- Teufelsbrücke
The Teufelsbrücke ('Devil's Bridge') is a
bridge over theSchöllenen Gorge in the Swiss canton ofUri . The bridge provides access to theSt. Gotthard Pass by crossing the gorge and theReuss River below.It is named for an old local legend regarding its construction by the Devil, one of many old European
Devil's Bridge 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 so due to weather damage it had to be replaced often.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 which took place during theNapoleonic Wars . During this battle the bridge was heavily damaged by retreating French army. Due to this damage, trade with Italy took place over theSplügenpass instead.The first bridge was completely destroyed during a storm in
1888 .econd 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 andGöschenen travels via either theGotthard Rail Tunnel or theGotthard Road Tunnel .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 thesoul of the first to pass over the bridge. So, when the bridge was finished, people chased agoat 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 . 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.Fact|date=September 2008
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
