Dombrücke

The Dombrücke (Cathedral Bridge) was Cologne's first permanent railway and road bridge over the Rhine and the direct predecessor of today's Hohenzollern Bridge. It opened in 1859 together with Cologne's first central station.

At a glance

• Opened: 1859
• Demolished: from 1911, replaced by the Hohenzollern Bridge
• Location: on the central axis of the cathedral (today the southern part of the Hohenzollern Bridge)
• Nickname: the "mousetrap" (Kölsch: "Muusfall")

The "permanent bridge"

After the Roman bridge of the 4th century, the Dombrücke was the first permanent Rhine crossing between Basel and the Netherlands – hence also called the "permanent bridge". Its close mesh of diagonal struts and lockable iron gates resembled a cage, giving rise to the nickname "mousetrap". With the rebuilding of the main station it could no longer cope with the growing traffic and, after some 50 years, gave way to the Hohenzollern Bridge.

Note

The Dombrücke no longer exists. We keep the entry for the city's history; in its place today stands the Hohenzollern Bridge.