Moltke Bridge is a bridge over the

Spree River Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * Spree (film), ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * Spree ( ...

in Berlin, Germany. Completed in 1891, it connects Alt-Moabit near the main railway station on the north bank to Willy-Brandt-Straße and the Chancellery on the south bank. The bridge is named after Field Marshal

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Helmuth is both a masculine German given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name; *Helmuth Theodor Bossert (1889–1961), German art historian, philologist and archaeologist *Helmuth Duckadam (born 1959), Romanian forme ...

(1800–1891), chief of staff of the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

for thirty years. Moltke died just before the bridge's completion and it was inaugurated by his funeral cortege. The bridge has three crossed arches spanning the Spree made from red Main sandstone, decorated with statues of

Johannes Boese Johannes Boese (27 December 1856, Ostrog (near Ratibor) - 20 April 1917, Berlin), also spelled Böse, was a German sculptor and art professor. Life and work Boese was originally trained as a wood carver, then attended the vocational school i ...

, Carl Piper and Carl Begas.

History

Construction started in 1888 and was completed in 1891. The bridge saw heavy fighting during the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

in April 1945 at the end of World War II. German defenders, about 5000 members of the SS and Volksturm, barricaded the bridge at both ends and wired it for demolition. On 28 April, units of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army, commanded by Major-General S.N. Perevertkin, fought their way down Alt-Moabit towards the bridge. Their goal was the capture of the German Reichstag, only 600 metres (about 660 yards) from the bridge. At dusk, the Soviets assaulted the bridge. The detonation charges damaged the bridge, with a section falling into the Spree, but enough stood for men and vehicles to cross. By midnight, the Soviet 150th and 171st rifle divisions had secured the bridgehead against any counterattack the Germans could muster.

Beevor Beevor as a surname may refer to: * Antony Beevor (born 1946), British historian *Charles Edward Beevor (1854–1908), English neurologist and anatomist ** Beevor's axiom, the idea that the brain does not know muscles, only movements ** Beevor's si ...

, pp. 340, 347–349. From here they moved on the Reichstag, which they captured on 2 May. Though damaged, the bridge was one of the few to survive the war and looks similar to the original construction, though it was repaired and strengthened to take the weight of modern traffic.

References

;Sources * Read, Anthony & Fisher, David, ''"The Fall of Berlin"'', W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1992, * Beevor, Antony ''"Berlin: The Downfall 1945"'', Viking-Penguin Books, 2002,

External links

* {{Bridges of Berlin 1891 establishments in Germany Bridges completed in 1891 Bridges in Berlin Buildings and structures in Mitte