Waldschlösschen Bridge
Encyclopedia
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. The bridge is intended to remedy inner-city traffic congestion. Its construction is highly controversial, as the Dresden Elbe Valley
Dresden Elbe Valley
The Dresden Elbe Valley is a former World Heritage Site in Dresden, Germany. The valley, extending for some 20 kilometres and passingthrough the Dresden Basin and the city of Dresden, is one of two cultural landscapes along the Central European river Elbe...
had been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and UNESCO expressed strong concerns against the bridge, noting its intent to withdraw the World Heritage title if the bridge is built. As a result of this project, the Dresden Elbe Valley was listed in 2006 as an "Endangered World Heritage Site" (one of two in Europe, the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo being the other one), and in 2009 became the second World Heritage Site to be de-listed.
Although plans to build a bridge at this location have existed for a century, in 1996, in line with a revised traffic model, the Dresden City Council agreed to the project. After almost eight years of preparation for the process of obtaining planning permission, a public referendum on whether to build the bridge was held in 2005. This resulted in a majority voting for the bridge, but the City Council stopped the plans in April 2006 following the UNESCO complaint. The Free State of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
complained, and in March 2007, at a legal hearing, the Sächsisches Oberverwaltungsgericht (the state administrative high court) ruled in favour of the planned bridge. The ruling was described by Vice President of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Thierse
Wolfgang Thierse
Wolfgang Thierse is a German politician .- Early years in the GDR :Thierse was born in Breslau . He is a Roman Catholic and grew up in East Germany. After his A-levels he first worked as a typesetter in Weimar...
as "a sad day for Germany".
Construction stalled after an administrative court ruled in August 2007 that steps needed to be taken to ensure that the endangered lesser horseshoe bat
Lesser horseshoe bat
The Lesser Horseshoe Bat , is a type of European bat related to but smaller than its cousin, the Greater Horseshoe Bat...
was protected; it is possible that only around 650 remain in Germany, with some living near the site of the proposed bridge. German courts ruled in November 2007 that work could resume.
On June 25, 2009 the World Heritage Commission of UNESCO voted to remove the status of world heritage site from the Dresden Elbe Valley
Dresden Elbe Valley
The Dresden Elbe Valley is a former World Heritage Site in Dresden, Germany. The valley, extending for some 20 kilometres and passingthrough the Dresden Basin and the city of Dresden, is one of two cultural landscapes along the Central European river Elbe...
because of the construction of the Waldschlösschenbrücke. It is the only time a European site has ever been delisted, and only the second in the world.
The bridge was designed by ESKR: Eisenloffel and Sattler (engineers) and Kolb and Ripke (architects) who won the open competition in 1997.
See also
- Endangered World Heritage