Remagen Checking out the Bridge 15 December 2024

We saved visiting the Bridge of Remagen ruin for the last day. I remember hearing my father talk about this and visiting it when I was a teenager. It felt a bit surreal going back again. It felt like seeing it for the fourth or fifth time rather than the second time, because I had heard my father’s story so many times and sat with him watching the movie about this event.

The town was quiet with not lots of car traffic but lots of walkers and cyclists. As we walked towards the bridge we noticed a cross on the hill on the other side of the river. There were two flags flying we think German and American but it was too far to say for sure. Maybe it was a cemetery. The peace museum is closed for the winter but we could still be on the remains of the bridge.

The stone pillars on each side of the river are still standing but nothing left of the bridge of course. The Germans had attempted to destroy the bridge. This from an article about the bridge. “Within a week of crossing the Rhine over the Ludendorff Bridge, seven US divisions had established themselves in strength east of the Rhine. On March 17, 1945, the Ludendorff, severely damaged in the fighting ten days earlier and weakened further from the strain of heavy traffic, collapsed into the Rhine. Having crossed the Rhine, the Allied armies prepared to drive into the interior of Germany.”

My brother and I both remember our father describing to us that he drove his jeep across to the opposite side, then when he was on the ridge he turned around to see the bridge destroyed.

We stood on the remains of the bridge looking around. An emotion overwhelmed me as I thought of my father being in this place in a time of war, being able to come back and reminisce in a time of peace and now me coming back again. It was a bit surreal. I’m grateful that I had this opportunity.