Cologne - Südbrücke

Cologne is the fourth-largest city in Germany - and one of the oldest. A Germanic tribe, the Ubii, had a settlement here, this was named by the Romans "Oppidum Ubiorum". In 50 AD, the Romans founded "Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium", the city then became the provincial capital of "Germania Inferior".

When I was in Cologne I learned, that it is possible to walk over all bridges, that cross the Rhine. I tried them all - and the Südbrücke ("South Bridge") now is my favourite bridge. There are no cars, as this two track bridge is used by freighttrains, pedestrians and cyclists.

The Südbrücke was built from 1906 to 1910. During the construction works in 1908 the middle arch collapsed, an accident in which eight workers were killed.

In WWII the bridge was largely destroyed in an air raid in January 1945. It got rebuilt an opened for operation again in 1950.

The steel structure has three spans (101,5 m + 165 m + 101,5 m) with a total length of 368 m and a width of 10.34 m. The pylons are built in a Neo Romanesque style and furnished with sculptural decorations.

The panorama of Cologne, seen from the Südbrücke. The "next" bridge is the green Severinsbrücke (completed in 1959). Right to the cathedral ("Kölner Dom") is "Groß St. Martin". To the left are the three Kranhäuser (crane houses), completed in 2008.