Wittelsbacherbrücke

Wittelsbach Bridge Wittelsbacherbrücke
Coordinates	48.12270°N 11.56772°E / 48.12270; 11.56772
Crosses	Isar River
Characteristics
Total length	140m
History
Architect	Theodor Fischer
Engineering design by	Saget & Woerner
Opened	1874
Rebuilt	1904
Location

Wittelsbacherbrücke is an arched bridge in Munich, Germany, crossing the river Isar and connecting the districts of Isarvorstadt and Au. It is famous for its equestrian statue of Duke Otto I.

History

Equestrian statue of Otto I by Georg Wrba

The bridge was initially built as a wooden bridge in 1874 and named after the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty.^[1] In 1904, the bridge was re-built out of concrete and steel.^[2]

The bridge is famous for its sculpture of Duke Otto I, added in 1904. The sculpture was designed by Theodor Fischer, who also designed ornaments on other Munich bridges such as the Prinzregeten.^[3][4]

Munich's homeless population frequently camp underneath the bridge.^[5] Police cleared a homeless camp from underneath the bridge in November 2018.^[6]

The bridge was featured in the Euro 2020 football tournament logo, representing the city of Munich.^[7]

References

1. "Euro 2020 Media Kit" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
2. "The Most Beautiful Bridges of Munich".
3. Whitney, Charles S. (2003). Bridges of the World: Their Design and Construction. p. 44.
4. Über Land und Meer (in German). Deutsche Verlags-austalt. 1907. pp. 864–866.
5. "Hier sind Münchens soziale Brennpunkte" (in German). tz.de.
6. "Wie die Räumung der Münchner Obdachlosenlager lief - Und was die Beteiligten sagen" (in German). tz.de. 30 November 2018.
7. "DFB und UEFA stellen Münchner EM-Logo vor" (in German). 27 October 2016.