Danube bridge Mautern

Mayors want to stop the renovation now

The listed Mautern Danube Bridge at the gateway to the Wachau: The fact that it has to be closed due to the renovation work - and that a replacement bridge is not being built - annoys the mayor of Mautern and the mayor of Krems.

(Bild: Molnar Attila)

The mayor of Krems, Peter Molnar, and the mayor of Mautern, Heinrich Brustbauer, are launching a signature campaign on Monday to mark the cancellation of the replacement bridge as part of the renovation of the Danube bridge in Mautern. The motto: "Back to the beginning!" 

The Danube bridge has connected the town of Krems-Stein and the municipality of Mautern for over 500 years. The listed structure is to be renovated and closed for several years from the end of 2025. However, there will be no replacement bridge. For this reason, the head of Krems Peter Molnar (SPÖ) and the mayor of Mautern Heinrich Brustbauer (ÖVP) are launching a signature campaign on Monday to gather the opinion of the population.

Because: "Such a measure would place an enormous economic and tourist burden on the entire region and mean massive restrictions for workers, schoolchildren, students and tourists," the two emphasize. They also consider the renovation costs of almost 100 million euros, without widening the carriageway width, to be out of date.

Either a replacement bridge is built, or the planning has to go back to the beginning. The entire project must be redrafted and redesigned together with the Federal Monuments Office and the "World Heritage".

Kremser Stadtchef Peter Molnar (SPÖ) und Mauterner Bürgermeister Heinrich Brustbauer (ÖVP)

Molnar and Brustbauer are therefore insisting on a modern, two-lane steel truss bridge next to the existing bridge. "This will ensure 'small border traffic' and sustainable 'Wachau tourism' for at least the next 100 years," say the politicians. The existing Mautern Danube Bridge could be adapted for pedestrian and cycle traffic after the new bridge is built. The planned ferry connection is not a solution for them.

Focus on bridges
As new planning and negotiations would certainly take several years, other projects could be implemented in the meantime. According to the two mayors, the two existing Danube crossings - the railroad bridge and the "expressway bridge" (St. Pölten bridge) - would also have to be adapted for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Demands

1. "Back to the beginning": New planning for the renovation of the Mautern Danube Bridge! No ferry traffic and preservation of continuous car, pedestrian and cycle traffic between Stein and Mautern.
2. Examination of the construction of a second Danube bridge as a steel truss bridge next to the existing bridge - the existing bridge can then only be adapted for pedestrian and cycle traffic.
3. Support for the planning, design, financing and construction of a footpath and cycle path over the railroad bridge by the Province of Lower Austria.
4. Improvement of the cycle up and down ramps on the recently renovated "St Pölten Bridge"

History of the Mautern Danube Bridge
The Mautern Danube Bridge was approved by Frederick III as early as 1463 and was the second Danube crossing in Austria after Vienna. At first, the bridge was made of wood, and at times, due to closures caused by fire, accidents or floods, it even consisted of two bridges lying next to each other.

The existing steel truss bridge was built in 1895 and is therefore already 130 years old. In May 1945, the two southern sections of the bridge were blown up when the German Wehrmacht withdrew. After the end of the war, the two southern bridge sections were rebuilt within a construction period of just three months under Russian occupation and the bridge was reopened as the "Marshal Konjew Bridge".