Description
The Virgin Bridge - another bridge belonging to the city's renaissance building stock - is a small structure at the roundabout connecting Piastowska and Roosevelt Streets. Karl Gander, a regional historian, wrote in his book "Geschichte der Stadt Guben" that already in 1843 this [hitherto] wooden bridge was rebuilt and significantly widened. In 1907, the wooden structure was dismantled and replaced by a simple stone structure closed on both sides with a wrought-iron balustrade. The bridge overlooked the City Theatre and Theatre Island (Strzelecka Island). The bridge was destroyed during the warfare. A year after Guben was taken over by Poland, the bridge was rebuilt with the original stone balustrades partially preserved.
Historical background
For centuries, in Guben, as in other European cities, the bridges were made primarily of wood. Wooden bridge structures were popular mainly due to their low construction cost, high availability of material, speed, and ease of construction as well as low weight. Unfortunately, they also had their disadvantages, which were particularly noticeable in the urbanized area - wooden bridges were very susceptible to the effects of weather conditions, they were significantly and often completely damaged during floods and fires, thus leading to high maintenance costs. In addition, due to the low strength of the material, and thus a small span and load-bearing capacity (several meters for beam structures, about 40 meters for lattice structures), along with the increasing traffic intensity, they could not gradually fulfill their communication function.
Along with the popularization of the construction of massive structures made of reinforced concrete, city authorities began to gradually rebuild bridge structures. In Guben, almost all bridges on the Nysa, Lubsza, Egelneiße and Schwarzes Fließ were built and modernized in this way. A significant part of the existing bridges was destroyed at the very end of World War II by the retreating German troops. Many were not rebuilt - this group includes the Northern Bridge from 1925, which is the largest structure of this type in pre-war Guben.
Virgin's Bridge: Roundabout on ul. Roosvelt and Piastowska, 66-620 Gubin, Poland
Bridges and footbridges in Gubin - Virgin's Bridge
Virgin's Bridge: 1843
Approximate dimensions:
Virgin's Bridge: 20 m long, 11 m wide
The bridges are available for use and can be visited 24 hours a day.
