Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden

Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden
The bridge as seen from Rapperswil
Coordinates	47°13′21″N 8°48′54″E
Carries	Rapperswil and Hurden
Locale	Rapperswil and Hurden
Characteristics
Material	Solid oak (415 cubic metres (14,700 cu ft)) with steel components weighting (61 tonnes (60 long tons; 67 short tons) in all, 233 piles 7–16 metres (52 ft) long and diameter 36–(70 centimetres (28 in)
Total length	841 metres (2,759 ft)
Width	2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in)
Height	1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in)
History
Opened	6 April 2001
Location

Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the upper Lake Zürich (Obersee) in Switzerland. On 6 April 2001, the footbridge was opened, being the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland.

Geography

The pedestrian bridge is located next to the so-called Seedamm. Like the Seedamm it crosses the Obersee part of Lake Zurich, connecting Rapperswil in the canton of St. Gallen and Hurden in the canton of Schwyz. From Rapperswil railway station it is just a few minutes’ walk, starting right next to the Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil. Its filigree timber structure invites the hiker to observe the richly varied flora and fauna in the nature reserve situated around the small islands neighboring the so-called Heilig Hüsli.

Earlier wooden bridges

The prehistoric timber piles discovered to the west of the Seedamm date back to 1523 BC. The island settlement Technikum is a prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlement which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps. The first wooden footbridge led across Lake Zürich, followed by several reconstructions at least until the late 2nd century AD when the Roman Empire built a 6 metres (20 ft) wide wooden bridge. Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a 'new' wooden bridge across the lake that was used until 1878.

Neolithic and Roman bridges between the lake shores

Main article: Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn

The prehistoric timber pilings discovered to the west of the dam date back to 1523 BC. Situated not far from the Heilig Hüsli, a lakeside settlement was discovered, where a hamlet had been built around 1650 to 1500 BC on a small island. The first wooden footbridge across the lake was built and rebuilt through at least the late 2nd century AD. The Roman Empire under Empire Marcus Aurelius (161–180) then built a 6 metres (20 ft) wide wooden bridge across the lake. At the present village of Kempraten, the Roman Vicus Centum Prata, on Kempratnerbucht, there was a Roman transshipment harbor for goods transported on Roman highways towards Vitudurum, passing the Irgenhausen Castle, on the wooden bridge and on the waterway Zürich–Walensee between the Roman heartland and the northwestern Roman provinces.

Medieval bridge (1358–1878)

Historians mention a 10th-century ferry station presumably at the so-called Einsiedlerhaus in Rapperswil—and in 981 AD, the vineyard on the Lindenhof hill as well—between Kempraten on the lake shore, Lützelau and Ufenau islands, and presumably present Hurden. This ferry allowed pilgrims going to Einsiedeln to cross the lake before the prehistoric bridge at the Seedamm isthmus was re-built. By 1358, ferry services between Rapperswil and Hurden are mentioned.

Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a 'new' wooden bridge across the lake; this bridge was used until 1878. It was approximately 1,450 metres (4,760 ft) long and 4 metres (13 ft) wide; 546 oak pilings were installed for the bridge. A small wooden bridge from Ufenau island to Hurden was mentioned around 1430, the so-called Kilchweg in die Uffnow (literally: path to the church on Ufnau island).

In 1873, the Swiss federal parliament approved the construction of the Seedamm's stone dam and the southeastern and southwestern bridges. Construction began in 1875 and finished in 1878, in the same year that the wooden bridge from the Middle Ages was retired.

• 
  The medieval bridge on a map by Jos Murer (1566)
• 
  The wooden bridge and Heilig Hüsli on a steel engraving (1865), Rapperswil in the background

The new bridge (2001)

The wooden bridge, Heilig Hüsli (left), Rapperswil and Rapperswil Castle in the background

As seen from nearby Hurden

The wooden bridge as seen from nearby Seedamm, Wägital in the background

On 6 April 2001 the new wooden footbridge was opened alongside the Seedamm. It was built within nine months in quite the same place as the original neolithic and medieval bridges that linked Rapperswil with the nearby bridge chapel (Heilig Hüsli), which was built in 1551. This connection has been part of old pilgrimage routes for centuries, the so-called Jakobsweg to the Einsiedeln Abbey. The old pilgrimage way leads from Wattwil over the Ricken pass to Schmerikon on to Lachen and along the left bank of the lake to Pfäffikon. Another route leads from Schmerikon along the lake to Rapperswil and then over the wooden bridge respectively from Constance over the Hörnli mountain through Zürcher Oberland via Rapperswil and the wooden bridge to St. Meinrad pass (Etzel mountain) and heads to Einsiedeln.

The new wooden bridge opened in 2001 is significant internationally and historically. As mentioned this narrowest part of the Lake Zürich was already bridged in pre-Bronze Age times. The Middle Ages wooden bridge, with loose planks, was built from 1358 to 1360, while the last one was demolished in 1878 when the Seedamm was built. The bridge has a length of 841 metres (2,759 ft), is 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) wide, and its path is 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above mean water level (406 metres (1,332 ft). 415 cubic metres (14,700 cu ft) solid Oak and 61 tonnes (60 long tons; 67 short tons) steel components have been used, and 233 piles, each 7–16 metres (52 ft) long, diameter 36–70 centimetres (28 in). Piling started on 9 August 2000, the bridge was officially opened on 6 April 2001.

Nature reserve

The lake and the small islands between the timber piles and the dam are designated as a nature reserve. Together with an artificial island made of gravel, they form one of the most important waterfowl breeding areas. For this reason, fishing from the wooden bridge is prohibited, as is swimming and mooring boats in the area.

After the Seedamm was built in 1878, the Heilig Hüsli chapel was the only remaining structure of the medieval wooden bridge. It stood isolated in the lake and was not accessible to visitors until the new wooden bridge was opened in 2001.

Cultural Heritage

Located on Obersee lakeshore at the Seedamm isthmus between the Zürichsee and the Obersee lake area, the area was in close vicinity to the Prehistoric lake crossings, neighbored by four Prehistoric pile dwelling settlements: Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn, Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld, Seegubel and Rapperswil-Jona–Technikum. Because the lake has grown in size over time, the original piles are now around 4 metres (13 ft) to 7 metres (23 ft) under the water level of 406 metres (1,332 ft).

As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, the settlements are also listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as Class objects of national importance.

See also

• Prehistoric pile dwellings around Zürichsee

Literature

• Beat Eberschweiler: Ur- und frühgeschichtliche Verkehrswege über den Zürichsee: Erste Ergebnisse aus den Taucharchäologischen Untersuchungen beim Seedamm. In: Mitteilungen des Historischen Vereins des Kantons Schwyz, Ausgabe 96, Schwyz 2004.
• Hans Rathgeb: Brücken über den See. Hrsg. von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fussgänger-Holzsteg Rapperswil-Hurden, Rapperswil 2001. ISBN 3-9522511-1-9
• Dieter Trachsler: Pilgerwege der Schweiz: Jakobsweg; Schwabenweg: Konstanz – Einsiedeln, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Zürcher Oberlandes. Hrsg. Zürcher Wanderwegen (ZAW), 2. Auflage, Wetzikon 2000.

External links

• Europäischer Fernwanderweg E1 durch die Schweiz on wandersite.ch (in German)