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 with steel components, 233 piles
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 Obersee (the upper part of Lake Zürich) in Switzerland. On 6 April 2001, thee footbridge was opened. With a length of 841 metres (2,759 ft) it is 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. The water area between Rapperswil and Hurden ist narrowest and shallowest area of Lake Zurich. From Rapperswil railway station it is just a few minutes’ walk.

Earlier wooden bridges

Neolithic and Bronze Age bridges

Main article: Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn

Bridges or possibly wooden footpaths in the area between Rapperswil and Hurden were already built in pre-Bronze Age times. Many traces of Bronze Age timber pilings were discovered to the west of the dam.

Remains of a Bronze Age pile-dwelling island settlement were found at the Technikum site not far from the Heilig Hüsli. A hamlet had been built here in the second half of the 17th century B.C. The Technikum site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps.

Roman bridge

The Roman Empire under Empire Marcus Aurelius (161–180) then built a 6 metres (20 ft) wide wooden bridge across the lake.

Medieval bridge (1360–1878)

Before the new bridge was opened in 1360, ferries were traveling between Rapperswil and Hurden.

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. 564 oak piles were installed for the bridge.

The bridge was part of a pilgrimage route belonging to the Ways of St. James. It was used by pilgrims who wanted to get to the Einsiedeln Abbey or even to Santiago de Compostela.

The construction of the Seedamm, a modern stone and metal structure which includes two bridges, began in 1875. When it was finished in 1878, the wooden bridge was demolished. The Heilig Hüsli chapel was then the only remaining structure. It stood isolated on a rock in the lake and was not accessible to pedestrians until the new wooden bridge was opened in 2001.

• 
  The bridge between Hurden (bottom) and Rapperswil 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. Piling started on 9 August 2000. The bridge 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.

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) of solid oak and 61 tonnes (60 long tons; 67 short tons) of steel components have been used. The length of the 233 piles varies between 7 metres (23 ft) and 16 metres (52 ft), their diameter measuring between 36 centimetres (14 in) and 70 centimetres (28 in).

Nature reserve

The lake area near the Heilig Hüsli and the small islands between the timber piles and the dam are designated as a nature reserve. The bridge's filigree timber structure invites the hiker to observe the richly varied flora and fauna in the 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.

Cultural Heritage

The area of the prehistoric lake crossings was neighbored by two prehistoric pile dwelling settlements: Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld, and Rapperswil-Jona–Technikum.

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, vol. 96, Schwyz 2004, p. 11–32 (online at e-periodica.ch).
• Hans Rathgeb: Brücken über den See. Hrsg. von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fussgänger-Holzsteg Rapperswil-Hurden, Rapperswil 2001. ISBN 3-9522511-1-9