High Bridge, Kerns

Of Switzerland’s 200-plus covered wooden bridges, the High Bridge (Ger: Hohe Brücke) on the Flüeli-Ranft – Kerns road is a widely visited attraction, being Europe’s highest such structure.

Weighing 100 tonnes, 30 metres in length and 100 metres up, the bridge was built by the military in 1943 to relieve the Kerns-Melchtal road. It took 16 soldiers just 36 days to complete the task without machinery, using 150 cubic metres of wood, 4800 kg of screws, 3000 kg of nails, 3900 ring dowels and 132,000 wood shingles.

The endeavours replaced the first bridge, a pioneering feat erected in 1893 by Kerns-born master carpenter Josef Windlin to his own design.