Picture the scene: it’s 1841. The Kolonnenbrücke’s story began then. This bridge stands in Berlin-Schöneberg. It carries the Kolonnen-/Dudenstraße over train lines.
The Kolonnenbrücke marks the eastern edge of the Rote Insel. The Rote Insel means Red Island. It is a neighborhood enclosed by railway tracks.
Let’s talk about names. The Kolonnenbrücke gets its name from marching columns. The nearby Tempelhofer Feld was used for military parades. Infantry and artillery columns marched here. These columns gave the street and bridge their name. An old plan from 1909 even spells it “Colonnenbrücke”.
The first Kolonnenbrücke was built in 1841. It was part of the Anhalter Bahn project. This first bridge was wide. It had to accommodate those marching columns. The Anhalter Bahn was a private railway line. It ran from Anhalter Bahnhof southwards. It connected to the Saxon Railway.
The Anhalter Bahn touched Schöneberg’s fields to the east. By 1870, the Ringbahn encircled the area. This turned the area into an island.
The railway’s route south of Berlin was tricky. Military drill grounds were there. These couldn’t be cut through. After negotiations, the railway built a bridge. This bridge had to be at the Colonnenweg.
Now, fast forward to 1874. The Berlin-Dresden railway was being built. It ran next to the Anhalter Bahn. The original Kolonnenbrücke was torn down. A wooden bridge replaced it. This wooden bridge was 100 meters long. Despite heavy traffic, it lasted until 1943. World War II destroyed it.
The Kolonnenbrücke we see today isn’t the original. It is a replacement from 1953 to 1954. During the 1950s, a temporary walkway existed. It was for pedestrians and cyclists. People called it the “Kolonnensteig”.
Look to the southeast. There begins the Geschichtsparcours Papestraße. It is now called Geschichtsquartier Südkreuz. You will see listed barracks of railway regiments there.
Consider the Schwerbelastungskörper near the bridge. It is a heavy load-bearing body. It shows the Nazi plans to transform Berlin. They wanted to make it the world capital “Germania”.
That red building you see is important too. It is the German Institute for Building Technology. In German it is called Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik. The Kolonnenbrücke is more than just a bridge. It’s a layered story of Berlin’s past.