Augustusbrücke (Augustus Bridge), Dresden

One of the most famous bridges north of the Alps, the Augustbrucke crosses the River Elbe to connect Dresden Neustadt on the right bank of the River to the historic part of Dresden on the left bank. The bridge was named after Elector Augustus the Strong and renamed Georgi Dimitrov Bridge when Dresden formed part of the German Democratic Republic.

The earliest record of a bridge that later became the Augustusbrucke was a wooden bridge in 1275. Later a stone bridge was constructed with 25 stone pillars in 1287. It was one of the longest bridges in Germany and connected major trade routes. The tolls collected at the customs house near the bridge was a major source of revenue for the Saxon Wettin rulers.

Augustus the Strong, who reigned during the golden age of Dresden, commissioned a new bridge because the old structure was unable to sustain the increased traffic that crossed the Elbe. The bridge was constructed by Council master mason, Johann Gottfried Fehre between 1727 and 1731. Architect Mathew Daniel Popplemann designed a curved structure, 402 meters long with 18 pillars. In 1845, the bridge collapsed because of the flooding of the Elbe and was constructed again by Wilhelm Kreis and Hermann Burdock.

Augustusbrucke suffered extensive damage during the 1945 Dresden bombings and was later lovingly restored to its former glory. Visitors can get a spectacular view of the River Elbe and both sides of Dresden while taking a stroll across the bridge.