Nibelung Tower

53 metres tall and on the Rhineland-Palatinate side of the Rhine is the neo-Romanesque bridge tower of the “old” bridge across the Rhine (Nibelungenbrücke). Called the Nibelung Tower (Nibelungenturm), it is a monumental tower in the “Nibelung style” ( "Nibelungenstil" ) and a representative entrance gate into the City of Worms. It was built in 1900 to plans of city architect Karl Hofmann.

It has a total of eight storeys above the road, five of which are used by the Association of Christian Scouts. The three storeys at the foot of the tower below the road level, and also the viewing platform of the covered stairway now house the Rhine water monitoring station in Worms.

Until 1945, there was a twin of this tower on the opposite side of the Rhine, now part of Hesse. This tower on the Hessian side of the Rhine was destroyed shortly before the end of the war and not rebuilt.

Bridges across the Rhine in Worms

Rheinbrücken Worms (Foto: IR / Stadt Worms)

Between kilometres 443 und 444 there are two bridges across the Rhine that connect the City of Worms in Rhineland-Palatinate and the region Rheinhessen with Hessian towns such as Lampertheim und Bürstadt (hessisches Ried), Darmstadt and Frankfurt. They are the only road bridges over the Rhine between Mannheim to the south and Mainz to the north. Both bridges have combined pedestrian and cycle lanes.

The “new” Rhine bridge (on the right in the picture) has two lanes leading out of the city and across the Rhine to the Hessian side. The “old” Nibelungenbrücke (on the left in the picture) with its tower and arch has two lanes leading to the Rhineland-Palatinate side and into Worms.

History

The earliest record of a ferry service near Worms is in a document from the year 858.
From 1855 until around 1900 there was a so-called “ship bridge” (a floating bridge).
Between 1897 and 1900 the first solid bridge across the Rhine near Worms was built. It was called the “Ernst-Ludwig-Brücke”, named after a territorial ruler, the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, and was opened on 26th March 1900. In the same year, the nearby railway bridge across the Rhine was opened.

Before the Second World War, the domes above the staircases of both bridge towers were removed and replaced by concrete platforms. During the war, four anti-aircraft units were installed to protect the bridge. On 20th March 1945, the bridge was blown up by the retreating German army.
The Nibelungenbrücke (the “old” bridge across the Rhine from 1953 on)
In order to restore the road connection between Worms and the right bank of the Rhine after the Second World War, a pontoon bridge was installed and later a ferry service. It was not until 1948 that a temporary bridge was built.
In autumn 1950, preliminary construction work for a new bridge began. The badly damaged gateway tower above the road on the right (Hessian) bank of the river was taken down. The imposing Nibelung Tower (Nibelungenturm) on the other (Worms) bank was preserved and provides a representative entrance gate into the city.

The new bridge was opened on 30th April 1953, taking its name from the Nibelung saga. As a result of a great increase in the volume of traffic and also because the “old” Nibelungenbrücke was in need of repair, a second Rhine bridge running parallel and a few metres upstream was built in 2008.