certain crucial segments. The first stone was laid on 31 May 1846. The plans were revised just once after construction began, when certain technical difficulties arose. For instance, the foundation on which the bridge was to be built turned out to be less firm than previously assumed. Chief engineer Robert Wilke solved this by replacing the arches in the middle with one great central arch, which only added to the impressiveness of this edifice. The Göltzsch Viaduct was an extraordinarily large endeavor for its time. Each day, the nearly 20 brickyards along the railway line would produce 50,000 bricks with the unusual dimensions of . The scaffolding was custom-made for each arch, totalling 23,000 tree trunks, although other sources even speak of 230,000 trunks. In total, 1,736 construction workers built the bridge, with 31 on-site fatalities. When the bridge was completed and inaugurated on 15 July 1851, it was world's tallest railway bridge. Today, it still holds the record for largest brick bridge in the world. Key people Professor Johann Andreas Schubert (1808–1870) – Chairman of the jury, architect, structural analyst Chief engineer Robert Wilke (1804–1889) – Construction planner and chief superintendent Engineer Ferdinand Dost (1810–1888) – Superintendent Pharmacist and chemist Heinrich Carl – Mortar composition Recent history A museum in the nearby Mylau Castle opened in 1883 that has dedicated a room to the Göltzsch Viaduct, that among others includes a scale model of the scaffolding, copies of the original building plans, a three-dimensional height map of the region, and photographs and paintings made during the construction of the bridge. In 1930, a top layer of reinforced concrete with a parapet allowed the railway track to become wider. During the latter days of World War II, the Wehrmacht intended to blow up the bridge with explosives. This plan was never executed. Between 1955 and 1958, the masonry was completely restored. It would take until 1977 for all work, including smaller jobs such as the placement of steel cover plates, to be completed. The Göltzsch Viaduct is part of the so-called Saxon-Franconian trunk line (Sachsen-Franken-Magistrale), which was restored from 1997 through to 2000. This allows tilting trains to use this trajectory, which can reach speeds of up to even on curved tracks. Around the bridge, many walking paths allow a good impression of the actual magnitude of this masterpiece of engineering. It is also possible to see the bridge and