Remagen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remagen is a city in Germany in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate, district Ahrweiler. It is about a one hour's drive from Cologne (Köln), just south of Bonn, the former West-German capital. It is situated on the River Rhine, which is constantly busy with ships. There is a ferry across the Rhine from Remagen every 10-15 minutes in the summer. Remagen has many beautiful and well-maintained buildings, churches, castles, and monuments. It also has a sizeable pedestrian zone with plenty of shops.
Overlooking the west bank of the Rhine just north of the city centre is the Apollonariskirche. It has a great observation deck that is only open to parishioners on Sundays. Pedestrians reach the church via a dirt trail that passes a series of roadside monuments representing each of the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The church grounds contain an outdoor crypt and an abbey. Further down the river is one of the many castles along the River Rhine, perched even higher than the Apolloneriskirche.
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[edit] The Bridge at Remagen
The Ludendorff Bridge was originally built during the First World War as a means of moving troops and logistics west over the Rhine to reinforce the Western Front. The bridge was designed by Karl Wiener, an architect from Mannheim. It was 325 meters long, had a clearance of 14.80 meters above the normal water level of the Rhine, and its highest point measured 29.25 meters. The bridge carried two rail lines and a pedestrian walkway. During the Second World War, one rail line was planked over to allow vehicular traffic.
[edit] The capture of the bridge
The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen—the last standing span over the Rhine—was captured by American soldiers of the U.S. 9th Armored Division on 7 March, 1945, during Operation Lumberjack.
On 7 March, 1945, men of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, led by Lieutenant Karl H. Timmermann approached the bridge to find it still standing. From U.S. Airforce Oral History Interview K239.0512-1648 of Helmut A.Kuerschner by Dr. James C. Hasdorff : ..."in March 1945, the U.S. Army crossed the Rhine River at Remagen. That's the famous bridge which was intentionally not destroyed by the German military. As a matter of fact, as it has been documented, they disobeyed orders to destroy it because they knew it was senseless". The first soldier across the bridge was Sergeant Alex Drabik; Timmermann was the first officer across.
The capture of the bridge is referred to in U.S. histories as the "Miracle of Remagen". General Eisenhower stated that "the bridge is worth its weight in gold". A small number of U.S. formations were able to operate east of the Rhine in advance of the main crossings to the south under Patton and Bradley, and to the north under Montgomery (Operation Plunder.) The strategic importance of the bridge's capture has been debated by historians since its capture.[citation needed]
In the days immediately following the bridge's capture, the German High Command made desperate attempts to destroy the bridge by bombing and even employing frogmen. Hitler ordered "flying" courts-martial which condemned five officers to death, one in absentia, and four of whom were executed in the Westerwald Forest. Attempts were made to repair the damage to the bridge, and pontoon bridges were laid alongside. Despite the best efforts of U.S. engineers, on 17 March, 1945 the bridge collapsed, killing twenty-eight American soldiers. However, due to the pontoon bridges, the loss of the bridge was neither tactically nor strategically significant.
[edit] Notable People
American soldier Harry F. Weyher was the first sergeant of a secret 120-member elite intelligence unit, which operated behind enemy lines. In 1945, while Allied forces were attempting to seize the Arnhem bridge, Weyher entered the deserted town of Remagen and discovered a bridge over the Rhine that had not been destroyed by German troops. "Nine weeks after the initial breakthrough at the Remagen bridge, the German army surrendered," wrote Baker, Weyher's roomate at Harvard Law School.
[edit] The bridge in the media
The best-known work on the battle is 1957's The Bridge at Remagen by the American author Ken Hechler.
In 1968 David L. Wolper produced an American motion picture, "The Bridge at Remagen". The film depicted actual historical background, but was fictional in all other aspects.
In addition, a large number of books and articles in newspapers and magazines on the subject of the bridge have been published.
In the 1946 Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life, there is a brief battle scene with narration that "Marty helped capture the Remagen bridge."
In the video game Call of Duty: Finest Hour the player helps to liberate the Ludendorff Bridge in one level. Remagen also appears in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (dm3).
[edit] Memorial
Hans Peter Kürten, at that time Mayor of Remagen, had long considered the idea of constructing a memorial. The negotiations with the German Federal Railway alone lasted seven years before the city could finally acquire the former railroad property. Announcements sent to government officials concerning the intended preservation of the bridge towers and the construction of a Memorial to Peace stirred no interest.
In the summer of 1976, it was necessary to remove the still intact bridge support pilings in the river. The Mayor had the stones deposited on the Remagen river bank, with the idea in mind of selling small pieces of the bridge stones enclosed in synthetic resin and containing a certificate ot authenticity.
On 7 March, 1978, he went public with his idea and achieved such an unexpected degree of success, that he had realised more than 100,000 DM (around 50,000 EUR) in sales profits.
There has not been another bridge built across the Rhine here, mainly due to opposition from the people of Remagen (and surrounding areas), contending that a bridge located at this point along the Rhine would spoil the view.
