Elisabeth Bridge (Erzsébet-híd)
Originally, the Chain Bridge would had built next to the north foot of Gellért Hill, because the Danube is the narrowest there, but ship traffic could not had been able to built a bridge with two piers.
Many decades later the fifth permanent bridge of Budapest built in that place. There was only one serious problem; the Pest side bridgehead was planned through the ancient town centre of Pest. There were demolished the old Town Hall with other old buildings. Fortunately the Parish Church of the Inner City avoided the demolition, thanks to the first action of the protection of historic buildings. Finally the road goes round the church.
Originally the Elisabeth Bridge, which was a totally Hungarian work, was built as a chain bridge construction between 1898 and 1903. Crossing the river with a single arch of 290 m length the Elisabeth chain Bridge was up to the World War II, when it was blown up, the longest single-span vehicular bridge in the word. When you visit the Deutches Museum in Munich, you can see its model besides the most interesting bridges of the world. According to legends when king Franz Joseph was asked for money and looked plans, he liked the pier less version. The Elisabeth Bridge was named after Queen Elisabeth, wife of king Franz Joseph of Hungary. Her statue is at the Buda side bridgehead.
In 1945 as other bridges it was blown up too. Between 1961 and 1964 it was rebuilt as the last ruined bridge of Budapest. The originally chain construction was replaced with a cable bridge method using original piers. The new Elisabeth Bridge was the first modern style bridge construction of the Hungarian capital.
Petöfi Bridge (Petőfi-híd)
At the end of the 19th century, as the Grand Boulevard of Pest was built up Budapest had need of a new bridge between the south end of the boulevard and Buda. Its simple form does not disturb the panorama of the city. It was built up during the great economic crisis between 1933 and 1937. Originally it was named after Miklos Horthy, the governor of Hungary. After the World War II the bridge was rebuilt in 1952 and it was renamed after the great Hungarian poet, Sandor Petöfi. The Petöfi Bridge had the same problem as Liberty Bridge, because Pest side was in lower level as Buda side. The rebuild works solved this problem with a long embankment, which starts in the boulevard.
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