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History of Chain Bridge
Count István Széchenyi (1791-1860), the Greatest Hungarian came up with the idea of constructing a permanent bridge across the Danube.
In December 1820 he received the news that his father had died in Vienna. Because of the hard winter the pontoon bridge was out of use. Stranded on the Pest side for a week, Count Széchenyi vowed that he would finance construction of a permanent bridge over the Danube, regardless of the costs. It took him almost 50 years to achieve it.
In 1836 Széchenyi commissioned William Clark, an English engineer to draft the plans of the bridge.
Construction began in 1842. A Scotsman, Adam Clark oversaw the works (he is a namesake of William Clark). The final phase of construction took place during the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence.
One of the first walkers across the bridge were the soldiers of the Hungarian Army of Independence. They retreated from the Austrian troops in 1849. The Austrians attempted to blow up the bridge, but luckily the explosives did not go off.
The bridge facilitated the union of Buda, Pest and Óbuda in 1873 and contributed to Budapest's boom. Széchenyi collapsed mentally in 1848 and was not able to see his dream come true.
Unfortunately the Germans succeded in destroying the bridge during the siege of Budapest in 1945.
Reconstruction began in 1947 and Chain Bridge was rebuilt in its original form by 1949.
Adam Clark dug a tunnel under Castle Hill to provide easy access to places in Buda behind the hill. The tunnel is exactly the same long than the Chain Bridge.
According to a popular anecdote, when it rains the bridge can be pushed into the tunnel to prevent it from getting wet.
The Chain Bridge in Numbers
The width of the Danube required building a suspension bridge.
Two vaulted stone pillars hold the robust iron structure that weights nearly 5,200 tons.
The bridge is 375 metres long and 16 metres wide. The span between the pillars measures 202 metres.
Two stone lion statues guard both bridgeheads.
According to the story the sculptor, Marschalko János forgot to carve out the lions' tongues. A boy made a remark about it at the opening ceremony. The sculptor became so distressed that he jumped off the bridge into the Danube.
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