Until 1832 Kunitz could only be reached by ferry. People died again and again in ferry accidents. According to tradition, on April 4, 1829, seven students had an accident on their way back to Jena after visiting the Kunitzburg. Among the three fatally injured was Georg Friedrich Semper, younger brother of Johann Carl and Gottfried Semper (German architect and art theorist, co-founder of modern theater architecture).
The Kunitz pastor then pushed for a planned new bridge construction. Instead of erecting a memorial at the site of the accident, he convinced Johann to invest the money in building a new bridge. Through further donations and a loan from the state administration, the total amount of 4000 thalers was finally raised and a 35 meter long covered wooden bridge was subsequently built. Incidentally, a bridging fee was charged to refinance the loan. The bridge was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in the last weeks of the war in 1945...