The Göltzsch Viaduct (German: ''Göltzschtalbrücke'', ) is a railway bridge in Germany. It is the largest brick-built bridge in the world, and for a time it was the tallest railway bridge in the world. It spans the valley of the Göltzsch River between the Reichenbach im Vogtland district of Mylau and the adjacent town of

Netzschkau Netzschkau () is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ...

in the German Free State of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. It was built between 1846 and 1851 as part of the railway between Saxony (

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Zwickau, and

Plauen Plauen (; ; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany with a population of around 65,000. It is Saxony's 5th most populated city after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest cit ...

) and

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

( Hof and

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

). It is currently part of the Leipzig–Hof line, near the Netzschkau station. About south, the smaller

Elster Viaduct The Elster Viaduct () is a railway bridge in the German state of Saxony. It carries the Leipzig–Hof railway, Leipzig–Hof line near Pöhl, Jocketa over the valley of the White Elster. After the Göltzsch Viaduct (''Göltzschtalbrücke'') it is ...

was built for the same line and is quite similar to the Göltzsch Viaduct. Göltzsch Viaduct is also the name of a much smaller viaduct built in 1938 where

Bundesautobahn 72 is a motorway in Germany. The construction of the autobahn started in the 1930s, but was halted by the outbreak of World War II. Due to the division of Germany, a part of the autobahn lay in ruins until after German reunification. Exit list ...

crosses the Göltzsch River. It sits about 10 km (6 mi) due southeast near the village of Weissensand. Göltzsch Viaduct (previously Mylau Central Station) was also the name of a terminus opened in 1895 on the Reichenbach–Göltzsch Viaduct railway in the Göltzsch valley below the railway bridge. From here, trains departed to the central station of Reichenbach im Vogtland and to Lengenfeld.

History and construction

One of the greatest challenges in constructing a railway between Saxony and Bavaria was how to bridge the Göltzsch valley. Hoping to find a financially feasible construction plan, the Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company announced a contest on 27 January 1845 in all major German magazines with prize money of 1000

Thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

s. However, none of the 81 submissions could prove by means of

structural analysis Structural analysis is a branch of solid mechanics which uses simplified models for solids like bars, beams and shells for engineering decision making. Its main objective is to determine the effect of loads on physical structures and their c ...

that it would be able to withstand the stresses of rail traffic on the bridge. The prize money was eventually divided among four contestants, but none of their designs were actually realized. The chairman of the jury, professor Johann Andreas Schubert subsequently designed a bridge himself, making use of his recently attained knowledge of structural analysis, and letting himself be inspired by the submitted designs and the

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

in Leubnitz (Werdau), which was finished in the summer of 1845, making it the first bridge in the world to be subjected to a full structural analysis. It was planned to build the bridge mainly out of

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s, at the time a highly unusual choice, because of the abundance of

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

in the vicinity, which allowed for rapid and cost-efficient production of bricks.

Granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

was to be used only for certain crucial segments. The first stone was laid on 31 May 1846. The plans were revised just once after construction began, when certain technical difficulties arose. For instance, the foundation on which the bridge was to be built turned out to be less firm than previously assumed. Chief engineer Robert Wilke solved this by replacing the arches in the middle with one great central arch, which only added to the impressiveness of this edifice. The Göltzsch Viaduct was an extraordinarily large endeavor for its time. Each day, the nearly 20 brickyards along the railway line would produce 50,000 bricks with the unusual dimensions of . The scaffolding was custom-made for each arch, totalling 23,000 tree trunks,Wilfried Rettig: ''Die Eisenbahnen im Vogtland – Band 2: Neben- und Schmalspurbahnen, Bahnanlagen, Unfälle und Anekdoten'' (The railways in Vogtland, Vol. 2: Branch lines, narrow gauge railways, railway components, accidents, and anecdotes), EK-Verlag, 2002, although other sources even speak of 230,000 trunks. In total, 1,736 construction workers built the bridge, with 31 on-site fatalities. When the bridge was completed and inaugurated on 15 July 1851, it was world's tallest railway bridge. Today, it still holds the record for largest brick bridge in the world.Title for Göltzsch Viaduct
on n-tv.de

Key people

* Professor Johann Andreas Schubert (1808–1870) – Chairman of the jury, architect, structural analyst * Chief engineer Robert Wilke (1804–1889) – Construction planner and chief superintendent * Engineer Ferdinand Dost (1810–1888) – Superintendent *

Pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

and

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Heinrich Carl – Mortar composition

Recent history

A museum in the nearby Mylau Castle opened in 1883 that has dedicated a room to the Göltzsch Viaduct, that among others includes a scale model of the scaffolding, copies of the original building plans, a three-dimensional height map of the region, and photographs and paintings made during the construction of the bridge. In 1930, a top layer of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

with a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

allowed the railway track to become wider. During the latter days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

intended to blow up the bridge with explosives. This plan was never executed. Between 1955 and 1958, the

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

was completely restored. It would take until 1977 for all work, including smaller jobs such as the placement of steel cover plates, to be completed. The Göltzsch Viaduct is part of the so-called

Saxon-Franconian trunk line Saxon-Franconian trunk line () is a modern term for a double-track railway route between the German cities of Dresden and Nuremberg. It is 390 kilometres long and currently electrified from Dresden to Hof, Bavaria, Hof. The concept of the Saxony, ...

(''Sachsen-Franken-Magistrale''), which was restored from 1997 through to 2000. This allows tilting trains to use this trajectory, which can reach speeds of up to even on curved tracks. Around the bridge, many walking paths allow a good impression of the actual magnitude of this masterpiece of engineering. It is also possible to see the bridge and its surroundings from an altitude of with a helium balloon situated near the bridge. The bridge is infamous for its reputation as a suicide bridge, as many have taken their lives by plunging off the bridge over the past 150 years. In August 2001, three teenagers from Reichenbach im Vogtland jumped off. The 2002

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''Ein Tag mit Folgen: Teuflische Spiele'' (A Day with Consequences: Diabolical Games) pictures the lives of the families and friends who stayed behind, and their attempts to get to terms with the events. After eight suicides in just eight months in 2002, the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

increased supervision. Between 2006 and 2008,

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 ...

invested 2.2 million

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

in a new elevator system for maintenance work on the bridge. In June 2009, the German engineers' guild declared the Göltzsch Viaduct along with the Fernsehturm Stuttgart as historical milestone of engineering. This title was previously awarded in 2007 to the Niederfinow boat lift.wahrzeichen.ingenieurbaukunst.de
From mid-2010 to early 2012, only one track could be used at one time for

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, due to the

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

of the track between Reichenbach im Vogtland and Hof. The top of the bridge was replaced by

, which supports the 22 masts that carry the

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

.DB Mobility Logistics AG (Hrsg.)
''Startschuss für Elektrifizierung der Strecke Reichenbach–Hof: Bauarbeiten beginnen am 10. Juli 2010''
(Starting signal for the electrification of the line Reichenbach-Hof: Construction begins on 10 July 2010). Press release dated 1 July 2010.

References

Notes

Books

External links

*
Göltzsch Viaduct on bridge-info.org
*
www.goeltzschtalbruecke.de
Privately held Web site with photos and information on the Göltzsch Viaduct. {{DEFAULTSORT:Goltzsch Viaduct Bridges completed in 1851 Railway bridges in Germany Arch bridges in Germany Stone bridges in Germany Buildings and structures in Vogtlandkreis Transport in Saxony Vogtland Viaducts in Germany 1851 establishments in the German Confederation Brick bridges