The Johannes Bridge (formerly also called Nepomuk Bridge) in Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, crosses the Rur. Originally, i.e. until the middle of the 18th century, Düren only had a small wooden bridge as a river crossing over the Roer (Rur) at the site of today's Johannes Bridge. Originally, the plan was to replace the small bridge with another, more stable wooden bridge. However, the plan was later abandoned. On October 23, 1747, the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone for Düren's first stone bridge took place. The design came from the engineer von Douwen, and it was built under the direction of an engineer named Mausfeld. The total construction costs at the time were 80,000 Reichstaler, with the majority of the construction costs being paid for by the then mayor Anton Ricker from private funds. A foundation stone commemorated this. Deep in the foundation stone beneath the bridge was the inscription "sub consule Ricker". Mayor Ricker had lost almost all of his fortune because he had invested his private money in the construction of the bridge. He was mayor of Düren in 1740 and 1750 and owner of Birgel Castle from 1733. After the bridge was completed, the figure of St. John of Nepomuk, created by the Koblenz sculptor Franz Joseph Schmiegd, was erected on August 23, 1753. The total length of the Johannes Bridge at that time was 65 meters and it had five arches with a span of 11 meters each. The two-meter-thick pillars and the abutments were made of limestone and red sandstone, the vaults were made of brick. In the night of December 29-30, 1845, the bridge was badly damaged by flooding and drifting ice and the vaults collapsed. Before Düren was taken by American troops, part of the eastern Johannes Bridge was blown up, probably by German troops themselves, between December 7 and December 16, 1944, in order to make it more difficult for American troops to invade. On February 25, 1945, the American troops entered Düren to occupy Düren - after the bridge itself had been partially destroyed, but a wooden bridge had been built on the remaining bridge pillars. On May 16, 1950, the newly built Johannes Bridge was inaugurated by the then Finance Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Heinrich Weitz. The new reinforced concrete bridge had three openings. Its total width was 15.10 meters, and the construction costs amounted to 385,000 marks (197,000 euros). They were largely paid for by the state government. At the same time, the bridge also received a new Nepomuk statue, created by the Düsseldorf sculptor Kurt Zimmermann, which also adorns the last new bridge in 2016. At the foot of the bridge saint, as on many other bridges in Europe, there are love locks that lovers hang there. Over the years, the bridge had become fragile. In 2003, a temporary bridge was built next to the structure so that construction could begin on the new one. On September 24, 2003, the old bridge collapsed into the Rur without any external influence. The new bridge was inaugurated on December 21, 2004.
Translated by Google •
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