The Stone Bridge Photo

Photographer’s Note

The bridge's construction was financed by Regensburg's merchants and began in 1136. In 1142, its patronage transferred from the Duke of Bavaria to the King (or Emperor) of Germany. His successors from the Babenberg dynasty, Duke Leopold IV(1139-41) and Duke Heinrich Jasomirgott(1143-56), continued to support the bridge-building project.
It is also an accepted fact that King Konrad III influenced the continuing construction. And last but not least, the residents of Regensburg, foremostly the merchants, were highly interested in the new traffic connection and certainly contributed to its costs. Later, the Free Imperial City of Regensburg was registered as the owner of the bridge, and this is perhaps a indication of the large share held by the residents in its construction.
Rising towards the centre, the bridge once had three fortified towers. It has 16 masonry arches and crosses the Danube with its 336m length. The bridge is held as a masterpiece of medival technology. For centuries, it was the only secure Danube crossing between Ulm and Vienna, giving it great significance for traffic.
The people of Regensburg profited from this situation, since all trade traffic in both directions was forced to pass through the city because of its location at the Danube's northernmost point. Thus, in the 12th century Regensburg became a central junction between northern France and the countries farther down the Danube, as well as on the long-distance roads from the south towards Thuringia, Saxony, Bohemia and Poland. During the Middle Ages, the emperors and kings used to enter the city by way of the Stone Bridge. (UNESCO)

saxo042, Buin, Ola_Kwiatek, gentedilivello, tedesse, mumek, macondo, avene, trekks, Jakab, Muse, azaf1, gunbud, lrw1966, adramad, John_F_Kennedy, Budapestman, jafadabret, pierrefonds, AiresSantos, vasilpro has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

saxo042 (15482) 2009-04-10 7:22

Hi Asa,
Interesting to see such impressive technique being used here to construct this beautiful and important bridge, so long ago! A very good picture and note!
Kind regards
Gunnar

jplebrun (16818) 2009-04-10 8:08

Bonjour Asa
belle présentation de ce pont dans un ciel partiellement ennuagé il est superbe avec ces arches et honorable par son age
Amitiés
Jean-Pierre

Buin (37412) 2009-04-10 11:58

Hallo Asa!
Here yxou show us a famous (at least in Germany) and venerabe building - from a very advantageous angle. It really seems to be built for eternity. In combination with your excellent note a contribution in terms of TrekEarth!
Greetings from sunny and warm Germany - and a Happy Easter to you and yours!
Frank

buscape (3583) 2009-04-10 16:32

Hello Asa,
beautiful picture of this old bridge with good colors and nice clouds in the sky. Well chosen POV and an informative note. Well done.
Best wishes,
Helmut

batalay (20810) 2009-04-10 19:44

Hello Asa,

The medieval architects produced a magnificent edifice in this bridge, and you presented it with salient properties. As old as the bridge is, however, there is a rule of thumb in archaeology that "...in Europe history is reckoned in centuries, and in the Middle East, it is in millenia." An American ambassador to Turkey had taken his daughters for a trip to Germany. Their guide pointed to the bridge that they were crossing, and stopped and commented, "You should have great respect for the age of this bridge. It was built in the 13th century!" One of the girls asked the guide, "Is that AD or BC? We're visiting from Turkey."

Your note is first class. Have a good weekend.

Bulent

Ola_Kwiatek (2380) 2009-04-11 5:20

Wonderful bridge, nice colors, good contrast, very good sharpness, original image.
Cheers

gentedilivello (1803) 2009-04-11 9:11

Hi Asa,
the bridge of Regensburg! This reminds me that I have an old photograpy taken from this bridge that I will soon upload. Great and well contrasted view. The sky is interesting too, with these scattered clouds. Well done.
Regards.
Gabriele.

tedesse (13140) 2009-04-11 13:02

Hello!
Wonderful view,beautiful the stone bridge.
Good Pov and composition,nice colours.
Greetings
Tadeusy

raszid62 (2985) 2009-04-11 14:18

Hello
Very good photo very. Natural colors, fine clouds on sky. however, I would suggest crop bottom part photo , in order to dispose this needless fragment of embankment. Congratulations
Joseph

mumek (17468) 2009-04-11 18:00

Hi Asa!
Very impressive capture of the ancient bridge. Nice composition with great natural colours.Thanks for very interesting and informative note.Happy Easter to you and your family
ziggy

macondo (13071) 2009-04-11 18:29

Hi Asa.
Thanks for showing us the bridge from which you must have taken your previous shot. Like many very old bridges, it has beautiful proportions and lines, a pleasing arrangement of shapes. It is certainly something for this town to treasure. I like the angle of the view and the excellent well exposed light. The strongly flowing water and that marvellous sky make a superb setting for the old stone work. Nice work.
Regards,
Andrew

avene (10940) 2009-04-12 17:40

hell Asa,
pity that the light seems somewhat flat, I imagine that the warm tones of sunset or sunrise would look really good on this old bridge. but I know how difficult is to wait for the right light when traveling, nothing to be done about that, unless you have months to spend in one place.
I quite like that you show the bridge in full view, it helps the viewer to appreaciate the skill of the medieval structure. I agree with the comment about cropping from the left, the corner of the embankment feels a little disjointed.

best,
Kristine

trekks (14262) 2009-04-12 22:07

hi Asa

Europe is full of history to walk through, even a stone bridge like this has its place.

This is a good capture of lovely scenic view across the river with the bridge in full view. The stone brdige tells a good history of construction that modern day cities cannot find.

A fine TE post.

tfs, bill

p/s hmmm...seems to just run out of the green smiley

Jakab (3450) 2009-04-13 12:36

Hello Asa,
a very good presentation of the oldest bridge over the Danube - both the picture and the text are excellent. I am glad to see the whole construction here together with the green river. (I can not imagine how could find Johann Strauss the Danube blue. It is green in most part of the year, in winter rather grey - but never blue!)
Compliments
Laszlo

Muse (30873) 2009-04-13 23:53

Hello Asa,
Un très joli pont bien cadré et un superbe ciel. Le pov est bien choisi et la longueur du pont donne beaucoup de profondeur à la compo.
Best regards
Denise

anto95 (1794) 2009-04-14 0:37

Hi Asa,
All aspect of the pictures are superb (especialy depth of focus and composition).
Antonello

azaf1 (15541) 2009-04-14 1:43

Good morning Asa

A perfect perspective created by the span of that great stone bridge with its arches and great colors.

Have a good day and TFS
Argiris

gunbud (27763) 2009-04-14 5:42

Hi Asa,
What a sight this majectic bridge must have been to the weary 12th century travelers.
The beautiful stone arch span makes a most graceful curve around the river to the beauitufl village on the other side.
Very interesting historic note about the importance of this importnat junction along the Danbue.
Regards, Tom

lrw1966 (1630) 2009-04-14 8:27

Asa, Hi:

Splendid educational notes, along with amazing construction of this bridge so very long ago. Very very nicley done.

Larry

chrisnet (20364) 2009-04-14 11:01

Hello Asa,
I like the nice perspective of this bridge, good light and sharpness, well done.
Regards
Christian

adramad (3510) 2009-04-14 14:13

Hello Asa.Great POV the one that you show us in this photo with this nice bridge that it seems to get lost in the distance, good color and definition.Best Regards.

edal (6567) 2009-04-14 21:53

Hello Asa!
Excellent pov, excellent colors and sharpness. The vividness of river and sky flow is outstanding.
Friendly regards,
Anton

John_F_Kennedy (31197) 2009-04-15 1:27

Hello Asa,
Beautiful bridge and nice view to the old with attractive pastel colours, and good sharpness. Well done.
Best wishes,
Achim

delpeoples (5810) 2009-04-15 1:50

Hi Asa, I like the symmetry here and your sky is great. I've done a small Workshop on your photo, I hope you don't mind. Best regards, Lisa.

[workshop] [compare]

jhm (82201) 2009-04-15 4:28

Hi Asa,

The splendid architecture that offers us this capture, the perspective obtained with your setting, and the magnificent effect created by the light and the shades in this bridge scenery, they form a really beautiful composition, with a great technical execution.
Nice work, my friend.

Best regards
John.

Budapestman (41576) 2009-04-15 6:04

Hi Asa,
Splendid architecural shot with spectacular composition and attractive clouds. The depth of the photo is superb, excellent shot of this imposing bridge. Have a nice day!
George

darek1978 (11165) 2009-04-15 9:28

Hello Asa,
Excellent composition with this very impressive bridge. Great light and beautiful, cloudy sky add superb dynamism to this picture. Well done!
Regards,
Darek

jafadabret (39357) 2009-04-16 6:32

Bonjour Asa.
Cette photo est superbe et met en valeur ce pont de belle manière. J'aime les reflets de l'eau et les couleurs du ciel.
Excellent !
Jacques

pierrefonds (26105) 2009-04-16 17:45

Hi Asa,

The reflections in the water are assets to the composition. The arches of the bridge have a graphic effect on the composition. The presence of the people on the bridge has an effect of scale. The span of the bridge going to the city is giving perspective to the photo. The intensity of the light is enhancing the colors of the scenery. have a nice day.

Pierre

poulinp (4464) 2009-04-17 13:20

Nice shot. I think I would have crop a in the bottom, just over the rock and have panoramic format. And in the same time, you would get a more dynamic proportion of sky-water.
(not 50-50).

Exactly like the workshop of asajernigan.

AiresSantos (41866) 2009-04-18 7:01

Hi Asa
Fine view of the bridge. Lovely clouds in the sky, excellent colours and light management
Have a nice weekend
Aires