Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: gedeckte Brücke

Thun is a medieval city, located on the west end of Lake Thun. Already as early as 2.500 BC a first settlement arose on today's site of the city. The castle - towering above the old town - was built by the Dukes of Zähringen. It has a donjon (PiP 1), dating back between 1180 and 1190. One can enjoy wonderful views over the city (PiP 2) and the mighty mountains of the Bernese Highlands, with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in the far distance. Five bridges connect the modern shopping area of Thun with the medieval city center. By far the most interesting is the wooden covered bridge Untere Schleuse (main picture), built in 1724. The flood gates regulate the water flow of the River Aare (PiP3).

In the past Kleinwalsertal had twelve covered bridges, but nowadays there are just three left of these monuments of carpentry. The Höfler bridge - near Mittelberg - is one of them and with a length of 33 meters the longest. The main reason for the roof of the bridges was certainly to protect the stringers from the weather. Originally the Höfler bridge is dating back to 1891, but fell victim to a devastating avalanche in 1907. The bridge was erected for a second time in spring of that year. In the valley of the river Breitach (PiP3) there were in the 1950’s eleven covered bridges. Wooden bridges with their shingle roofs were often torn away by avalanche or flood disasters. So also the Höflerbrücke, which was washed away by the Breitach in August 2005. Unlike others - replaced by more modern structures - it was replaced by a new wooden covered bridge.