Müngsten Bridge

Geschichte

Müngsten Bridge is the highest railway bridge in Germany. The bridge is 107m high and spans the valley of the river Wupper, connecting the cities of Remscheid and Solingen. This stretch is part of the Wuppertal-Oberbarmen–Solingen railway. It is used exclusively by the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn line S 7. On 1 April 2013, the Müngsten Bridge was closed for extensive renovation work: it reopened on 27 July 2015, but a further lengthy closure for a comprehensive corrosion treatment is planned for 2018. During the works, the train from Solingen Hbf to Remscheid Hbf terminated at Solingen Mitte and a bus continued to Remscheid.Originally the bridge was named Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke (Emperor Wilhelm Bridge) to honour Emperor Wilhelm I. After the end of the monarchy the bridge was renamed after the nearby settlement of Müngsten, which is close to the city limits of Solingen, Remscheid and Wuppertal. Today, the settlement no longer exists, so Müngsten is simply a landmark.HistoryFirst drafts for a bridge connecting the two cities of Remscheid and Solingen go back as far as 1889. Preparatory work began in 1893, the bridge was finished in 1897.The six support columns have a maximum height of 69 meters (230 ft). In the middle of the structure, the main arc has a span of 170 meters (560 ft). The overall length of the structure is 465 meters (1,530 ft).