Ludendorff Bridge Towers (Erpel Side)

The Ludendorff Bridge, known as the Remagen Bridge, was a two-track railway bridge over the Rhine between Remagen and Erpel. It was commissioned for military reasons in 1916 during the First World War and named in honor of the Army Quartermaster General, Erich Ludendorff, on May 1, 1918, for the inauguration of Kaiser Wilhelm II. On March 7, 1945, at the end of the Second World War, a small vanguard of US soldiers reached the undamaged bridge and captured it. Wehrmacht soldiers tried in vain to destroy the bridge in the days following its capture, because according to the Wehrmacht leadership's plans, all Rhine bridges were to be blown up. However, less explosives (300 kg instead of 600 kg) and less efficient explosives (Donarit instead of Ekrasit) were used than planned.During the demolition, the bridge was briefly lifted from its supports.It finally collapsed on March 17, 1945, likely as a result of the demolition.The Peace Museum in the bridge towers, located since 1980, impressively displays images and documents from that time, everyday items and equipment of the soldiers fighting on the bridge, and much more. Visitors are immersed in the historical events of the Battle of Remagen at the original site and will understand the significance of capturing this bridge and the courage and determination required to face the associated real dangers, even one's own death.The bridge towers on the Remagen side are used as a Peace Museum.On the Erpel side, cultural events take place in the tunnel.

The Remagen BridgeOn May 1, 1918, at the end of the two-year construction period from 1916 to 1918, the Erpel-Remagen railway bridge (built at the urging of the German generals, architect Karl Wiener) was christened the Ludendorff Bridge. The inauguration took place on August 15, 1918. Due to structural problems in the tunnel, it did not enter operation until after the end of the war, on September 1, 1919. Planned as a strategic military connection to supply the Western Front during World War I, the line crossed the bridge from Erpel to Remagen and continued through the Ahr Valley and Eifel to St. Vith (now Belgium). The bridge continued to serve this military function during World War II. The Reichsbahn rarely used the bridge for civilian purposes. A path on both sides provided pedestrians and cyclists with the opportunity to cross the Rhine. The bridge thus served as an intensively used connecting bridge between Erpel and Remagen.Almost 4,800 tons of steel were used for the 325-meter-long, two-track Ludendorff Bridge. It crossed the Rhine at 14.80 meters above normal water level. The highest point of the steel arch rose almost 30 meters. The 156-meter-long central section rested on two river piers that were only removed from the Rhine in the summer of 1976. The railway tunnel under the Erpeler Ley is 383 meters long. It carried the railway tracks, branching off from the Cologne-Koblenz railway line north of Erpel, in a 90-degree curve onto the bridge.

On March 7, 1945, American troops reached the Rhine Heights near Remagen. They found the bridge undamaged. German soldiers' attempts to blow it up had failed. The American soldiers decided to cross the river that same afternoon. They shelled the bridge towers and the tunnel beneath the Erpeler Ley, which was connected to the Rhine bridge and which still housed numerous German soldiers and approximately 150 civilians who had been seeking shelter from the bombing raids for many days. The Americans disarmed the German soldiers and led them across the bridge into captivity. The civilians returned to their homes, as long as they were still habitable in Erpel, which had been more than 50% destroyed.Ten days later, on March 17, 1945, the severely damaged bridge collapsed, killing numerous American soldiers. The five officers of the bridge command were sentenced to death for sabotage by a specially convened court martial, even though they could not be held responsible for the botched demolition. Four of them were shot in the Westerwald towns of Rimbach and Oberirsen, while the fifth survived as an American prisoner of war.Renowned historians attribute great importance to the events at the Ludendorff Bridge in bringing about a swift end to World War II. The decision of American soldiers to cross the Rhine from Remagen to Erpel on March 7, 1945, certainly saved thousands of people from death in further bombing raids on towns and villages along the Rhine.