Devil's Bridge, Stone arch bridge in Egg, Switzerland.
Devil's Bridge is a covered stone arch bridge over the Sihl in the Egg district of Einsiedeln, canton Schwyz. It carries the road from Einsiedeln to the Etzel Pass. Its covered timber structure rests on stone piers, and a chapel niche for Saint Nepomuk, carved by Johann Baptist Babel, was added in 1794.
Abbot Gero von Frohburg had a first wooden bridge built over the Sihl in 1117. A stone bridge followed in 1517, replaced in the 17th century by a covered structure that Brother Jakob Natter reinforced in 1794. Restorations took place in 1833 and 1908; the district of Einsiedeln took over the bridge in 1984 and restored it from 1987 to 1992.
The bridge's dialect name Tüfelsbrugg is used locally, and the structure carries a chapel niche dedicated to Saint John Nepomuk, patron of bridges and travellers, carved by sculptor Johann Baptist Babel in 1794. Pilgrims on the Schwabenweg pass it on the route between Konstanz and Einsiedeln.
The bridge carries the road between Einsiedeln and the Etzelpass and is approved for car traffic, so pedestrians share it with vehicles. It also lies on the Schwabenweg, the Jakobsweg section between Konstanz and Einsiedeln, and is used by hikers and pilgrims. The structure is a covered wooden bridge on stone piers, so watch for low headroom and a narrow deck.
The scholar Paracelsus was born in 1493 right beside the bridge, a fact easily missed by passers-by. The structure has been in the hands of the district of Einsiedeln since 1984 and was restored from 1987 to 1992.
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