On this Friday 175 years ago, a lucky star rose over Marktheidenfeld. The Old Main Bridge was inaugurated on January 29, 1846 and officially opened to traffic. At the request of the mayor at the time, Theodor Franz, this symbolism was incorporated into a new municipal seal in 1883. Leonhard Scherg, local expert and former mayor, therefore likes to say that the Marktheidenfeld city coat of arms is narrative. It reports on the paramount importance of the Old Main Bridge for the development of the city.
In 1835, King Ludwig I in Munich approved the construction of a bridge near Marktheidenfeld. With this first bridge over the Main between Würzburg and Aschaffenburg, the monarch wanted to provide better transport connections in the distant parts of the still young Kingdom of Bavaria. The place at river kilometer 179.79 seemed more suitable for many reasons than the former route of the connecting road between Lengfurt and the Triefenstein monastery.
Advised by a star architect of classicism
When planning, Ludwig I gave preference to a bridge with seven arches in the “ancient Roman style” over a chain bridge. District engineer Georg Heinrich May (1790 to 1853) from Aschaffenburg provided the designs. The then star architect of southern German classicism, Leo von Klenze (1784-1864), was also involved in the project in an advisory capacity from the outset. The Munich court architect later traveled to the construction site several times to give explanations on site.
The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1837. In the almost ten years of construction, many things happened that are still happening today. There were rescheduling and delays. A flood had shown that it was necessary to raise the structure and the driveways. The construction costs galloped away and led to worried inquiries in the Bavarian assembly of estates in Munich.
The city made itself chic for the monarch ?? and was disappointed
In 1845 there was great excitement in Marktheidenfeld. The final paving work on the bridge was already in progress. At the beginning of June the city dressed up for a visit by the monarch. It was said that because of a threatening flood, King Ludwig I would already be traveling over the new bridge. Everything was ready on site for the big jubilee reception. Then it turned out to the presumably secret joy of the neighbors that the king had preferred the usual route via Lengfurt.
On January 29, 1846, the bridge was finished to the point where the official handover to traffic could take place, with the exception of remaining work. The day before, a great festival program was announced in the Neue Würzburger Zeitung. Musik Marktheidenfeld was supposed to go through the evening before, probably in the halls of the inns.
Workers received refreshment in Marktheidenfeld inns
The feast day began with the ringing of bells and a Tagreveille (wake-up call). The church blessing should first be in the foreground. For this purpose, the representatives of the state, the community and the authorities met with the civil servants, the builders and the representatives of the ten guilds with their flags at 9 a.m. for high mass in the parish church of St. Laurentius. With musical accompaniment and singing, it then went in a procession to the Main Bridge, strictly according to hierarchy, with the school children in the lead. There followed the blessing from the clergy.
Then the procession slowly moved across the bridge with prayers. On the other bank of the Main, District Judge Karl Huberti spoke about the purpose and occasion of the celebration. This was followed by the hymn of the Kingdom of Bavaria and a specially composed cantata with musical accompaniment. With the bells ringing we went back to the church, where after the “Te Deum Laudamus” the people gathered were probably sprinkled with holy water.
This ended the church part and the guests boarded carriages and wagons. Accompanied by riders and a band, the procession made its way to the bridge again. At the upper gate there was a “freight wagon drawn by six horses”, which was apparently intended to illustrate the great importance of the new structure for freight transport. Behind the train, decorated carriages from the neighboring villages with “country people in their national costumes” should follow.
So the entourage drove over the bridge to the turning point at the first junction. Then it went back to town. The workers who were involved in the construction were also delighted. They received refreshment and double wages in the Marktheidenfeld inns.
The Bavarian regent admired the bridge from a steamboat
Incidentally, King Ludwig I personally inspected the huge structure in the same year. As the Aschaffenburger Zeitung and other Bavarian newspapers report, the Bavarian regent and his wife Therese were on the steamboat “Therese” on June 8, 1846, on an acclaimed tour of the Main. Coming from Lohr, on the way to Wertheim, he was able to admire the “magnificent bridge” that had been festively decorated for its “creator”. In his honor, a “beautifully looped L” adorned a bridge pillar. Surely he was cheered from under Bavarian flags from the bank and the bridge.
Much can still be said about the unique architectural monument in Marktheidenfeld. From the monument to Ludwig I, which was inaugurated 50 years later out of gratitude on the bank below the Mainberg. Its artistic bronze bust disappeared as scrap metal for war purposes during World War II. The historical association provided an adequate replacement in the 1980s.
Or one could mention the pointless demolition of two bridge arches at Easter 1945, which ultimately did not hinder the entry of American troops. After the bridge was restored, the roadway on the bridge was extended and new metal railings were installed. The construction of a new, further bridge over the Main at the turn of the millennium should also be appreciated.
The bridge’s roadway was last renovated in 2020
In our days the unique monument “Alte Mainbrücke” is endangered by plans to sacrifice a bridge pillar in favor of ever larger ships on the Main. On the city’s homepage, however, Mayor Thomas Stamm is convinced that he can prevent this project together with the city council and the citizens.
Last year, the roadway and footpaths on the bridge were extensively renovated by the Free State of Bavaria, which led to traffic problems lasting for months. When the 175-year anniversary of the Old Main Bridge in the city can be celebrated with a fitting festival is initially in the stars because of the corona pandemic.
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