The Maria Valeria Bridge from
Esztergom Basilica
on the Hungarian side
The border between Hungary and Slovakia on the middle of the bridge
The bridge in 1969, with three spans missing
Maria Valeria Bridge
The
Maria Valeria Bridge
joins
Esztergom
in
Hungary
and
?turovo
in
Slovakia
, across the River
Danube
. The bridge is some 500 metres in length. It is named after
Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria
(1868?1924), the fourth child of the
Emperor of Austria-Hungary
,
Franz Josef
and
Elisabeth
.
The bridge was designed by
Janos Feketehazy
[
Wikidata
]
in 1893; he built several bridges on the Danube, including the
Liberty Bridge
(originally the Franz Joseph Bridge) in Budapest and the Elisabeth Bridge between
Komarno
and
Komarom
. In 1920, according to the
Treaty of Trianon
, Parkany (present-day ?turovo) became part of the newly formed
Czechoslovakia
, so the bridge was cut by the border. Since its opening on 28 September 1895, the bridge has been destroyed twice. On 22 July 1919 it was destroyed by a detonation caused by the occupying
Czechoslovak Legion
at its first pier on its western side, but was renovated in 1922 and completely reconstructed in 1926. During
World War II
, retreating German troops blew up the bridge on 26 December 1944 along with other bridges near Esztergom.
Decades of intransigence between the Communist governments of Hungary and Czechoslovakia meant that the bridge was not rebuilt until the new millennium, finally reopening on 11 October 2001. Half the costs of the project were covered by a 10 million
Euro
grant from the
European Union
, as part of the EU
PHARE
project to assist applicant countries in their preparations to join the EU. The re-opening was marked with the issue of a Slovak stamp.
[1]
The rebuilding of the bridge helped the local economy in the Ister-Granum
Euroregion
.
As Slovakia and Hungary are part of the
Schengen Area
there are no border controls on the bridge. Both countries became part of the Schengen Area on 12 December 2007, allowing all immigration and customs checks to be lifted.
As a young man, the writer
Patrick Leigh Fermor
walked from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople in 1933/34. His book
A Time of Gifts
ends on the bridge and the second volume,
Between the Woods and the Water
, begins with him crossing into Esztergom.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
47°47′43″N
18°43′49″E
/
47.79528°N 18.73028°E
/
47.79528; 18.73028