Buza Péter: Bridges of the Danube - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1999)

A TRULY INNOVATIVE DESIGN, THE SO-CALLED GERBER STRUCTURE

Dalmy told the story to a journalist who made it public. Three days later the replacement rivet was stolen as well. Now there is a replacement of the replacement in the same spot. Its exact location will not be divulged this once, as this particular chronicler has no wish to share that journalist’s guilt...

The history of the Vámház Square Bridge, as the planned-for construction was called at the outset, began in 1849. The twin cities were suffering from the war. In this year, an emergency pontoon bridge was built at this site. The old one had been partly destroyed and the Chain Bridge was not yet in service. Later, in 1868, nearly two decades after the opening of the first permanent bridge, citizens living nearby collected 1100 signatures for a petition requesting a new bridge at the Muddy Baths (today’s Gellért Baths). Another twenty years later, however, it appeared that the Eskü Square Bridge (the Elizabeth Bridge as it is now called) was going to be built first. The tender allowed the designers to submit plans for both localities. Finally the Vámház Square option was preferred because it did not require such substantial changes in urban planning as the other one, located as it was right at the heart of the old inner city.

The tender was extremely successful, attracting

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