Old Main Bridge – Old Town approach

This is the Old Town approach to the Old Main Bridge, and you are standing at the foot of its long ramp. Long before any bridge stood here, people forded the Main at this exact spot, later by boat and ferry. Around the year 1120 a master builder named Enzelin raised the first stone bridge, and he was the cathedral's master builder too.

That first bridge ranks among the oldest large stone bridges in Germany, and a piece of it survives here. What survives lies exactly where you stand: the ramp underfoot and the first arch, beneath which the Mainkai runs along the bank. The arch hangs low over the quay, and vans and lorries wedge themselves beneath it again and again. The Würzburg fire brigade even keeps especially low turntable ladder trucks that still fit through.

The inns at both ends serve wine that people drink outside, right on the bridge. Würzburg calls this the Brückenschoppen, simply the bridge glass. Turn around once before you cross, and your gaze runs the length of Domstraße straight onto the façade of Kiliansdom cathedral.