The Ludendorff Bridge, known as the so-called Bridge of Remagen, was a railway bridge over the Rhine between Remagen and Erpel. It was built for military reasons during World War I and named after General Erich Ludendorff. In the final phase of the Second World War, it represented the first Allied crossing over the Rhine. On March 17, 1945, it collapsed. She gained particular notoriety through the American war film The Bridge at Remagen in 1969.
When Army Group B under Field Marshal Walter Model retreated to the right bank of the Rhine in 1945, the Wehrmacht command wanted all the Rhine bridges to be blown up. In the case of the Ludendorff Bridge, however, less (300 kg instead of 600 kg) and less effective explosives (Donarit instead of dynamite) were used than planned. The bridge was briefly lifted from its bearings when it was blown up, but not destroyed, which subsequently enabled Allied troops to cross the Rhine at this point and accelerate their advance into the "heart of Germany". The German side tried in vain to destroy the bridge. This finally collapsed on March 17, probably due to the failed detonation and the fighting of the previous days. Hitler had several officers held responsible for the failure to destroy the building tried and shot by a court-martial.
After 1945, the Federal Railways planned to rebuild the bridge. Concrete cost plans were drawn up for this purpose. Only with the electrification of the left and right Rhine line were these plans dropped and as a result the feeder tracks in Remagen and Erpel, which had been kept free until then, were abandoned. The bridge's stream piers were eventually removed from the riverbed in the 1970s. All that remains today are the bridge towers on both sides and parts of the access ramp. Like the Erpel railway tunnel, they are under monument protection.[1][2]