Deutschherrn bridge, Steel railway bridge in Frankfurt, Germany
Deutschherrn bridge is a steel arch bridge crossing the Main River in Frankfurt and measuring 274 meters long. It carries two railway tracks with a pedestrian walkway alongside for public use.
Built from 1911 to 1913 by the MAN Gustavsburg works, the bridge opened on 1 April 1913 as part of the link between Frankfurt's new Ostbahnhof and the Südbahnhof. On 26 March 1945 a Wehrmacht commando blew up the southern arch to slow the advancing US Army. It was rebuilt provisionally at the end of 1945 and permanently from July 1947 to 3 June 1949.
Since 2011 the bridge has carried Sonic Vista, a permanent sound installation by Sam Auinger and Bruce Odland: a red and a blue sphere with loudspeakers hang between the western struts of the central arch, playing ambient noise and bridge vibrations picked up by microphones and altered through resonance tubes mounted beneath the deck. The work belongs to a series of artworks in Frankfurt's Grüngürtel, and the Grüngürtel circular hiking trail crosses the bridge.
The bridge carries two railway tracks plus a separate pedestrian walkway, and the Grüngürtel circular hiking trail runs across it. The northern bridgehead lies in the Ostend, the southern one in Sachsenhausen. Deutsche Bahn plans a new parallel bridge, with construction expected to start around 2029, to carry rail traffic while the listed structure is renovated and kept for cyclists and pedestrians.
Since 2011 the sound installation Sonic Vista by Sam Auinger and Bruce Odland has hung between the western struts of the central arch: a red and a blue sphere containing loudspeakers, fed by resonance tubes hidden under the bridge, that play ambient noise and the vibrations of the structure. The permanent work belongs to a series of artworks in Frankfurt's Grüngürtel, whose circular hiking trail crosses the bridge.
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