The Teufelsbrücke aka The Devils Bridge in Switzerland

There are numerous bridges around Europe that are given the nickname of the Devil’s Bridge. This is often due to the fact that they were built under challenging conditions or they are treacherous to cross. The bridge in Switzerland known as the Devil’s Bridge spreads out over the Schöllenen Gorge in the Reuss valley and is a wonderful piece of engineering.




The legend has it that it was so hard to build a bridge
here that a herdsman made a wish that the devil would make them a bridge. So the devil being the devil, made an appearance and said that he would make a bridge but only on the condition that the first person to travel across it would have to give up their soul to him.
Once the bridge had been made the villagers tried to be smarter than the devil and they sent a goat across it first. It was said that the devil was so angry that he picked up a large rock and was going to smash the bridge. He then met an old woman on the way to the bridge and she was wearing a cross, causing him to flee and leave the rock behind.



The Schöllenen Gorge is an access route that is very important as it offers the shortest route to St. Gotthard Pass, however, the bridge wasn’t all that widely used as it meant crossing the Reuss river, which would rise when the snow melted in the early summer. The first bridge that was built there was during 1230 and as it was made from wood it had to be maintained frequently.


During the 16th century this bridge was replaced with a stone bridge arch, basically nothing more than a mule track for transporting goods and this was in use up to the 19th century. During 1799 the bridge saw a dramatic battle in the Napoleonic Wars and it suffered from heavy damage when the French army retreated and in 1888, it gave way.

A new bridge was built in 1820, taking over 10 years to finish, showing how hard it was to build a bridge here. It became more popular and used and in the middle of the 20th century but being unable to deal with the amount of traffic, a new two-laned bridge was made with concrete. This second bridge is still in existence today, however it isn’t used anymore.







The Swiss government had a commemorative coin made during 1994 and it featured a scene of the devil holding the stone and approaching the bridge. The rock, weighing 220 tonnes, which was the one said to have been thrown by the devil, was moved 127 meters so as to allow for room for the Gotthard road tunnel.
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