The Széchenyi Chain Bridge was the first permanent bridge which connected Buda and Pest. The building of the bridge was initiated by Count István Széchenyi, the ”Greatest of the Hungarians” in the 1830s and the bridge has borne his name since 1899. The bridge was a controversial issue because the idea involved introducing a bridge toll which would apply to everyone and, thus, harm the nobles’ privileges. Construction was eventually started in 1839 and the bridge was opened on November 20th, 1849. It was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark,while Scottish engineer Adam Clark was responsible for the management of the actual work. The stone-lions were added only later, in 1852. During the 1848-49 Revolution and Freedom Fight, Heinrich Heintzi, a general in the army of the Austrian Empire, wanted to blow up the bridge, but thanks to Adam Clark’s sabotage the bridge did not suffer considerable damage. Unfortunately, the Chain Bridge could not be saved when all bridges over the Danube in Budapest were blown up during in the last years of the Second World War. Sadly, there was one person who never set a foot on the bridge - Count István Széchenyi. He developed severe depression in 1848 and he was already in an asylum in Döbling by the time the building of the bridge was finished.
Alexandra Medzibrodszky
History
Hungary
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