Fleischbrücke
The Fleisch Bridge is notable for several technical features that were advanced for its time. These include an unusual large width of 15.3 m, and a clear span of 27 m which made it the largest masonry bridge arch in Germany at the time of its construction. With a rise of only 4.2 m, the arch features a span-to-rise ratio of 6.4 to 1, giving the bridge an almost unprecedented flat profile.
This, however, came at the cost of high lateral thrusts even for a segmental arch bridge. This problem was solved by a particularly innovative construction of the abutments which were built onto 2000 wooden piles, 400 of which were rammed obliquely into the grounds. A very similar arrangement of the abutments had also been implemented slightly earlier at the Rialto bridge, leading to speculations about a technology transfer from Venice, with which Nuremberg shared close trade links. A recent in-depth research, however, stresses the originality of the Fleisch Bridge on grounds of technical differences between the two bridges.
The Fleisch Bridge has practically remained unchanged since the addition of a portal in 1599 and survived World War II almost unscathed. A Latin inscription at the portal reads: Omnia habent ortus suaque in crementa sed ecce quem cernis nunquam bos fuit hic Vitulus. ("All things have a beginning and grow, but the ox upon whom you now look was never a calf.")
References
- ^ Only the 1569 completed Ponte Santa Trinita in Florence which rested on novel elliptic arches had an even flatter profile.
- ^ Kaiser, Christiane: Die Fleischbrücke in Nürnberg (1596-1598), Cottbus, 2005, Dissertation, Vol. I, p. 245
Sources
- Kaiser, Christiane: Die Fleischbrücke in Nürnberg (1596-1598), Cottbus, 2005, Dissertation
- Von Stromer, Wolfgang: "Pegnitzbrücke Nürnberg (Fleischbrücke)", in: Steinbrücken in Deutschland, Beton-Verlag, 1988, pp. 162–167 ISBN 3-7640-0240-9
- Pechstein, Klaus: "Allerlei Visierungen und Abriss wegen der Fleischbrücken", in: Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, 1978, 72–89.