Teufelsbrücke facts for kids
The Teufelsbrücke (which means "Devil's Bridge" in German) is a famous bridge in Switzerland. It crosses the Reuss river in the Uri area. This bridge is well-known for its interesting history and a cool legend about how it was built.
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The First Devil's Bridge
The valley called Schöllenenschlucht is a very important path through the mountains. It helps people reach the St.Gotthard alpine pass. However, this valley is very narrow, and the Reuss river flowing through it can be dangerous.
The first bridge here was made of wood and built around 1230. Because of the bad weather in the mountains, this wooden bridge often needed to be replaced.
Later, in the 1500s, a stronger stone bridge was built. But this stone bridge was badly damaged during the Napoleonic wars in 1799. No one could use the bridge because it was broken. This meant that trade with Italy had to go over a different mountain pass called Splügen.
The first bridge was completely destroyed during a big storm in 1888.
The Second Devil's Bridge
It took a long time to get permission to build a new bridge. Finally, in 1820, the order was given to start construction. It took 10 years to build this second bridge.
The Third Devil's Bridge
By the middle of the 1900s, the second bridge was not big enough for all the cars and trucks. So, a third bridge was built in 1958. This new bridge has two lanes, one for traffic going in each direction.
The Myth of the Bridge's Creation
Building the very first bridge in this difficult valley was extremely hard. According to a local myth, the devil himself helped build it!
The story says the devil agreed to build the bridge. But he had one condition: he wanted the soul of the first living thing to cross the finished bridge.
When the bridge was finally done, the clever people of the area tricked the devil. Instead of a person, they chased a goat across the bridge first! The devil was furious that he had been tricked. He decided to smash the bridge he had just built. He went to pick up a huge stone, which is now called the Teufelsstein (the devil's stone).
But on his way back to the bridge, he met an old woman. She was holding a cross. The devil was scared of the cross, so he dropped the huge stone and quickly ran away.
The devil's stone is very heavy, weighing about 2,000 tons! In 1977, it cost a lot of money (300,000 Swiss Francs) to move the stone 127 meters. It was moved to make space for a new motorway that goes over the St.Gotthard pass. Some people believe that moving this stone caused more accidents to happen on a certain part of the St. Gotthard road tunnel.
Images for kids
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Panoramic view of Schöllenen Gorge looking to the north (2007)
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Modern illustration of the Twärrenbrücke (Theodor Barth, 1919), showing it supported by chains.
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A detail from Johann Jakob Scheuchzer's map (1712), showing the holy man stopping the Devil from throwing the rock.
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The Schöllenenbahn railway bridge and tunnel.
See also
In Spanish: Garganta de Schöllenen para niños
