The Fehmarn Sound Bridge () connects the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Fehmarn Fehmarn (; ; from Old Wagrian Slavic languages, Slavic "''Fe More''", meaning "''In the Sea''") is an island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's third-largest island, afte ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

with the German mainland near

Großenbrode Großenbrode is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, opposite Fehmarn, approx. 8 km (5 mi) east of Heiligenhafen. Until 1963 it had a ferry connection to G ...

Description

The crossing includes the

network arch bridge A network arch bridge is a tied arch bridge with inclined hangers that cross each other at least twice. Structure The inclined hangers with multiple intersections make the network arch bridge act like a truss, with only axial compressible and ten ...

which carries road and rail over the Fehmarn

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

. Construction began in 1958 and the bridge was opened on April 30, 1963. The main span is above the sea, which allows shipping to pass through. The bridge is constructed of steel and is wide; are used by

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

for a single rail track, part of the

Lübeck–Puttgarden railway The Lübeck–Puttgarden railway is part of the international Vogelfluglinie (Bird Flight Line) between Germany and Denmark and connects Lübeck with Puttgarden on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Until t ...

, the rest for a pedestrian walkway and two-lane roadway. The two steel arches, from which the central span is suspended by cables, are braced with steel cross-beams. The arches are in length and reach above the main deck of the bridge. The bridge was designed by engineers G. Fischer, T. Jahnke and P. Stein from the firm ''Gutehoffnungshütte Sterkrade AG'',

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

-Sterkrade. Architect Gerd Lohmer helped with the architectural design. In 2023 there is a renovation of the bridge. For example, all steel wires are replaced.

Route and ferry changes

At the same time as the opening of the bridge, changes were made to ferry services. The previous ferry service to the island of Fehmarn was discontinued. The service from Großenbrode Quay, Germany to

Gedser Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Denmark, Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Sjælland, Sjælland region. It is the Extreme points of Denmark, southernmost town in Denmark, and also the southernmost poin ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, crossing both Fehmarn Sound and the

Fehmarn Belt Fehmarn Belt () (, former spelling ''Femer Bælt''; ) is a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Ferries ...

, was replaced with a new service from

Puttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland. Overvie ...

(on Fehmarn) to

Rødby Rødby is a town located on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 1,957 (1 January 2024).Vogelfluglinie The (German) or (Danish) is a transport corridor between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hamburg, Germany. As the Danish and German names (literally: '' bird flight line'') imply, the corridor is also an important bird migration route between arcti ...

(literally "bird flight line") from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Historic monument

The Fehmarn Sound bridge was declared a historic monument in 1999 by the State Office for Protection of Historical Monuments of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, and has since become a symbol of both Fehmarn and Schleswig-Holstein.

Cold War explosive charges

As the bridge was built during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, six explosive vaults were embedded below the approach road on the mainland side to be used in case of invasion. Their location is given away even today by six square asphalt patches. The vaults were connected to a control point about away in Heinrichsruh. Fehmarnsundbrücke.PNG, Fehmarn Sound bridge viewed from the west Fehmarnsundbruecke.JPG, Fehmarn Sound bridge viewed from land (from south) Fehmarnsundbruecke-sprengschaechte.jpg, Six asphalt patches over former explosive charge vaults Fehmarnsundbrücke 1963 Femernsundbroen Insel Fehmarn Sound Bridge 963 Meters Schleswig-Holstein Germany - Foto 2018 Wolfgang Pehlemann P1260910.jpg, Fehmarn Sound bridge seen from east Fehmarnsundbrücke in Längsachse 1963 - E47 B 207 Straßenbrücke Eisenbahnbrücke Fußweg Westseite - Foto 2018 © Wolfgang Pehlemann P1270023.jpg, Fehmarn sound bridge seen from south. In use as a road bridge, rail bridge and with bike path

Future

Fehmarn Belt Tunnel The Fehmarn Belt fixed link (, ) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, crossing the Fehmarn Belt in the Baltic Sea. It will provide ...

is under construction between Denmark and Germany, with four lanes (2+2) and double track railway. But according to the agreement between the two countries, the Fehmarn Sound bridge can remain as it is, one lane per direction and a single railway track. In December 2012 a study was published saying that the bridge could not cope with the increased railway and road traffic expected after the tunnel opening. In 2020 it was decided to build a four lane, double track railway

Fehmarn Sound Tunnel The Fehmarn Sound Tunnel is a planned tunnel between the German mainland and the Island of Fehmarn. It is projected to be built by 2028 to supplement and to relieve the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. It should cost €718 million. The tunnel will be near ...

to carry most of the increased traffic. However, the bridge will still remain in place for pedestrians and local road traffic.

References

* * Originally published in EISENBAHN-Kurier SPECIAL 53, Freiburg 1997. *

External links

Pictures of the construction and opening of the bridge

{{in lang, de Buildings and structures in Ostholstein Connections across the Baltic Sea Bridges completed in 1963 Through arch bridges Road-rail bridges Sterkrade Road bridges in Germany Network arch bridges Fehmarn 1963 establishments in West Germany