| Original caption: “The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen — the last standing on the Rhine — was captured by soldiers of the United States Ninth Armored Division, during Operation Lumberjack. Although German engineers had mined the bridge before the American approach, the fuses had been cut by two Polish engineers forcibly conscripted to the Wehrmacht, in Silesia.” Russian Prisoners of World War I built the Ludendorff Railroad Bridge from 1916 to 1919. The 1,200 foot (365 meter) bridge was accessed from a tunnel through the Erpeler Ley, a 600 foot (180 meter) basalt cliff that the Nazi Germans were fortifying with artillery and anti-aircraft guns in 1945. The 4 stone towers had fighting loopholes and could accommodate a battalion. The bridge had cavities for demolition charges, but the French occupied the Rhineland until 1936, and filled the cavities with concrete. After capturing the right bank of Cologne on March 7, 1945, the 9th Armored Division detailed Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Earl Engeman (October 6, 1906 – July 11, 2002) to capture Remagen. Lieutenant Karl H. Timmermann (June 19, 1922 – October 21, 1951) led A Company, 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, discovered the intact bridge and was ordered to assault it. He and his men ran across, cutting demolition wires. Major Hans Scheller (September 7, 1913 – March 14, 1945) attempted to blow up the bridge, but only damaged it. A Polish worker later said another worker had tampered with the blasting caps, though his claims could not be verified. Timmermann and his men, after they took cover, continued across. Sergeant Alexander Albert Drabik (December 28, 1910 – September 28, 1993) was the 1st American soldier to make it all the way in 15 minutes. None of Timmermann’s men were hit. This was the 1st time since the Napoleonic Wars that foreign soldiers had crossed the Rhine. American engineers fixed the damage as best they could. Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reichchancellor”) Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was furious that the bridge stood, and ordered the execution of Scheller and 3 others for dereliction of duty. The bridge was attacked by the Heer, Luftwaffe, and V-2 rockets, but withstood all attempts to bring it down by fire. 25,000 troops and thousands of vehicles crossed the bridge before it collapsed on March 17, 1945, at 1500 Hours, killing 28 and injuring 63. A Bailey bridge was built to replace the Ludendorff Bridge. 5 years later, just days before the start of the Korean War, the United States Army Signal Corps released a series of comparative photos that brought cameramen back to the famous battlefields of World War II. This showed that the railroad across the bridge was removed before 1950. This image was compared to wwii0838.jpg. His comparison was nationally syndicated in June 1950. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2427.jpg |
| Image Size | 773.98 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3894 x 2670 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 17, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Remagen |
| State or Province | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | Marshall University |
| Record Number | 1973.06.0010.58.29.02 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database