The Teufelsbrücke is a bridge over the Schöllenen Gorge

Schöllenen Gorge

Schöllenen Gorge is a gorge located in the Swiss canton of Uri between the towns of Göschenen to the north and Andermatt to the south. It is 5 km long along the Reuss River in central Switzerland, and provides access to the St...

 in the Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 canton of Uri

Canton of Uri

Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...

. The bridge provides access to the St. Gotthard Pass

St. Gotthard Pass

The Gotthard Pass or St. Gotthard Pass is a high mountain pass in Switzerland between Airolo in the canton of Ticino, and Göschenen in the canton of Uri, connecting the northern German-speaking part of Switzerland with the Italian-speaking part, along the route onwards to Milan.Though the pass...

 by crossing the gorge and the Reuss River

Reuss River

The Reuss is a river in Switzerland. With a length of and a drainage basin of , it is the fourth largest river in Switzerland...

 below.

It is named for an old local legend regarding its construction by the Devil, one of many old European Devil's Bridge

Devil's Bridge

Devil’s Bridge is a term applied to dozens of ancient bridges, found primarily in Europe. Most of these bridges are stone or masonry arch bridges and represent a significant technological achievement...

s with similar creation myths.

First bridge

The Schöllenen Gorge (Schöllenenschlucht) is an important access route to the St. Gotthard Pass. However, the valley is very narrow, featuring the dangerous river Reuss. The first bridge across the river was built in 1230. This was a wooden bridge and had to be replaced often owing to weather damage.

In the 16th century, the bridge was rebuilt in stone. In 1799, this bridge witnessed one of the most dramatic battles of Suvorov's Italian and Swiss expedition

Suvorov's Italian and Swiss expedition

The Italian and Swiss expeditions of 1799 and 1800 were undertaken by the Russian commander Alexander Suvorov against French forces in Piedmont and Switzerland as part of the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars in general and the War of the Second Coalition in particular.-Italian...

 which took place during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. During this battle the bridge was heavily damaged by the retreating French army. As a result, trade with Italy took place over the Splügenpass instead.

The first bridge was completely destroyed during a storm in 1888.

Second bridge

Only in 1820 could the order to build a new bridge be given. The construction of the bridge took 10 years.

Third bridge

By the middle of the 20th century, the second bridge was no longer able to handle the volume of traffic it received. A concrete bridge, featuring two lanes (one for each direction) was built in 1958 to accommodate heavier flow. However, the majority of traffic requiring passage between Airolo

Airolo

Airolo is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-History:In the settlement of Madrano, Roman tombs from the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD were found. They belonged to a Vicus, whose inhabitants probably collected crystal, which was processed in Locarno into...

 and Göschenen

Göschenen

Göschenen a village in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.-History:Göschenen is first mentioned in 1280 as Geschenden. In 1290 it was mentioned as Gescheldun, then in 1294 as Geschenen and in 1429 as ze Gestinen.-Geography:...

 travels via either the Gotthard Rail Tunnel

Gotthard Rail Tunnel

The Gotthard Rail Tunnel, is a 15-kilometre long railway tunnel and forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Gotthard massif...

 or the Gotthard Road Tunnel

Gotthard Road Tunnel

The St. Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland runs from Göschenen in the Canton of Uri at its northern portal, to Airolo in Ticino to the south, and is just under in length below the St. Gotthard Pass...

.

Myth of the creation of the bridge

According to a local myth, building the first bridge was very hard and so the Devil himself agreed to build it. The condition attached to the construction was that the Devil would get the soul

Soul

A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...

 of the first to pass over the bridge. So, when the bridge was finished, people chased a goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

 over the bridge. Angered by the trick, the Devil went to pick up a large stone (called Teufelsstein, the Devil's Stone) in order to smash the bridge to pieces. On his way to the bridge however, he encountered an old believing woman with a cross. Scared of the cross, he left the stone and fled.

The devil's stone weighs 220 tons and stands near Göschenen

Göschenen

Göschenen a village in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.-History:Göschenen is first mentioned in 1280 as Geschenden. In 1290 it was mentioned as Gescheldun, then in 1294 as Geschenen and in 1429 as ze Gestinen.-Geography:...

. In 1977, the stone was moved 127 meters to make way for the new motorway passing over the St.Gotthard Pass, at a cost of 300,000 Swiss Francs.

Popular belief has it that the moving of the stone was the cause of an increased number of accidents on kilometre 16 on the St. Gotthard road tunnel.

External links

• Official Andermatt website with additional information and history about the bridge and nearby monument
• 360 Panorama showing the bridge, the gorge and the nearby monument