Mainz Theodor-Heuss-Bruecke blaue Stunde Panorama

The Theodor Heuss Bridge is an

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

over the

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

connecting the

Mainz-Kastel Mainz-Kastel is a district of the city Wiesbaden, which is the capital of the German state Hesse in western Germany. Kastel is the historical bridgehead of Mainz, the capital of the German state Rhineland-Palatinate and is located on the right si ...

district of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, capital of state

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

and the

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 ...

state capital

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 ...

. The main span of the bridge is long. It connects the Bundesstraßes 40 and 455. Initially it was just called “Straßenbrücke” (street bridge), later it was named after German statesman

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor K ...

. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

had built a bridge in this region in 27 AD, while the first arch bridge was inaugurated on 30 May 1885. Its construction costs of 3.6 million

gold marks The German mark (german: Goldmark ; sign: ℳ) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the ...

were recouped through tolls within three years although tolls continued to be levied until 1912. The bridge was widened from 1931 to 1934 but was destroyed on 17 March 1945 by German

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

s at 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 ...

. To forestall a second

Remagen Remagen ( ) is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West German capital. It is situated on the left (western) bank of the ...

, the Germans by 19 March had blown all Rhine bridges from Ludwigshafen northward. It was rebuilt in the years 1948 to 1950 and partially reconstructed between 1992 and 1995 for a cost of 139.5 million

mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

External links

* Deck arch bridges Bridges in Mainz Bridges over the Rhine Bridges completed in 1950 Road bridges in Germany Buildings and structures in Wiesbaden Transport in Wiesbaden Former toll bridges in Germany 1950 establishments in Germany Theodor Heuss {{Germany-bridge-struct-stub

See also

External links