155 years ago in Strážnice, a unique bridge over the Morava River was opened

Prague - The unique bridge that was opened in the castle park in Strážnice on June 8, 1824, was the first iron chain bridge on the European mainland. The structure, built in two months, spanned one of the two arms of the Morava River that surrounds the local castle. The bridge, four meters wide and just under 30 meters long, stood approximately where today's homage to St. John Nepomuk is located behind the bridge across the Baťa Canal, but it later became inadequate and was dismantled after 35 years.

The author of the construction was 33-year-old engineer Bedřich Schnirch, who was inspired by the innovation of the chain bridge in Scotland. He did not know its plans; he relied only on available drawings and improved the entire structure by anchoring the bridge into masonry anchoring blocks. However, this - in combination with haste - ultimately caused problems during the load test, as the insufficiently hardened mortar gave way, and the bridge sagged. The workers had no choice but to dismantle the structure and reassemble it.

Thanks in part to the Strážnice bridge, Schnirch, who died in 1868 at the age of 76 in Vienna, became one of the most respected Austrian experts on this type of construction. He also left a significant mark in Prague, for which he designed the Emperor Francis I Bridge, which connected Národní třída and Újezd from 1841 to 1898. He built other bridges in Loket nad Ohří and in Podolí. The latter was dismantled in the 1960s and transported as a technical rarity to Stádlec, where it still stands today.