Cathedral Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral Bridge was a railway and street
bridge crossing the river Rhine in the German
city of Cologne
. It was owned by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company
and named after the Cologne Cathedral
, which is located on the same longitudinal
axis. It was built in combination with the original Köln Hauptbahnhof
and a new ground-level railway track through the north Altstadt
of the Cologne Innenstadt
. It was replaced by the Hohenzollern Bridge in 1911.
The Cathedral Bridge was the second railway bridge to be built over the river Rhine, after the significantly shorter Waldshut–Koblenz Rhine Bridge
with spans of up to 52 metres (170.6 ft), which was opened just a few months prior on 18 August 1859.
. Before the Cathedral Bridge, passengers and goods
had to be transported across the river by reaction ferry
or pontoon bridge
. The city council
filed a request with Frederick William IV of Prussia
in 1847, who through the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Public Works appointed the Prussian chief civil engineer
Karl Lentze to design
the bridge.
The initial drawing
s of the bridge allowed only one horse-drawn carriage
to cross the bridge. On the western bank, the road was led in northeastern direction past the Cologne Cathedral. The deck load was to be kept low, because at that time it was not possible to build heavy load bridges spanning over 100 metres (328.1 ft); the first bridge that was subjected to a full structural analysis
was the Göltzsch Viaduct
only 9 years prior, which is a brick
arch bridge
with its widest arch spanning 30.9 metres (101.4 ft) and having a width of 9 metres (29.5 ft) at the top. Conversely, the Cathedral Bridge was a lattice truss bridge with spans up to 103.2 metres (338.6 ft) and a collective width of 16.73 metres (54.9 ft). It might, however, be mentioned that the Britannia Bridge
successfully took increasingly heavy railway trains across the Menai Strait
from its opening in 1850 until it was seriously damaged by fire in 1970. Designed by Robert Stephenson
as a tubular bridge
, the longest spans of the Britannia Bridge measured 140 metres (459.3 ft), with a width of 16 metres (52.5 ft).
The wrought iron
latticework
of the Cathedral Bridge was designed by hydraulic engineer
Hermann Lohse and formed an intricate network of diagonal lattices both on the inside and outside of the bridge. The bridge's gates, erected out of gray Udelfanger sandstone
and holding heavy iron doors to close either side of the bridge, were designed by Heinrich Strack
and added after the bridge had been completed. The combination of a cage
-like structure that could be closed on either side inspired the local nickname
mouse trap
(Kölsch: Muusfall). The bridge was also referred to as solid bridge, because it was the first immovable bridge in between Basel
and the Netherlands since the Roman
bridge, built near Cologne in the 4th century. Since the Middle Ages
, reaction ferries formed flying bridges and since Prussia
n times, ship's bridges, a form of pontoon bridges, were also used.
The earthworks
started on 6 June 1855; the foundation stone
was laid by Frederick William IV four months later, on 3 October. Only after construction work had begun were the designs altered to include dual railway tracks on the northern downstream
side of the bridge. Since the early 1850s, the Prussian authorities emphasized on constructing state railways
. This opened up the possibility for the Cologne-Minden Railway Company to co-finance the bridge to extend the Deutz–Gießen line
into the heart of Cologne, and integrate the previously separate railways on either side of the river Rhine. At the request of the Prussian Army
, who had to approve every bridge design before it was carried out, it included a swing bridge
on the western side which could be closed in case of war. The design was inspired by the railway bridges over the river Vistula
at Tczew
and over the river Nogat
at Malbork
, both of which were finished in 1857 as part of the Prussian Eastern Railway. The same chief superintendent
for those bridges, Hermann Lohse, also led the construction work for the Cathedral Bridge.
The Cathedral Bridge was inaugurated on 3 October 1859, exactly four years after construction work had officially begun. Forty years after the construction, it was estimated the bridge had cost nearly 4 million (Prussian) Thaler
s.
and subsequently rebuilt. The current Hohenzollern Bridge's southern foundation is placed at nearly exactly the same place of the Cathedral Bridge's foundation and is the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany.
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
bridge crossing the river Rhine in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
city of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. It was owned by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company
Cologne-Minden Railway Company
The Cologne-Minden Railway Company was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.-Founding :The founding of the...
and named after the Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site...
, which is located on the same longitudinal
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
axis. It was built in combination with the original Köln Hauptbahnhof
Köln Hauptbahnhof
Köln Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in Cologne, Germany.The station is an important local, national and international hub, with many ICE, Thalys and Intercity trains calling there, as well as regional RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn and local S-Bahn trains...
and a new ground-level railway track through the north Altstadt
Altstadt
Altstadt is the German language word for "old town", meaning "historical city centre within the city wall", in contrast to a Neustadt built outside later....
of the Cologne Innenstadt
Innenstadt, Cologne
Innenstadt is the central city district of the City of Cologne in Germany.The district was established with the last communal land reform in 1975, and comprises Cologne's historic old town , the Gründerzeit era new town plus the right-Rhenish district of Deutz...
. It was replaced by the Hohenzollern Bridge in 1911.
The Cathedral Bridge was the second railway bridge to be built over the river Rhine, after the significantly shorter Waldshut–Koblenz Rhine Bridge
Waldshut–Koblenz Rhine Bridge
The Waldshut–Koblenz Rhine Bridge is a single-track railway bridge on the Turgi–Koblenz–Waldshut railway, between Waldshut and Koblenz AG, crossing the Rhine and the border between Germany and Switzerland. It was the first railway bridge built over the Rhine below Lake Constance...
with spans of up to 52 metres (170.6 ft), which was opened just a few months prior on 18 August 1859.
History and construction
The Prussian authorities pressed for a bridge due to increasing road traffic between Cologne and the eastern river bankBank (geography)
A geographic bank has four definitions and applications:# Limnology: The shoreline of a pond, swamp, estuary, reservoir, or lake. The grade can vary from vertical to a shallow slope....
. Before the Cathedral Bridge, passengers and goods
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
had to be transported across the river by reaction ferry
Reaction ferry
A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the river...
or pontoon bridge
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...
. The city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
filed a request with Frederick William IV of Prussia
Frederick William IV of Prussia
|align=right|Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of...
in 1847, who through the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Public Works appointed the Prussian chief civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
Karl Lentze to design
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
the bridge.
The initial drawing
Architectural drawing
An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building that falls within the definition of architecture...
s of the bridge allowed only one horse-drawn carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
to cross the bridge. On the western bank, the road was led in northeastern direction past the Cologne Cathedral. The deck load was to be kept low, because at that time it was not possible to build heavy load bridges spanning over 100 metres (328.1 ft); the first bridge that was subjected to a full structural analysis
Structural analysis
Structural analysis is the determination of the effects of loads on physical structures and their components. Structures subject to this type of analysis include all that must withstand loads, such as buildings, bridges, vehicles, machinery, furniture, attire, soil strata, prostheses and...
was the Göltzsch Viaduct
Göltzsch Viaduct
The Göltzsch Viaduct is a railway bridge in Germany. It is the largest brick-built bridge in the world, and for a time it was the tallest railway bridge in the world. It spans the valley of the Göltzsch River between Mylau and Netzschkau, around east of Reichenbach im Vogtland in the German Free...
only 9 years prior, which is a brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
arch bridge
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...
with its widest arch spanning 30.9 metres (101.4 ft) and having a width of 9 metres (29.5 ft) at the top. Conversely, the Cathedral Bridge was a lattice truss bridge with spans up to 103.2 metres (338.6 ft) and a collective width of 16.73 metres (54.9 ft). It might, however, be mentioned that the Britannia Bridge
Britannia Bridge
Britannia Bridge is a bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. It was originally designed and built by Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic...
successfully took increasingly heavy railway trains across the Menai Strait
Menai Strait
The Menai Strait is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales.The strait is bridged in two places - the main A5 road is carried over the strait by Thomas Telford's elegant iron suspension bridge, the first of its kind,...
from its opening in 1850 until it was seriously damaged by fire in 1970. Designed by Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
as a tubular bridge
Tubular bridge
A tubular bridge is a bridge built as a rigid box girder section within which the traffic is carried. Famous examples include the original Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait and the Conwy railway bridge over the River Conwy, designed and tested by William Fairbairn and built by Robert...
, the longest spans of the Britannia Bridge measured 140 metres (459.3 ft), with a width of 16 metres (52.5 ft).
The wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
latticework
Latticework
Latticework is a framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a network...
of the Cathedral Bridge was designed by hydraulic engineer
Hydraulic engineering
This article is about civil engineering. For the mechanical engineering discipline see Hydraulic machineryHydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive...
Hermann Lohse and formed an intricate network of diagonal lattices both on the inside and outside of the bridge. The bridge's gates, erected out of gray Udelfanger sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and holding heavy iron doors to close either side of the bridge, were designed by Heinrich Strack
Heinrich Strack
Johann Heinrich Strack was a German architect of the Schinkelschule. His notable works include the Berlin Victory Column.-Life:...
and added after the bridge had been completed. The combination of a cage
Cage (enclosure)
A cage is an enclosure made of mesh, bars or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal in captivity, capturing, and being used for display of an animal at a zoo.-History:...
-like structure that could be closed on either side inspired the local nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
mouse trap
Mouse Trap
Mouse Trap is a 1981 arcade game released by Exidy, similar to Pac-Man. It was ported to three home systems by Coleco; Coleco's ColecoVision, Mattel's Intellivision, and the Atari 2600.-Comparison to Pac-Man:...
(Kölsch: Muusfall). The bridge was also referred to as solid bridge, because it was the first immovable bridge in between Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
and the Netherlands since the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
bridge, built near Cologne in the 4th century. Since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, reaction ferries formed flying bridges and since Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n times, ship's bridges, a form of pontoon bridges, were also used.
The earthworks
Earthworks (engineering)
Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving or processing of quantities of soil or unformed rock.- Civil engineering use :Typical earthworks include roads, railway beds, causeways, dams, levees, canals, and berms...
started on 6 June 1855; the foundation stone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
was laid by Frederick William IV four months later, on 3 October. Only after construction work had begun were the designs altered to include dual railway tracks on the northern downstream
Downstream
-Science:* In geography, away from the source of a stream or river* In meteorology, away from the source of an air parcel or mass, along the normal direction of water or air flow* Downstream , in computer or telecommunications networks...
side of the bridge. Since the early 1850s, the Prussian authorities emphasized on constructing state railways
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
. This opened up the possibility for the Cologne-Minden Railway Company to co-finance the bridge to extend the Deutz–Gießen line
Deutz–Gießen railway
The Deutz–Gießen railway is a line between Deutz and Gießen that was built from the late 1850s to connect the Ruhr and the Rhine-Main area, now parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse. The line still exists, but little traffic still runs over the whole of the historical route...
into the heart of Cologne, and integrate the previously separate railways on either side of the river Rhine. At the request of the Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
, who had to approve every bridge design before it was carried out, it included a swing bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
on the western side which could be closed in case of war. The design was inspired by the railway bridges over the river Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
at Tczew
Tczew
Tczew is a town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60,279 inhabitants . It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian Eastern Railway...
and over the river Nogat
Nogat
-----------------The Nogat is a 62km long delta branch of the Vistula River and does not empty at Gdańsk Bay as the main river does.The Nogat has its origin near the city of Biała Góra as an anabranch of the Vistula River. Shortly after the river Liwa flows into the Nogat. Than the river passes...
at Malbork
Malbork
Malbork is a town in northern Poland in the Żuławy region , with 38,478 inhabitants . Situated in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously assigned to Elbląg Voivodeship...
, both of which were finished in 1857 as part of the Prussian Eastern Railway. The same chief superintendent
Superintendent (construction)
On larger projects, it is common for most finance-related tasks and long-term scheduling to be handled by a project manager, with the superintendent's job limited to running the day-to-day operations on the construction site and controlling the short-term schedule...
for those bridges, Hermann Lohse, also led the construction work for the Cathedral Bridge.
The Cathedral Bridge was inaugurated on 3 October 1859, exactly four years after construction work had officially begun. Forty years after the construction, it was estimated the bridge had cost nearly 4 million (Prussian) Thaler
Thaler
The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...
s.
Deconstruction
The bridge was unable to meet the increased requirements imposed on it by the new Cologne Central Station (1894). After the construction work had already started for the Hohenzollern Bridge in 1907, the Cathedral Bridge was deconstructed in stages between 1908 and 1910. The Hohenzollernbrücke was completed 1911, demolished in 1945 during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and subsequently rebuilt. The current Hohenzollern Bridge's southern foundation is placed at nearly exactly the same place of the Cathedral Bridge's foundation and is the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany.