Ever wondered what secrets lie within a bridge’s name? Here, at the Afrabrücke, history whispers from every span. This bridge connects Hochzoll to Spickel-Herrenbach and the rest of Augsburg west of the Lech. But its story goes back much further than its modern concrete and steel suggest.
The first documented Lech bridge on this site appeared in 1030. Back then, it was a wooden structure called “obere bruggen.” It belonged to the Ulrich Monastery. The Lech River formed the historical border between Augsburg and ducal Bavaria.
Building and maintaining the bridge was expensive. So, a toll house was built on the Augsburg side. On the Bavarian side, a toll was collected for crossing into Hochzoll. This toll house gave the town of Hochzoll its name.
Over the centuries, the Lech bridge faced repeated destruction and reconstruction. In 1639, war caused it to burn. Rebuilt, it burned again in 1646 during the siege of Augsburg by the French and Swedes. Augsburg carpenters rebuilt the destroyed bridge in 1796 for French General Moreau. French troops burned it again the following year. It was rebuilt again in the years that followed. In 1800, Bavarian soldiers heavily damaged the bridge. It was repaired immediately. A complete bridge renewal followed just a few years later.
Until 1805/06, the toll right remained when it was integrated into the Kingdom of Bavaria. The toll building was demolished in 1835. The bridge gained the name “Afrabrücke” because the Benedictine Imperial Abbey of St. Ulrich and Afra held the toll rights.
Near the end of World War II, the bridge was barricaded with streetcars. This was to hinder the advancing US Army’s crossing of the Lech. Wehrmacht soldiers prepared to blow up the bridge. But the planned demolition never happened. After Augsburg’s surrender on April 28, 1945, US soldiers removed the streetcars.
The Afrabrücke you see today isn’t the original. The bridge was rebuilt with prestressed concrete after World War II. In 1990/91, the dilapidated bridge was again torn down and rebuilt. A plaque commemorates its construction in 1990/91 by Philipp Holzmann – Held & Francke Bau AG. However, it wasn’t until 1997 that it officially became the Afrabrücke.
In 1808, the old and important crossing over the Lech, almost 120 meters long, was rebuilt as a wooden frame. In 1834, a new frame construction was erected on river piers. These collapsed in 1878 due to undermining. A temporary wooden bridge was replaced in 1891 by an 80-meter-wide, pillar-less iron arch bridge. In 1928, it was rebuilt as a three-hinged reinforced concrete bridge. The historic structure was replaced in 1991 by a prestressed and reinforced concrete structure with a span of 82 meters.
So, as you cross the Afrabrücke, remember its long and turbulent past. From wooden bridge to modern concrete, it has witnessed centuries of Augsburg’s history.