Since planning began in the 1960s, the Köhlbrand Bridge was intended not only as the direct east-west link for the Port of Hamburg, but also as a feeder road for the A7 motorway and the Elbe Tunnel. The Köhlbrand Bridge and Elbe Tunnel fulfil their transport policy role for Germany's largest port and its surrounding area (which extends far into northern and eastern Europe) most effectively when they work together.
The A7 motorway, now one of Europe's most important routes between north and south, consisted only of long, unconnected sections when the Köhlbrand Bridge was first built. The construction of both the A7 through the city of Hamburg and the Elbe Tunnel, which opened in 1975, filled a critical gap in these routes.
After the end of the Second World War, the Port of Hamburg underwent rapid development. Increased global trade and the growth of container shipping necessitated the port's westward expansion. This required a high-performance bridge over the southern Elbe branch, also known as ‘Köhlbrand,’ which had previously required three ferries with a paltry 6,000-vehicle-per-day capacity to handle traffic on the busy waterway.
A classic suspension design in the fashion of the Golden Gate Bridge would have been uneconomical due to the short span.
And an arch bridge would not have been able to achieve the 53-metre clearance required for large-scale shipping traffic. So, the best solution was to construct a cable-stayed bridge, with an elegant, award-winning design by architect Egon Jux.
After almost five years of construction, the Köhlbrand Bridge was opened in 1974 by Federal President Walter Scheel, followed by the Elbe Tunnel one year later.
