Bruggen and its bridges at the gates of St. Gallen - Sittertal valley
Overview
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Hint
Intro
Concentrated within a small area around Bruggen, now a district of the city of St. Gallen, is a unique landscape featuring almost 20 bridges dating from between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Varying greatly in height, span and design, these include diverse structures – from ancient timber bridges in the valley bottom to tall steel and concrete bridges whose construction won international acclaim.
Bruggen sits high above the Sittertal valley. Craggy and, for the most part, forested slopes fall steeply to the river in three directions. The locality is known to have been an important bridgehead as early as the thirteenth century and provides interesting testimony to nineteenth century industrial history. Factories and their associated uniform rows of worker housing stand alongside village buildings.
As of the late Middle Ages, the water power provided by the River Sitter was intensively used – e.g. by paper mills, spinning mills, embroidery factories and dye works. From the late nineteenth century onwards, the river was also harnessed to generate electricity. As industry and commerce grew and road and rail traffic increased, the bridges assumed even greater importance.
Particularly impressive is the 100-metre high, 365-metre long Sitter Viaduct of the Südostbahn railway. On its completion in 1910, the viaduct – with its distinctive “fish-belly” truss – caused a sensation throughout Europe. With its massive steel truss and elegant piers, the single-track bridge is clad in local stone. It is Switzerland's tallest rail bridge and the tallest standard-gauge rail bridge in Europe. And worlds apart from the nearby, 1780-built covered wooden bridge over the River Urnäsch: this is most notable for its historic inscriptions, which have earned it the nickname "speaking bridge".
Trip tip
The St. Galler Brückenweg trail, a roughly two-hour hike, allows visitors to discover a total of 18 viaducts, hanging walkways, timber and concrete bridges. All are provided with information panels giving details of the design, construction year and history. Of equal interest are those vantage points on the trail offering views of the bridges and viaducts from different heights.
ISOS
ISOS is the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance. The inventory is maintained by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) and lists the most significant settlements in Switzerland. Today, some 1,200 places are included in the inventory, from hamlets right through to cities. The inventory provides information on the development and identity of the settlements listed in it, thereby contributing to the preservation of architectural diversity in Switzerland and promoting both sustainable planning and a high-quality Baukultur.
