Bridge of Remagen for sale

von Marwitz

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jrv

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Someone stole the bridge!

edit: never mind. I just assumed it had been rebuilt after the war. Apparently it wasn't.

JR
 

von Marwitz

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Someone stole the bridge!

edit: never mind. I just assumed it had been rebuilt after the war. Apparently it wasn't.

JR
The bridge has originally been built before WW1 as part of a railroad that would enable the supply of large armies west of the Rhine. There has never been much economic reason for its existence - before or after WW1. This did not change after WW2 either, so the bridge has never been rebuilt after it collapsed shortly after being captured by the Americans. The bridge towers on both river banks remained though. Especially those on the western bank (now for sale) still bear the marks of WW2 fighting. Just a couple of yards behind these bridge towers, the long defunct railway-line immediately enters a tunnel running beneath the Erpeler Ley on top of which AA-installations guarded the bridge in WW2 (among them the rare "Föhn" multiple rocket launcher). The bridge towers on the eastern bank hold a small but interesting museum on the history of the bridge which I have visited quite a while ago.

von Marwitz
 

Michael Dorosh

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Eagle4ty

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Interesting tidbit. While on active duty the 1st time I was in the Army, one of the units I was in carried the lineage and honors of the unit that had captured the bridge. I was quite aware of Lt Timmerman as we had to know about our tradition and honors for every promotion board. Years later when I joined a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post here one of the members was the self same Timmerman. When he passed away a few years back one of his kids (a grown man by then & kind of interested in WW-II) was aware his dad was present at the capture of the edifice, but had no idea his father was such a prominent figure in its capture until the eulogy was given (I don't believe his sister even had much of a clue he had been there, only that he was a WW-II vet). If you wish to play a scenario in regards to the capture of the bridge you can haul out SP132 Timmerman's Bridge.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Interesting tidbit. While on active duty the 1st time I was in the Army, one of the units I was in carried the lineage and honors of the unit that had captured the bridge. I was quite aware of Lt Timmerman as we had to know about our tradition and honors for every promotion board. Years later when I joined a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post here one of the members was the self same Timmerman. When he passed away a few years back one of his kids (a grown man by then & kind of interested in WW-II) was aware his dad was present at the capture of the edifice, but had no idea his father was such a prominent figure in its capture until the eulogy was given (I don't believe his sister even had much of a clue he had been there, only that he was a WW-II vet). If you wish to play a scenario in regards to the capture of the bridge you can haul out SP132 Timmerman's Bridge.
I've read the Ken Hechler book a couple of times - it's a great book which you must be aware of - and always thought the description of Timmermann coming home to his German-born mother with no one to meet him but a dog nipping at his heels was vivid. But I thought Timmermann died in the 1950s?
 

Eagle4ty

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Are you sure? I knew this guy for at least 4 or 5 years and he always told the story of being in the unit that first crossed the bridge. We always check DD214's (discharge certificate) and everyone including the older guys had no reason to doubt him. This guy passed in either '09 or '10. Maybe he just had a name the same as Lt Timmerman, but "I" for one (and some others I think) sure thought it was one and the same.

[EDIT] If the story is not correct, I sure apologize to the actual Lt Timmerman's memory, as I'v always held the guy I knew was the LT at the bridge.
 
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Eagle4ty

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I only know what the linked wikipedia article says. I can't find anything that contradicts that account.

JR
Thanks, we've got our meeting coming up next Tuesday, I'll ask some of the old timers if perhaps I misunderstood his particulars.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Thanks, we've got our meeting coming up next Tuesday, I'll ask some of the old timers if perhaps I misunderstood his particulars.
It's easy to get stars in one's eyes. I remember playing Combat Mission via PBEM with a guy named Scott Adams. I had convinced myself it was the guy who drew the Dilbert cartoons. It was only a long time later that I read his forum signature which explicitly said he wasn't *that* Scott Adams. It shouldn't have mattered, but I was kinda disappointed! I felt better when Charlie Kibler played a few CM scenarios with me via email, and I realized that yes, it was *that* Charlie Kibler.

Kind of reminds me of George Costanza buying John Voight's car - the periodontist who spelled his name with an "H"...
 

Ray Woloszyn

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Returning from a past Grenadier tournament I decided to cross the Rhine using the ferry at Remagen. For me it was quite eerie looking at the ruins of the bridge. At least the ferry did not hit one of the floating mines the Germans floated to destroy the pontoon bridge. I did not see any plunging V-2's either. :facepalm:
 

witchbottles

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https://web.archive.org/web/20101218082314/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/1995_War_08_Timmermann.pdf

Here is the source document cited by wikipedia. The author of it (Alex Meyer), refers to the obituary carried in Rocky Mountain News, (Denver) Oct 25, 1951 issue. If anyone is in Denver area and has a bit of spare time on their hands, a visit to the local library or two should produce the microfiche of the obit itself from that date and publication, and a photocopy of the article from the microfiche can be obtained typically for less than $2.00 USD total cost,, if not much less. (as it would be only a single page photostat).

That would provide the relevant information from the primary source on the obit and the death it announced, of the Lt Timmerman who was at Remagen.

Perhaps you might be able to locate a fellow ASL'r with a bit of time on their hands to do the micro-footwork for you.

The gravesite will also be in the registry at the National Cemetery referenced in the article for the marker photographed. That can be examined by anyone in person, as can the marker itself.
 
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