European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Top the Rocky riverbed below the Bridge before a system of locks was installed upstream Bottom troops crossing the old Bridge in 1914. Top a 1947 photograph of the rebuilding of the War damaged Bridge Bottom the Bridge in 1945, reaching Only half Way across the Neckar. Practical and artistic considerations. The harmonious proportions of Heidelberg s now famous Bridge Are not the result of precise symmetry in fact none of the pillars have the same dimensions and the distances Between them Are All different. The Bridge is deceptively High. Few people realize that when standing on the Middle one is nine feet above the level of the marketplace. This shows the extent of flooding that would have to occur before the Bridge itself would be submerged. Karl Theodor had two statues by Konrad Linck erected on the Bridge one of Theodor with figures representing the Rhine Danube Isar and Mosel and one of Athena symbolizing Good government under which Are figures representing Justice piety agriculture and Commerce. The Gate on the City Side of the Bridge was left virtually unchanged the two round medieval towers topped by baroque Pinnacles circa 1715 remain among the most distinctive and famous landmarks of Heidelberg. Careful scrutiny shows though that two heraldic Lions and a coat of arms on the upper part of the North Side of the Gate were never finished. Until world War ii the Bridge enjoyed a relatively peaceful and prosperous it was a toll Bridge time the Only threat being a proposal in 1866 to demolish it in favor of a More modern Iron Structure. In 1877, another Bridge now called the Theodor Heuss Bridge was built the Ernst Waltz Bridge was added in 1928. Also Between 1927 and 1929, the Neckar was finally tamed by the construction of a system of locks. The Bridge s future seemed secure. But what nature could no longer achieve War could. Early in 1945, just after the . Forces had crossed the Rhine near Speyer the wehrmacht blew up ail three Neckar Bridges the Northern end of the Karl Theodor Bridge suffering severe damages in an explosion at 10 . On March 29. However rebuilding began when the War ended and the Bridge was fully functional again in 1947. Apart from alterations in 1969-71 to allow trucks to pass under the City Side of the River the Bridge has since continued in Holder Lin s words to bestrides the Neckar As a Bird soars Over a Mountain  one feature of several of the earlier wooden Bridges which until recently was missing from the present Bridge was the Bruck Naffe Bridge Monkey or ape. There is evidence that at least As Early As 1481, a Relief sculpture of a Monkey was located in a Niche in the Tower on the North Nevenheim Side of the Bridge subsequently called the of Fentum. Descriptions of the sculpture vary but it seems certain that the Monkey was depicted looking at itself in a Mirror and scratching its rear symbols of vanity and immodesty. There also exists a very famous verse which May have been carved on the same Tower which roughly translated goes As follows Why Are you standing there to gape have you seen the Heidelberg ape look around and you will see plenty of others just like me. It is supposed that this infamous Monkey rather than being a Symbol of Heidelberg was meant to serve As a warning of How not to behave when visiting the City. However when the French blew up the seventh Bridge in 1689, the Tower along with the Monkey and verse disappeared. In 1977, the City mindful of this curious chapter in its history organized a Competition for the design of a new Bridge Monkey the winning Bronze sculpture by Gernot Rumpf now graces the City Side of the Bridge. In it the Monkey shows us the Mirror and those who stand inside the ape to pose for a photograph will feel a Finger pointing in their Back to indicate who the real Monkey is. . July 21, 1988 stripes Magazine 11