Drusus Bridge

The bridge chapel in the land pier of the Drusus Bridge is probably the oldest preserved bridge chapel in Germany and the only underground one.

The bridge chapel in the Drusus Bridge, 2021. Unfortunately, we do not have a current photo of the interior of the chapel in the city archive, hence in this case from Wikipedia. Marion Halft: Early Romanesque bridge chapel under the Drusus Bridge, Bingen am Rhein. CC-BY SA 4.0. Carved from the slate rock of the right Nahe bank, it lies on the axis of the Nahe Bridge 4.50 meters below today's road level. A semicircular vault “in cleanly chiseled rubble stone masonry with archaically wide mortar joints” covers the space.

The indicated window openings of the approximately 3.8 x 3.8 m large chapel are today bricked up. Their existence could suggest that it was not enclosed by the pier in earlier times, but protruded from it or even stood outside the pier. The Darmstädter Zeitung reported in 1877 that a window once had “a tiny light inlet” that is now closed, and in further descriptions from the last century, there is mention of a light shaft.

Finally, the important connecting piece of a heavily frequented overland road, built in 989 by Archbishop Willigis, was made impassable multiple times for military tactical reasons and repeatedly restored.

During the great destruction of Bingen by French troops in 1689 in the Nine Years' War (Palatine War of Succession), the Drusus Bridge once again became a military victim. Due to lack of funds, it could only be temporarily repaired with wooden braces in 1699. Only in 1772 was the stone repair carried out, which lasted until 1945 when the Wehrmacht blew up one of the bridge arches to prevent the advance of American troops. Made temporarily passable by American pioneers, it was restored in 1951/52 and widened by 3 meters.

The bridge chapel once bordered directly on the cellar of the inn “Drusus Bridge”. With the demolition of the building in July 1972 and the subsequent expansion of the intersection at the Drusus Bridge, a new access with an ante-room was created. Since May 31, 1979, the bridge chapel has been accessible again through guided tours and open to everyone on “Open Monument Day”. 

Whether the bridge chapel is identical to the Bonifatius Chapel, as is suspected in some older documents, has not yet been proven.

One of the oldest stone bridges in Germany, with a bridge chapel.

Bridges have a long tradition in the estuary area of the Nahe. The first was built in the decade before Christ's birth. At that time, Drusus fortified the left bank of the Roman Empire by building fortifications and had a wooden bridge built over the Nahe. After its destruction in 70 AD, the first stone bridge followed, which fell victim to the Normans around 891. Only Archbishop Willigis built a new stone bridge over the Nahe more than a hundred years later.

A small early Romanesque bridge chapel was carved from the riverbank rock of the Nahe in the eastern bridge pier to entrust the bridge to the protection of the church. The key can be borrowed at the tourist information.

Destroyed by the French in 1689, it was rebuilt again in 1772. In March 1945, a special command blew up the bridge arch before the advancing Allied troops. Today, the Drusus Bridge once again shapes the cityscape of Bingen.