World War II · Film · 1969
The Bridge at Remagen
In March 1945 a weary American platoon races toward the Rhine while a German major is ordered to keep the last bridge open for his retreating army and then blow it up in time.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 3 places.
Stop 1: Rhine bridge at Oberkassel, Düsseldorf
Hartman's men arrive just as the Germans blow the Oberkassel bridge in their faces, and their company commander is killed.
Stop 2: Meckenheim
After taking Meckenheim, the exhausted platoon is ordered to keep pushing toward the Rhine instead of resting.
Stop 3: Ludendorff Bridge, Remagen
Key location
Finding the bridge intact, Hartman leads his men across as German engineers try desperately to bring it down.
What really happened
As the Allies closed on the Rhine in early March 1945, the Germans blew up bridge after bridge. On 7 March a company of the US 9th Armored Division under Lieutenant Karl Timmermann found the Ludendorff railway bridge at Remagen still standing. The defenders set off their charges, but the bridge survived, and the Americans rushed across to win the first bridgehead over the Rhine.
Hitler had four German officers executed by a flying court-martial for failing to destroy it. The damaged bridge collapsed on 17 March, killing American engineers working on it, but by then pontoon bridges carried troops across. The film fictionalizes the characters and events, and it was shot in Czechoslovakia in 1968, where the crew was caught up in the Warsaw Pact invasion.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- The Bridge at Remagen
- Directed by
- John Guillermin
- Countries
- United States
- Languages
- English, German
- Released
- 1969
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Combat
- True story
