Brücke von Andau

The driveway is pretty bad if you are driving. The bridge material would probably have to be renewed a bit. It is slowly becoming questionable. Still a good place to relive the story from 1956.

Historic memorial.

This is the place where in a few months our lucky 70,000 compatriots fled on leave and hundreds of unfortunates finished the bullet. In November 1956, many had to go. To run! Escape! They were carried by fear, the news of the raging of the victorious reds. As a student from Kapuvár wrote: "I can't change my heart, I'm going to look for a new homeland Danger of retaliation I dare not stay home. ” In a couple of weeks, 70,000 Hungarians flocked over this narrow, insignificant bridge to Austria, which was then a land of peace and freedom for them. As American writer James A. Michener, who experienced the “crowding,” writes in his book, The Andau Bridge. It was perhaps the most insignificant bridge in Europe, which then, out of the whims of fate, became the most important bridge in the world for weeks. There are already many monuments and memorial sites on the Austrian side. The first swallow is barely 1 kilometer from Andalus. It is a memorial pillar of our compatriots “torn” to America, in which they thank all that they received from Austria in 1956. Here is also the milestone of freedom “on the way to fugitives”. I walk across the bridge to the Hungarian side. Below me the arrow-straight channel trickles quietly. There are plenty of signs on the bridge and on both sides of me, the knowledge and the past in German and Hungarian. There is also a 3 m high beautiful marble monument by István Kamenyeczky on our MI side. It has a beautiful milestone with a 16 km number on it and a perforated flag. On the banks of the canal, a beautiful, covered built-up nest awaits the hikers. That's right! This place deserves care! He witnessed great things. Taking a closer look at our MI site, I discovered 2 macula! It would be good to remove them because they make the “mouth” a little (or maybe not a little). There is an information board announcing the natural wonders of the area. It's here in abundance, that's for sure! Among others, bivouacs. Well! This is a bivouac spelling. Did Vajh, who made the sign, ever rotate the rules of Hungarian correct crying? Another board is adorned with a beautiful sticker: "It's not aluminum!" The blush of shame on my face. Is this still necessary? I am reminded of the hotel verb of the 70s about stealing and stealing! (I hope the two macula have disappeared since I went there!) In closing, I quote from a beautiful melody text that was popularized in the U.S. in 1955 by Mindy Carson and then Dean Martin. He ran under the title Heimweh in Austria. We Hungarians know and sing with new lyrics, it has become the anthem of those forced to flee our country. In 1956 he was sung first by the later dissident Ida Boross, and later by Erzsi Kovács and Kati Kovács. The title: Honvágydal .: “Thousands of people all over the world live, who have drifted far from their homeland in search of a better fate with eternal rebellion. One became rich, the other remained poor. Some live in palaces, some under bridges. But even if the new foreign unknown offers them something better and better, they still crave home, homesickness calls home. ” Remember our 70,000 lucky fellow compatriots! Let's look at the little bridge that has become big. He is the Andau Bridge, a witness of great times.

Historically important bridge and destination. The surroundings are designed in remembrance of the escape over this bridge from the communist occupation of Hungary. There is an escape route which is decorated with sculptures and many observation towers. The bridge itself is well frequented and it is worth taking a bike tour or hike along the flat stretches. The bridge is part of the Austrian history of the 2nd Republic, which was visited by the then refugee commissioner and later US President Richard Nixon. In 1956 around 80,000 people fled here via the iron channel (Austria / Hungary border).

It's a shame that the bridge is in a desolate condition and is therefore closed. Such an important monument should be made fit again quickly. The place is thought provoking!