The modern concrete span of the Devil's bridge (Teufelsbrücke) across the Schǒllenen Gorge replaces the older bridge below

St. Gotthard Pass is a pass in Switzerland at 2108m, between Airolo, Ticino, and Andermatt, Canton of Uri, connecting the northern (German speaking) part of Switzerland with the Italian-speaking part Ticino, and the route onwards to Milan. Though the pass was locally known in Antiquity, it was not generally used until the early 13th century, because it involved fording the turbulent Schöllen, swollen with snowmelt during the early summer, in the narrow steep-sided Schöllenen Gorge, below Andermatt. The bridge that was built under such challenging conditions was one of so many "Devil's Bridges" that the legends about them form a category in the Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktales (number 1191) [1] (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type1191.html). The Reuss was so difficult to ford, that a Swiss herdsman, it was told, wished the devil would make a bridge. The Devil appeared, but required that the first to cross be given to him. The mountaineer agreed, but drove a chamois across ahead of him, fooling the Adversary [2] (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type1191.html#grimm337). In a mountain range, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, or bealach) is a lower point that allows easier access through the range. ... The metre (American spelling: meter), symbol: m, is the basic unit of distance (or of length, in the parlance of the physical sciences) in the International System of Units. ... Categories: Switzerland geography stubs ... Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland, and almost entirely Italian-speaking (except the German-speaking municipality of Bosco/Gurin). ... Andermatt is a central Swiss village in Uri, 18 miles south of Altorf. ... Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. ... Location within Italy Piazza della Scala Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed of Italian regions. ... Antti Aarne (1867 - 1925) was a Finnish folklorist, who developed the initial version of what became the Aarne-Thompson classification system of classifying folktales, first published in 1910. ... Alternate use: Reuss River Reuss is the name of several historical states in todays Thuringia, Germany. ... Binomial name Rupicapra rupicapra (Linnaeus, 1758) The chamois is a large, goat-like animal that lives in the European Alps and Carpathians. ...

Building the Teufelsbrücke, Carl Blechen, ca 1833 (Neue Pinakothek, Munich

The bridge permitted traffic to follow the Reuss to its headwaters and over the saddle at the top—a watershed between the Rhine and the North Sea and the Po and the Mediterranean— then down the Ticino towards Milan. It carried only foot traffic and pack animals until 1775, when the first carriage made the journey on an improved road. The River Reuss is one of the larger rivers in Switzerland. ...

The pass itself was dedicated as early as 1236 to the Bavarian Saint Gotthard (Godehard of Hildesheim, ca 960 – May 4, 1038). With an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Saint Godehard (also known as Gothard or Godehard the Bishop) is a Roman-Catholic saint. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... Events Births Deaths Aethelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury Alhazen, Arabian mathematician August 15 - Hungary Categories: 1038 ...

The 15km St. Gotthard Tunnel opened in 1882 for railway traffic at a cost of 277 workers' lives and replaced the pass road. A 17km highway tunnel opened in 1980. A second neraby rail tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is currently under construction. When completed it will be the longest rail tunnel in the world at 57km. Together with two smaller tunnels planned near Zurich and Lugano, the new tunnel will reduce the 3hour 40min rail journey from Zurich to Milan by one hour. The St. ... The Gotthard Base Tunnel is a railway tunnel under construction in Switzerland. ... General view showing Grossmünster church. ... Lugano in the 1900s Lugano is a city in south-east Switzerland, in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy. ... Location within Italy Piazza della Scala Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed of Italian regions. ...

External links

• Brief notes on Saint Godehard (http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0504.htm)
• The Gotthard, Switzerland (http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/guide/zentral_schweiz/gotthard.html)
• Sankt Gotthard Pass (http://www.alpentourer.de/alpenpaesse/schweiz/gotthard/gotthard.html) (in German)