The Seedamm carries a road and a railway across the lake, with the railway being used by the S5 and S40 lines of the

S-Bahn Zürich The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

and by the

Südostbahn The Südostbahn ( German, literally meaning "South-Eastern Railway") – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Swiss adhesion railway company, and a network in Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the original SOB ...

Voralpen Express The ''Voralpen-Express'' (''VAE'') is a named train connecting small to medium-sized cities and villages in Central and Eastern Switzerland, carrying this name since 1992. It is operated by Südostbahn (SOB) and runs every hour between St. Gal ...

Rapperswil - Holzbrücke - Heilighüsli IMG 2873

Geography and location

The Seedam was built on an

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

moraine located between the three Swiss cantons of

Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ' ...

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

and

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 ...

. This morain forms a peninsula protruding from the south shore of the lake containing the village of

Hurden Hurden is a village in the municipality of Freienbach in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. First mentioned in 1217, the name "de Hurden" was used for the peninsula and for the fish traps made of woven work, called "Hürden" or "Hurden", which ...

, a small island to the

side of the lake, and a section of shallow water dividing

Lake Zürich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used ...

and its upper part, ''Obersee''. The causeway and two bridges that span this area of shallow water, are in length and carry a road and a railway line. To the east of the modern causeway and bridges is the ''Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden'' (wooden pedestrian bridge), built in 2001 as a reconstruction of the first bridge between the eastern and western lakesides around 1500 BC. Situated to the southwest, ''

Frauenwinkel Frauenwinkel is a mire landscape in Switzerland, situated at the ''Seedamm'' area on ''Zürichsee'' lakeshore in the municipality of Freienbach in the Canton of Schwyz. Geography Frauenwinkel is situated on the ''Seedamm'' area in Hurden, ...

'' is a

mire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

landscape situated around the Seedamm area on the easterly ''Zürichsee'' lakeshore between Hurden and Pfäffikon, respectively between the

Lützelau Lützelau (Old High German: ''little island'') is an island located, with the neighbouring island of Ufenau, in Lake Zürich in Switzerland between Rapperswil ( away) and Freienbach ( away). Geography Lützelau lies in Höfe district in the Can ...

and

Ufenau Ufenau is an island located, with the neighbouring island of Lützelau, in Lake Zürich in Switzerland between Freienbach ( away) and Rapperswil ( away). Highlights on Ufenau include ''St. Peter & Paul'' church, ''St. Martin's'' chapel, and U ...

islands.

History

In 1873 the Swiss federal parliament approved the construction of the today's stone causeway and bridge. Construction works began in 1875 and finished in 1878 (in the same year the existing wooden bridge was removed). The construction cost the sum of 1,462,000 Swiss Francs, of which 1,100,000 had been paid by the city of Rapperswil. In 1878 the Zürichsee-Gotthardbahn established the railway line from

Rapperswil railway station Rapperswil railway station (german: Bahnhof Rapperswil) is a railway station located next to the old town and harbour of Rapperswil in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. It is the largest of four active railway stations in the municipality of Rap ...

via Seedamm. In 1939 and 1951 the now called ''Seedamm'' causeway was reinforced to meet growing demand. Whilst the bridge sections of the Seedamm allow smaller vessels to pass under them, the main shipping channel between the lower and upper halves of Lake Zürich now passes through the

Hurden ship canal The Hurden ship canal (german: Schiffahrtskanal von Hurden) is a long canal in the Swiss canton of Schwyz. It connects the lower section of Lake Zürich with the upper section, sometimes called the ''Obersee'', permitting shipping services on t ...

, which was cut through the base of the Hurden peninsular in 1942/43, thus placing the village of Hurden on an artificial island. This canal is spanned by the ''Sternenbrücke'', which also carries both road and railway. This causeway was renovated between March and November 2010 to allow 40 tonne trucks to cross the Seedamm. In 2001 a new wooden footbridge was opened alongside the causeway for the first of the crossing. It was built in quite the same place as the historical lake bridge linking Rapperswil with the nearby ''

Heilig Hüsli Heilig Hüsli (''Holy house'') is a bridge chapel in Rapperswil, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Geography The chapel is located next to the Seedamm, near the Rapperswil railway station. It is situated on a small island on upper Lake Zü ...

'' bridge chapel that was built in 1551. For centuries, this connection has been part of the old pilgrimage routes, the so-called ''Jakobsweg'' to the

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey (german: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a he ...

. At the beginning of the 21st-century, about 75 passenger trains and 24,000 vehicles crossed the causeway and the town of Rapperswil-Jona every day, and as of 2016, an average of 26,000 vehicles. In order to relieve the traffic on road and rail during rush hours, Rapperswil-Jona is expected to participate as the first Swiss city in a pilot project for so-called Mobility pricing.

Cultural heritage

Located on '' Obersee'' lakeshore at the ''Seedamm'' isthmus between the ''Zürichsee'' and the ''Obersee'' lake area, the area is in close vicinity to the Prehistoric lake crossings, neighboured by four Prehistoric pile dwelling settlements:

Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography The site is located on ''Zürichsee'' lakeshore in H ...

Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography Hurden-Seefeld is located at the '' Frauenwinkel'' are ...

, Seegubel and

Rapperswil-Jona–Technikum Rapperswil-Jona–Technikum is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Located on a small former island on '' upper Lake Zürich'' in Rap ...

. Because the lake has grown in size over time, the original piles are now around to under the lake water level of . As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''

Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located variousl ...

'', the settlements are also listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as ''Class A'' objects of national importance.

Literature

* Geneviève Lüscher: '' Brücken und Wege der Bronzezeit''. Schweizerischer Nationalfonds. In: Horizonte, März 2005. * Beat Eberschweiler: ''Ur- und frühgeschichtliche Verkehrswege über den Zürichsee: Erste Ergebnisse aus den Taucharchäologischen Untersuchungen beim Seedamm''. In: Mitteilungen des Historischen Vereins des Kantons Schwyz, No. 96, Schwyz 2004. * Hans Rathgeb: ''Brücken über den See''. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fussgänger-Holzsteg Rapperswil-Hurden, Rapperswil 2001.

References

External links