page_title: Alte Brücke (Frankfurt)
section_title: Charlemagne statue
hierarchical_section_title: Alte Brücke (Frankfurt) / Structures on the Alte Brücke / Charlemagne statue
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Kopie der Skulptur Karl der Große, 2016 auf der Alten Brücke in Frankfurt am Main (Original im Historischen Museum).
context_page_description: Alte Brücke is a bridge in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is the oldest bridge over the lower course of the river Main, and until 1886 it was the only stone bridge crossing the river. From the Middle Ages until the year 1914, it connected the "Fahrgasse" in Frankfurt Altstadt with the "Brückenstraße" in Sachsenhausen. Since its first mention in official documents in 1222, the development of Frankfurt has been strongly influenced by the bridge. Over the centuries, Alte Brücke has been destroyed and reconstructed at least 18 times. With its 13 brick-built circular arches, the Sachsenhausen Bridge was one of the most prominent buildings of the city, but failing to meet the increasing demands of the modern road and ship traffic, it was demolished in 1914.
  The current Alte Brücke, sometimes called "Neue Alte Brücke", was inaugurated on 15 August 1926 by then-Lord-Mayor Ludwig Landmann. Two of its originally eight red sandstone-lined vaults were blown up by German soldiers on 26 March 1945. After an initial provisional reconstruction, the middle part of the bridge was replaced by a steel through truss bridge and placed in operation again on 15 September 1965.
context_section_description: On 23 August 1843, the thousandth commemoration day of the Verdun Treaty, the Städel Museum (city museum) donated a statue of Charlemagne to the city. The sculpture, made of red sandstone by sculptor Johann Nepomuk Zwerger, was deployed at the eastern middle pillar of the bridge, facing the city. In the progress of deconstructing the Alte Brücke in 1914, this statue was moved to the yard of the Historical Museum of Frankfurt. During the bombing of Frankfurt in World War II, the statue has been severely damaged; the head and the hands of the statue have been destroyed. In 1986, it was repositioned in front of the entrance of the historical museum in Römerberg, after sculptor Edwin Hüller had restored head and hands of the statue. In 2011, the museum in Römerberg was deconstructed to be re-built, and the sculpture was moved to a depot. During discussions in Frankfurt to extend and renovate the Alte Brücke, the citizens expressed the wish to re-situate the Charlemagne statue in its original place on the bridge. Because the financial situation of the city did not allow such a project at that time, a society named Brückenbauverein Frankfurt e.V. ("bridge building club of Frankfurt, registered society") was founded in 2006, under the lead of architect Christoph Mäckler. In the end of 2014, the city community council decided to leave the original in the new museum building in Römerberg, and to put up a copy on the Alte Brücke, exactly where the "Brickegickel" had been located from 1967 to 2013. On 1 October 2016, mayor Feldmann inaugurated the memorial.
caption: Statue of Charlemagne, 2016
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