The ''Brücke von Andau'' ( or ''Andaui híd'') is a small bridge over the / Hanság-főcsatorna, a small artificial river which forms part of the border between

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. It is located near to the village of Andau (

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

History

With political turmoil in the

People's Republic of Hungary The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed communist state, govern ...

during the summer and fall of 1956, more and more Hungarians fled to the west over the border to Austria. Even though it was just a small, wooden bridge over a small river, the bridge at Andau was the escape route for about 70,000 Hungarians during the Hungarian Revolution. After crossing the border, fugitives had to walk a nine km (5.6 mi) long road, the "Road To Freedom" (''Fluchtstraße''), to the village of Andau, where they were received with great hospitality by the inhabitants of Andau and the surrounding villages. On November 21, 1956, the bridge was blasted by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

troops.

Today

In 1996, with the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, the bridge was rebuilt as a symbol of tolerance and helpfulness. Organised as a joint operation by the Austrian and Hungarian armies, it replaced a stub bridge, which had been built by peasants for transportation reasons. At the same time, the Road Of Freedom was used as an open-air exhibition with the title "Road Of Woes", showing about ninety sculptures and other art works by Hungarian and Austrian artists.

Literature and film

As a symbol of freedom, the bridge not only achieved fame with the book ''

The Bridge at Andau ''The Bridge at Andau'' is a 1957 nonfiction book by the American author James Michener chronicling the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Living in Austria in the 1950s, Michener was at the border of Austria and Hungary during the period in which a ...

'' by

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

(1957), but also became a world-known memorial. The Bridge of Andau is also the topic of , a 2000 Austrian movie dealing with the Hungarian Revolution in a slightly humorous manner, the third part of .

External links

''Der Bockerer III'' on IMDB

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brucke Von Andau Bridges in Austria Bridges in Hungary 1956 in Austria Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Neusiedl am See District Győr-Moson-Sopron County Austria–Hungary border crossings Buildings and structures in Burgenland

History

Today

Literature and film

See also

External links