Ritter von Marx Bridge
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Ritter-von-Marx-Brücke

»A Masterpiece of Architecture« , In 1905 the Ritter-von-Marx-Brücker was inaugurated. At the opening ceremony on 7th September, the bridge was designated Georg-Speyer-Strasse, after the Frankfurt banker of the same name. It was subsequently renamed Schlossbrücke in 1936. Since 1955 the bridge carries the name of the man who spurred its construction and whose civic involvement contributed to the welfare of the city and the district: »Ritter-von-Marx-Brücke.«, It is generally considered to be the first European structure to span an entire city ward. By means of this bridge, the city centre, whose traffic had been severely hampered by the old city closing it in, was opened up; and a connection was created to new building sectors to the west of the area delineated by Tannenwaldallee, Dornholzhäuser Chaussee (today Saalburgstrasse) and Gluckensteinweg., Dr. Ernst Ritter von Marx , As Mayor of the city of (Bad) Homburg (1901-1905) and later Chairman of the Rural District Council of Upper Taunus (1905-1914 and 1918-1921), Dr. Ernst Ritter von Marx (1869-1944) paved the way for a future-oriented economic, traffic and building policy at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1935 he emigrated with his family to England, where he died in Oxford, in 1944. (Abb. 1), »Bridging Over the Old City« , Planning and preparation for this project, revolutionary by the standards of its day. had already begun in 1903. Right from the start, von Marx had secured himself the approval of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Herborn architect Ludwig Hofmann (1862-1933) was commissioned to design the bridge. Responsibility for the actual construction lay in the hands of the firm of Haller, which had been located in Homburg since 1776. The groundbreaking was held in 1904, and barely 11 months later, the completed structure was already able to be inaugurated. On 7th September 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II. traversed - by automobile. By this means, the bridge was opened to traffic. (Abb. 2/Abb. 3/Abb. 6), Restoration 1979 to 1980 , In 1975 a static survey showed that the 70-year-old structure was no longer safe. Shortly afterwards, the bridge was closed to heavy and transit traffic, including the many bus lines. During the following years, solutions regarding the future of the Ritter-von-Marx-Bridge were sought. The concept of a partial restoration with an extensive renewal of the supporting elements - while conforming to the original style - was decided on. After a construction period of 18 months, the work was finished on time on Laternenfest 1980. (Abb. 4/Abb. 5), ,