The Széchenyi Chain Bridge ( ) is a chain bridge that spans the River Danube between

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

and Pest, the western and eastern sides of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, the capital of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by Scottish engineer Adam Clark, it was the first permanent bridge across the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. It was opened in 1849. It is anchored on the Pest side of the river to Széchenyi Square (formerly Roosevelt Square), adjacent to the Gresham Palace and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and on the Buda side to Adam Clark Square, near the Zero Kilometre Stone and the lower end of the Castle Hill Funicular, leading to

Buda Castle Buda Castle (, ), formerly also called the Royal Palace () and the Royal Castle (, ), is the historical castle and palace complex of the King of Hungary, Hungarian kings in Budapest. First completed in 1265, the Baroque architecture, Baroque pa ...

. The bridge bears the name of

István Széchenyi Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (, ; archaically English: Stephen Széchenyi; 21 September 1791 – 8 April 1860) was a Hungarian politician, political theorist, and writer. Widely considered one of the greatest statesme ...

, a major supporter of its construction, but is most commonly known as the "Chain Bridge". At the time of its construction, it was regarded as a marvel of modern engineering. Its decorations are made of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

History

Lanc hid - Budapest 3 Febr 1946 Foto Takkk Hungary

The bridge was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark in 1839, following an initiative by Count

, with construction supervised locally by Scottish engineer Adam Clark (no relation). It is a larger-scale version of Tierney Clark's earlier

Marlow Bridge Marlow Bridge is a road traffic and foot bridge over the River Thames in England between the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire and the village of Bisham in Berkshire. It crosses the Thames just upstream of Marlow Lock, on the reach to Temple Lock. ...

, across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

in Marlow, England, and was designed in sections and shipped from the United Kingdom to Hungary for final construction. It was funded to a considerable extent by the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

merchant Georgios Sinas who had financial and land interests in the city and whose name is inscribed on the base of the south-western foundation of the bridge on the Buda side. The bridge opened in 1849, after the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

, becoming the first permanent bridge in the Hungarian capital. At the time, its centre span of was one of the largest in the world. The lions at each of the abutments were carved in stone by the sculptor and installed in 1852. The bronze lions of

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

(commissioned in 1858 and installed in 1867) are similar in design to the Chain bridge lions. The bridge was given its current name in 1898. The bridge's cast-iron structure was updated and strengthened in 1914. In World War II, the bridge was blown up on 18 January 1945 by the retreating Germans during the

Siege of Budapest The siege of Budapest or battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budapes ...

, with only the towers remaining. It was rebuilt, and reopened in 1949. The inscription on each side of the bridge is to "Clark Adam", the bridge builder's name in the local

Eastern name order A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that ...

. A plaque on the Pest side of the river reads "To commemorate the only two surviving bridges designed by William Tierney Clark: The Széchenyi Chain Bridge over the Danube at Budapest and the suspension bridge over the Thames at Marlow, England." The bridge was closed for traffic between March 2021 and August 2023 for renovations;

In popular culture

In 2001 Hungarian stunt pilot Péter Besenyei flew upside down under the bridge, a manoeuvre that became a standard in Red Bull air races today. The bridge is featured in the films ''

Music Box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces Musical note, musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder (geometry), cylinder or disc to pluck ...

'', '' I Spy'', ''

Au Pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

'', '' Walking with the Enemy'' and '' Spy'', and is the setting of the climax in the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

blockbuster '' Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam''. The bridge appears in the opening shots of the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

'' Black Widow'' trailer, and season two of Baptiste. The bridge featured prominently in

Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...

's '' Cremaster 5'', serving as a reference to

Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

, and also appears in

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon (book series), Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), '' ...

's novel '' Origin'' and in Syfy channel's ''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American Science fiction film, science fiction thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, based on Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée''. It stars Bruce Willis, M ...

'' Season Two premiere episode in April 2016. It also appears at the beginning of the video for Katy Perry's song "

Firework Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

", and K-pop vocal duo Davichi's music video for the song "Cry Again". According to
Hungarian legend
the lions of Széchenyi Chain Bridge have no tongues. This legend is not true, the tongues are just not visible. The bridge has been depicted on the Hungarian 200 Forint coin since 2012.

References

External links

*
Hungarian Electronic Libraries' entry on Hungarian bridges
*
Buda Pesth Chain Bridge Archive Recording
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szechenyi Chain Bridge Belváros-Lipótváros Bridges in Budapest Bridges completed in 1849 Bridges over the Danube Chain bridges Suspension bridges in Hungary Széchenyi family Landmarks in Hungary Industrial archaeological sites in Hungary 1849 establishments in the Austrian Empire 19th-century architecture in Austria

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links