Mária Valéria bridge
Encyclopedia
Esztergom
Esztergom , is a city in northern Hungary, 46 km north-west of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom county, on the right bank of the river Danube, which forms the border with Slovakia there....
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and Štúrovo
Štúrovo
Štúrovo is a town in Slovakia, situated on the River Danube. Its population in 2005 was 11,172.The town is situated opposite the Hungarian city of Esztergom. The Mária Valéria bridge connects the settlements. The bridge was destroyed in 1944 during World War II, but reconstructed in...
in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, across the River Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. The bridge is some 500 metres in length. It is named after Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria
Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria
Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria was the fourth and last child of Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria and Elisabeth of Bavaria . Her given name was Marie Valerie Mathilde Amalie, but she was usually called Valerie.-Early life:Princess Marie Valerie was born at Ofen in Hungary...
, (1868–1924), the fourth child of Emperor
Emperor of Austria
The Emperor of Austria was a hereditary imperial title and position proclaimed in 1804 by the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and continually held by him and his heirs until the last emperor relinquished power in 1918. The emperors retained the title of...
Franz Josef, and Elisabeth
Elisabeth of Bavaria
Elisabeth of Austria was the spouse of Franz Joseph I, and therefore both Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She also held the titles of Queen of Bohemia and Croatia, among others...
.
The bridge was designed by János Feketeházy in 1893; he built several bridges on the Danube, including the Liberty bridge
Liberty Bridge (Budapest)
The Szabadság híd or Liberty Bridge in Budapest, Hungary, connects Buda and Pest across the River Danube. It is the third southernmost public road bridge in Budapest, located at the southern end of the City Centre....
in Budapest and the Elisabeth bridge between Komárno
Komárno
Komárno is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers. Komárno was formed from part of a historical town in Hungary situated on both banks of the Danube. Following World War I, the border of the newly created Czechoslovakia cut the historical, unified town in half,...
and Komárom
Komárom
Komárom is a city in Hungary on the right bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom county.The city of Komárom was formerly a separate suburban village called...
. Since its opening on 28 September 1895, the bridge has been destroyed twice. On 22 July 1919 the bridge was destroyed by a detonation at its first pier on its western side but the bridge was renovated in 1922 and completely reconstructed in 1926. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, retreating German troops blew up the bridge on 26 December 1944 along with other bridges near Esztergom.
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
meant that the bridge was not rebuilt until the new millennium, finally reopening on 11 October 2001. Half the costs of the project were covered by a 10 million Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
grant from the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, as part of the EU PHARE
Phare
The Phare programme is one of the three pre-accession instruments financed by the European Union to assist the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe in their preparations for joining the European Union....
project to assist applicant countries in their preparations to join the EU. The re-opening was marked with the issue of a Slovak stamp. The rebuilding of the bridge helped the local industry and gave a boost to the economy in the Ister-Granum Euroregion.
As a young man, the travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor
Patrick Leigh Fermor
Sir Patrick "Paddy" Michael Leigh Fermor, DSO, OBE was a British author, scholar and soldier, who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Cretan resistance during World War II. He was widely regarded as "Britain's greatest living travel writer", with books including his classic A Time of...
walked from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople in 1933/34. His book A Time of Gifts
A Time Of Gifts
A Time of Gifts is regarded by many critics as one of the classics of travel literature. Written by Patrick Leigh Fermor and published by John Murray in 1977 when the author was 62, it is an account of the first part of the author's journey on foot across Europe from the Hook of Holland to...
ends on the bridge and the second volume, Between the Woods and the Water, begins with him crossing into Esztergom.