Bridges of Bruggen and the Sitter Valley

The St. Gallen bridge path (St. Galler Brückenweg) links, over 8.2 marked kilometres between St. Gallen-Haggen station and the hamlet of Spisegg, some twenty structures built between the 18th and 20th centuries around the Bruggen quarter: railway viaducts, stone bridges, suspension footbridges and covered timber bridges, each marked with an information panel. The route crosses the Sitter and Wattbach nature reserve, a protected river landscape, and reaches a high point of 705 metres.

The oldest covered bridge, built in 1780 by master carpenter Hans Ulrich Grubenmann after a flood destroyed every existing structure on the Urnäsch in 1778, is nicknamed the 'speaking bridge' for its many carved inscriptions. On the Sitter itself, the Kräzern stone bridge, built in 1811 by Hans Ulrich Haltiner after three years of construction, measures 148 metres long and 25 metres high; its two arches replace a first bridge attested as early as the 13th century.

The most spectacular viaduct remains that of the South-Eastern Railway (Südostbahn), opened on 1 October 1910: its 100-metre height and 365-metre length long made it the highest standard-gauge railway bridge in Europe. Downstream, the Fürstenlandbrücke, chosen in 1937 from 47 submitted designs and opened in 1941, spans the valley over 489 metres, 60 metres above the Sitter.

Why this place is remarkable

In a small stretch around Bruggen, a marked path links some twenty 18th-20th century structures — a timber bridge from 1780, a stone arch from 1811, a 100-metre railway viaduct opened in 1910 — through a nature reserve where the Sitter and the Wattbach cut their gorges.

History and origin

The valley crossing has been rebuilt three times on the same spot: a first bridge over the Sitter is attested here as early as the 13th century, replaced between 1774 and 1778 by the covered Bedabrücke, itself replaced in 1811 by today's Kräzern stone bridge. When 1930s motor traffic outgrew its capacity, the Fürstenlandbrücke was built nearby between 1937 and 1941, chosen from 47 submitted designs, for 3.6 million francs.