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Remagen is a city in Germany in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate, district Ahrweiler. It is about a 1 hour drive from Cologne (Köln), just south of Bonn, the former West-German capital. It is situated on the River Rhine, which is constantly busy with ships. There is a ferry across the Rhine from Remagen every 10-15 minutes in the summer. Remagen has many beautiful and well-maintained buildings, churches, castles, and monuments. It also has a sizeable pedestrian zone with plenty of shops.
Overlooking the west bank of the Rhine just north of the city centre is the Apollonariskirche. It has a great observation deck that is only open to parishioners on Sundays. Pedestrians reach the church via a dirt trail that passes a series of roadside monuments representing each of the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The church grounds contain an outdoor crypt and an abbey. Further down the river is one of the many castles along the River Rhine, perched even higher than the Apolloneriskirche.
The Bridge at Remagen
Remagen became famous for its Ludendorff Bridge which was captured by Allied forces on 7 March, 1945 by the U.S. 9th Armored Division during Operation Lumberjack. Although the bridge collapsed into the Rhine just 10 days later, the Allies were able to build a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Rhine, which led to a faster defeat of Nazi Germany.
The bridge at Remagen was built during the First World War at the urging of the German generals, so that more troops and war materials could be brought to the Western Front. The bridge was designed by Karl Wiener, an architect from Mannheim. It was 325 meters long, had a clearance of 14.80 meters above the normal water level of the Rhine, and its highest point measured 29.25 meters. The bridge carried two rail lines and a pedestrian walkway. It was considered one of the finest steel bridges over the Rhine.
The Capture of the Bridge
On 7 March, 1945, an advance unit of the 9th U.S. Armored Division, led by LT Karl H. Timmermann, an American of German descent, reached the last intact bridge, just after the German defenders twice failed in their demolition attempts.The capture of the bridge is known in the annals of the war as the "Miracle of Remagen". General Eisenhower stated that "the bridge is worth its weight in gold". In the days immediately following, the German High Command made desperate attempts to destroy the bridge by bombing and even employing frogmen. Hitler irately convened a court-martial which condemned five officers to death, four of whom were actually executed in the Westerwald Forest. On 17 March, 1945 the bridge collapsed. Twenty-eight American soldiers lost their lives.
The Bridge in the Media
The best-known work on the battle is 1957's The Bridge at Remagen by the American author Ken Hechler.In 1968 David L. Wolper produced an American motion picture, "The Bridge at Remagen". The film depicted actual historical background, but was fictional in all other aspects and lacking in detail. E.g. it is situated in a typical summer landscape with all the trees in full leaves, although the historic event took place in march, when the trees in Germany definitely have no leaves.
In addition, a large number of books and articles in newspapers and magazines on the subject of the bridge have been published.
In the 1946 Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life, there is a brief battle scene with narration that "Marty helped capture the Remagen bridge."
In the video game Finest Hour the player helps to liberate the Ludendorff Bridge in one level. Remagen also appears in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (dm3).
The Idea of the Memorial
Hans Peter Kürten, at that time Mayor of Remagen, had long considered the idea of constructing a memorial. The negotiations with the German Federal Railway alone lasted seven years before the city could finally acquire the former railroad property. Announcements sent to government officials concerning the intended preservation of the bridge towers and the construction of a Memorial to Peace stirred no interest.In the summer of 1976, it was necessary to remove the still intact bridge support pilings in the river. The Mayor had the stones deposited on the Remagen river bank, with the idea in mind of selling small pieces of the bridge stones enclosed in synthetic resin and containing a certificate ot authenticity.
On 7 March, 1978, he went public with his idea and achieved such an unexpected degree of success, that he had realised more than 100,000 DM (around 50,000 EUR) in sales profits.
There has not been another bridge built across the Rhine here, mainly due to opposition from the people of Remagen (and surrounding areas), contending that a bridge located at this point along the Rhine would spoil the view.
Rhineland Pfalz (20).jpg
External links
"Remagen"