The Old Bridge was the only bridge over the Main until 1869. At that time, Frankfurt already had 57,000 inhabitants and the old bridge was no longer sufficient. The city of Frankfurt refused to build another bridge because of the construction costs.
So the residents and traders of Frankfurt took matters into their own hands. Share certificates were sold and the proceeds were used to build a second bridge, the Iron Bridge. When this was completed, everyone who wanted to cross the bridge had to pay a kreuzer. After just 27 years, the bridge had earned its construction costs, the shareholders were paid a bonus of 5% and the city of Frankfurt was given ownership of the bridge on January 1, 1886.
After ever larger ships began sailing on the Main and a coal transporter got stuck on the lower edge of the bridge in 1910, a new, higher one was built in 1912.
When the fleeing Wehrmacht blew up the Eiserner Steg and all other bridges over the Main in the last days of the war, it was rebuilt in 1946 and raised again by 40 cm in 1969.
The Greek inscription on the northern bridge pillar reads: "I sail across the wine-red sea to people of other languages."