Zwischenbrücken

Zwischenbrücken lies between two Danube bridges built in 1698: the large Tabor bridge near Floridsdorf and the small Tabor bridge near the Mauthaus am Tabor in the second district. The name itself reflects its position on the river’s edge, where the Taborau and Kaiserwasser once met. The first settlers were Mautwächter and Wachsoldaten stationed to guard the new crossing and collect tolls from travellers heading to Bohemia and Moravia. Two inns soon followed, serving both locals and passing merchants. Ship mills anchored along the northern bank added to the busy riverside scene. The settlement grew quickly after the arrival of the Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn in 1838, which brought workshops, factories and workers. Leopold Stephan produced the first rubber goods in Austria here in 1849. A chapel dedicated to St John of Nepomuk was built in 1769 to serve the scattered community, and in 1814 three crowned heads met at the inn opposite to mark the Congress of Vienna. By 1850 Zwischenbrücken had become part of Vienna, though parts were later lost to the Danube regulation of 1870–75. Today the area forms part of Brigittenau and Leopoldstadt, its old boundaries marked on maps by the name Zwischenbrücken. The Johannes-Nepomuk-Kapelle’s symbol appears in both district coats of arms, recalling the patron saint of bridges. Modern redevelopment has turned former railway yards into new neighbourhoods, shifting the district from the city’s edge toward its centre. The Allerheiligenkirche continues the parish tradition, while the old inn’s memory lives on in street names and local memory.