Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach)

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The Alte Nahebrücke (English: Old Nahe Bridge) is a medieval stone arch bridge in Bad Kreuznach, in western Germany, dating from around 1300, that originally spanned the Nahe river and a neighbouring canal called the Mühlenteich (English: mill pond). Only the section spanning the canal remains intact. With four houses on its piers, it is one of the few remaining bridges in the world that has buildings on it. The stone Alte Nahebrücke was built around 1300 by Simon II, Count of Sponheim-Kreuznach, who ruled the town, to replace a wooden bridge which connected settlements on either side of the Nahe river. It provided an important connection on the road from to Mainz to Trier, and it formed part of the town fortifications. Towers on the bridge, one of which was for a period used as a prison, were destroyed by French troops in the late 17th century. The first recorded mention of the stone bridge was in 1332, when the Pauluskirche (English: St Paul's Church), which stands on Wörthinsel, the island between the canal and the river, was consecrated. Karl Marx was married in the church on 19 June 1843. The bridge has two arms; one spanning the Nahe river and another, which supports the old buildings, spanning the Mühlenteich (English: mill pond) canal, which is parallel to the river. On Friday, 16 March 1945 the arm of the bridge spanning the river was blown up by German troops to hinder the approach of American forces. This destroyed a Baroque style Christian stone cross (a 1934 reproduction of the original) which was on the sixth pier of the bridge, and a statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, the bridge's patron saint, which was on the seventh pier. American tanks arrived in Bad Kreuznach at midday 18 March 1945, unimpeded by the damage to the bridge. In 1955, the town council had the remaining original span of the bridge over the Mühlenteich widened by two metres. In 1956, a concrete single-span bridge was built to replace the destroyed section which crossed the Nahe river. There was controversy about this work as some people felt that the 700 year-old historic bridge should have been returned to its original form. From 2015 to 2017 both the old span and the 1956 concre

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.