Remagen (DE)

FORTE CULTURA Stop: Fortified Bridge at Remagen (DE)

Remagen Bridge Peace Museum

World History: 1945 on the Rhine

The Remagen Bridge Peace Museum is located in the towers on the left bank of the Rhine of a fortified bridge, the former Ludendorff Bridge. The railway bridge at Remagen was designed in 1912 and built between 1916 and 1918 during the First World War to transport troops through the Ahr Valley to the Western Front.

Remagen came to the forefront of world history when, on 7 March 1945, a small advance party of the US 9th Army unexpectedly and unplanned captured the bridge, the last intact crossing over the Rhine. The planned demolition by the German bridge command had previously failed due to a series of mishaps. The Americans seized the opportunity and heavily fortified the bridgehead within a few days. On 17 March 1945, the bridge suddenly collapsed during repair work, killing at least 30 American soldiers.

The museum documents the events surrounding the capture of the previously undamaged bridge by the US Army on 7 March 1945 at the historic site. Deliberately established not as a war museum but as a peace museum, it is intended to be a place of learning for international understanding and peace work. For this reason, the FRIEDENSMUSEUM Brücke von Remagen e.V. organises numerous commemorative events marking the end of the Second World War every year, as well as special exhibitions, guided tours and youth exchange projects.

The PEACE MUSEUM and the town of Remagen are also members and stops on the Liberation Route Europe (via Liberation Route Germany e.V.), a European cultural route dedicated to the history of the liberation from National Socialism in 1944–1945, which has been certified by the Council of Europe and is a partner of FORTE CULTURA.