Solingen (dpa/lnw) - A historic steam locomotive on a historic building: The 125th birthday of Germany's highest railway bridge was celebrated at the weekend with an anniversary celebration. The steam train rides were a highlight. The "Müngsten Bridge" between Remscheid and Solingen is 107 meters high and 465 meters long. It is considered a masterpiece of steel construction at the end of the 19th century, a monument of national importance and Germany's answer to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
A new attempt is currently underway to put the structure on the Unesco World Heritage List - this time together with five other large arch bridges in Portugal, Italy and France.
The bridge was completed around the 100th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1897 as the "Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge" and later renamed. When the bridge was finished, it shortened the railway line between the two industrial cities enormously - from 44 to 8 kilometers. The steel structure is held together with 934,456 rivets.
