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All Switzerland Andermatt Teufelsbrucke

Teufelsbrucke

A breathtaking bridge that crosses a vast gorge over a river's torrents, and has a tale of a devil architect attached.

Andermatt, Switzerland

Added By
Allison Meier
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  Roland Zumbuehl/Wikimedia
  Roland Zumbuehl/Wikimedia
1934 aerial view of the Teufelsbrucke   Wikimedia
1824 painting by Peter Birmann of the bridge   Wikimedia
1833 painting of the building of the second bridge   Leihgabe der Bundesrepublik Deutschland/Wikimedia
  Wikimedia
Devil’s Rock   Roland Zumbühl/Wikimedia
  wurzeltod / Atlas Obscura User
  wurzeltod / Atlas Obscura User
Viewed from the Glacier Express   Charli3e / Atlas Obscura User
Viewed from the Glacier Express   Charli3e / Atlas Obscura User
Via Ferrata (above Devil’s Bridge)   gzhtub / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Crossing the Ruess River that cascades through the Schöllenen Gorge was once no easy task, and was often even fatal to those who tried to forge across the torrents. So in 1230 a wooden bridge was constructed, and while that is now long gone and two bridges have been built to take its place, these have all guarded the title of Teufelsbrücke, or Devil's Bridge.

Occult legends aside, crossing that 13th-century bridge was likely terrifying on its own as it shook several hundred feet over the water, or got terrifying close to the water when the river was full. The wooden bridge was heavily damaged in the Napoleonic Wars and later replaced in the 1820s, a structure that still stands alongside another more sturdy bridge built in the 1950s. All are rather frightening to drive over for their height in the Swiss mountains.

So where does the devil come in? Well, it's said that in the 13th century the villagers from nearby Andermatt found it to be an impossible task and enlisted the help of the devil. As it goes with getting a devil architect, he demanded the soul of the first to cross. The townspeople sent a scared goat over to outwit him. Enraged, the devil grabbed a massive stone and was about to destroy the bridge when an old woman with a cross stopped him and he dropped it. The stone is actually still around near Göschenen, although it had to be relocated for a rather huge sum of money in 1977 for a new highway.

More likely is that a bridge at such height over the raging river is just unsettling in itself. But for good measure, a couple of frolicking devils are painted on the tunnel. The rock painting next to the tunnel entrance depicts the devil and the billy goat from the legend. The work was created by the Swiss painter and poet Heinrich Danioth. Both the expressionist work and the motif were ahead of their time, and in 1950, the year it was created, the artist received a lot of criticism from the public for his depiction.

Related Tags

Devils Bridge Architectural Oddities Bridges Architecture

Community Contributors

Added By

Allison

Edited By

Kooni, wurzeltod, Charli3e, gzhtub

  • Kooni
  • wurzeltod
  • Charli3e
  • gzhtub

Published

June 24, 2013

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Sources
  • http://www.andermatt.ch/de/
  • http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/photos/the-world-s-top-10-bridges-1352701515-slideshow/travel-teufelsbr%C3%BCcke-switzerland-photo--211654875.html
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=MSVary9Nf2wC&dq=Teufelsbrucke+switzerland&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Teufelsbrucke
Andermatt, 6490
Switzerland
46.647359, 8.590232

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