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96-591: The Krämerbrücke ( pronounced [ˈkʁɛːmɐˌbʁʏkə] ; Merchants' bridge) is a medieval arch bridge in the city of Erfurt , in Thuringia , central Germany, which is lined with half-timbered shops and houses on both sides of a cobblestone street. It is one of the few remaining bridges in the world that have inhabited buildings. It has been continuously inhabited for over 500 years, longer than any other bridge in Europe. The stone, pedestrian bridge, which dates from 1325,

192-520: A Country Path," Martin Heidegger develops his concept of Gelassenheit, or releasement, from Meister Eckhart. Ian Moore argues "that Heidegger consulted Eckhart again and again throughout his career to develop or support his own thought.". The French philosopher Jacques Derrida distinguishes Eckhart's Negative Theology from his own concept of différance although John D. Caputo in his influential The Tears and Prayers of Jacques Derrida emphasises

288-479: A correspondent of Radcliffe, wrote in a defence of Eckhart to Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI ), stating: Only 28 propositions were censured, but they were taken out of their context and impossible to verify, since there were no manuscripts in Avignon. Eckhart was schooled in medieval scholasticism and was well-acquainted with Aristotelianism and Augustinianism . The Neo-Platonism of Pseudo-Dionysius

384-505: A deck arch bridge. Any part supported from arch below may have spandrels that are closed or open. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Bayonne Bridge are a through arch bridge which uses a truss type arch. Also known as a bowstring arch, this type of arch bridge incorporates a tie between two opposite ends of the arch. The tie is usually the deck and is capable of withstanding the horizontal thrust forces which would normally be exerted on

480-653: A full understanding of Eckhart. In 1923, Eckhart's Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense (also known as the Rechtsfertigung , or "vindicatory document") was re-published. The Defense recorded Eckhart's responses against two of the Inquisitional proceedings brought against him at Cologne, and details of the circumstances of Eckhart's trial. The excerpts in the Defense from vernacular sermons and treatises described by Eckhart as his own, served to authenticate

576-458: A greater passage for flood waters. Bridges with perforated spandrels can be found worldwide, such as in China ( Zhaozhou Bridge , 7th century). Greece ( Bridge of Arta , 17th century) and Wales ( Cenarth Bridge , 18th century). In more modern times, stone and brick arches continued to be built by many civil engineers, including Thomas Telford , Isambard Kingdom Brunel and John Rennie . A key pioneer

672-645: A guide to the spiritual life like St Bonaventure’s Itinerarium – the Journey of the Soul," but that his ideas on this have to be condensed from his "couple of very short books on suffering and detachment" and sermons. According to Mills, Eckhart's comments on prayer are only about contemplative prayer and "detachment." According to Reiner Schürmann, four stages can be discerned in Eckhart's understanding mystical development: dissimilarity, similarity, identity, breakthrough. Eckhart

768-413: A man should be empty of self and all things; and secondly, that he should be reconstructed in the simple good that God is; and thirdly, that he should consider the great aristocracy which God has set up in the soul, such that by means of it man may wonderfully attain to God; and fourthly, of the purity of the divine nature. As Eckhart said in his trial defence, his sermons were meant to inspire in listeners

864-402: A man who has wine in his cellar but has never tasted it, he does not know that it is good. (Sermon 10, DW I 164.5–8) Whoever does not understand what I say, let him not burden his heart with it. For as long as a man is not like this truth, he will not understand what I say. For this is a truth beyond thought that comes immediately from the heart of God. (Sermon 52, DW II 506.1–3) Kurt Flasch ,

960-607: A medieval trade and pilgrims' road network, which linked Rome with the Baltic Sea, and Moscow with Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. The Krämerbrücke is on the route from the river Rhine to Silesia . It is also on one of the main routes of the Camino de Santiago , the Way of St. James pilgrimage. Erfurt was at a major crossroads of the Via Regia and it became an important trading centre in

1056-471: A member of the so-called Bochum-school of mediaeval philosophy, strongly reacted against the influence of New Age mysticism and "all kinds of emotional subjective mysticism", arguing for the need to free Eckhart from "the Mystical Flood". He sees Eckhart strictly as a philosopher. Flasch argues that the opposition between "mystic" and "scholastic" is not relevant because this mysticism (in Eckhart's context)

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1152-511: A misinterpretation of the archives of the period. In reality, little is known about his family and early life. There is no basis for giving him the Christian name of Johannes , which sometimes appears in biographical sketches: his Christian name was Eckhart ; his surname was von Hochheim . Probably around 1278, Eckhart joined the Dominican convent at Erfurt , when he was about eighteen. It

1248-435: A number of sermons found in old editions of Johann Tauler 's sermons, published by Kachelouen (Leipzig, 1498) and by Adam Petri (Basel, 1521 and 1522). Interest in Eckhart's works was revived in the early nineteenth century, especially by German Romantics and Idealist philosophers. Franz Pfeiffer 's publication in 1857 of Eckhart's German sermons and treatises added greatly to this interest. Another important figure in

1344-501: A number of the vernacular works. Although questions remain about the authenticity of some vernacular works, there is no dispute about the genuine character of the Latin texts presented in the critical edition. Since the 1960s scholars have debated whether Eckhart should be called a "mystic". The philosopher Karl Albert had already argued that Eckhart had to be placed in the tradition of philosophical mysticism of Parmenides and Plato and

1440-448: A quantity of fill material (typically compacted rubble) above the arch in order to increase this dead-weight on the bridge and prevent tension from occurring in the arch ring as loads move across the bridge. Other materials that were used to build this type of bridge were brick and unreinforced concrete. When masonry (cut stone) is used the angles of the faces are cut to minimize shear forces. Where random masonry (uncut and unprepared stones)

1536-415: A result, masonry arch bridges are designed to be constantly under compression, so far as is possible. Each arch is constructed over a temporary falsework frame, known as a centring . In the first compression arch bridges, a keystone in the middle of the bridge bore the weight of the rest of the bridge. The more weight that was put onto the bridge, the stronger its structure became. Masonry arch bridges use

1632-498: A status as a great mystic within contemporary popular spirituality , as well as considerable interest from scholars situating him within the medieval scholastic and philosophical tradition. Eckhart was probably born around 1260 in the village of Tambach , near Gotha , in the Landgraviate of Thuringia , perhaps between 1250 and 1260. It was previously asserted that he was born to a noble family of landowners, but this originated in

1728-502: A surviving collection of Eckhart's Latin works. As Eckhart was the only medieval theologian tried before the Inquisition as a heretic, the subsequent (1329) condemnation of excerpts from his works cast a shadow over his reputation for some, but followers of Eckhart in the lay group Friends of God existed in communities across the region and carried on his ideas under the leadership of such priests as John Tauler and Henry Suso . Eckhart

1824-430: A three-hinged bridge has hinged in all three locations. Most modern arch bridges are made from reinforced concrete . This type of bridge is suitable where a temporary centring may be erected to support the forms, reinforcing steel, and uncured concrete. When the concrete is sufficiently set the forms and falseworks are then removed. It is also possible to construct a reinforced concrete arch from precast concrete , where

1920-428: Is a masonry, or stone, bridge where each successively higher course (layer) cantilevers slightly more than the previous course. The steps of the masonry may be trimmed to make the arch have a rounded shape. The corbel arch does not produce thrust, or outward pressure at the bottom of the arch, and is not considered a true arch . It is more stable than a true arch because it does not have this thrust. The disadvantage

2016-575: Is assumed he studied at Cologne before 1280. He may have also studied at the University of Paris , either before or after his time in Cologne. The first solid evidence we have for his life is when on 18 April 1294, as a baccalaureus (lecturer) on the Sentences of Peter Lombard , a post to which he had presumably been appointed in 1293 (he had been ordained to the priesthood by that time), he preached

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2112-629: Is considered by some to have been the inspirational " layman " referred to in Johannes Tauler 's and Rulman Merswin 's later writings in Strasbourg where he is known to have spent time (although it is doubtful that he authored the simplistic Book of the Nine Rocks published by Merswin and attributed to The Friend of God from the Oberland ). On the other hand, most scholars consider The Friend of God from

2208-708: Is generated, and which is yet the source and fountain of all the divine. The Trinity is, for Eckhart, the revealed God and the mysterious origin of the Trinity is the Godhead, the absolute God. Matthew Fox (born 1940) is an American theologian . Formerly a priest and a member of the Dominican Order within the Roman Catholic Church , Fox was an early and influential exponent of a movement that came to be known as Creation Spirituality . The movement draws inspiration from

2304-441: Is holding converse with time and the creatures; then must the right eye be hindered in its working; that is, in its contemplation. Therefore, whosoever will have the one must let the other go; for "no man can serve two masters". Eckhart was largely forgotten from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, barring occasional interest from thinkers such as Angelus Silesius (1627–1677). For centuries, his writings were known only from

2400-640: Is one of the oldest secular structures in Erfurt. It spans the Breitstrom , a branch of Gera River , and connects two town squares – Benediktsplatz and Wenigemarkt. From end to end, the Krämerbrücke is 125 m (410 ft 1 in; 136 yd 2 ft) long in total. The stone bridge was constructed from limestone and sandstone in 1325, with six visible barrel arches ranging from 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) to 8 m (26 ft 3 in) wide. The section of

2496-437: Is penetrated by the spirit of the university , in which it occurred. According to Hackett, Eckhart is to be understood as an "original hermeneutical thinker in the Latin tradition". To understand Eckhart, he has to be properly placed within the western philosophical tradition of which he was a part. Josiah Royce , an objective idealist , saw Eckhart as a representative example of 13th and 14th century Catholic mystics "on

2592-483: Is possible that the Pope's unusual decision to issue the bull, despite the death of Eckhart (and the fact that Eckhart was not being personally condemned as a heretic), was due to the pope's fear of the growing problem of mystical heresy, and pressure from his ally Henry of Virneburg to bring the case to a definite conclusion. Eckhart's status in the contemporary Catholic Church has been uncertain. The Dominican Order pressed in

2688-435: Is still in much the same use as it has been for over 500 years. About 80 people live on the Krämerbrücke. The shops at street level house businesses such as artisans' workshops, specialist food outlets, antique shops, wine merchants, art galleries, cafes, etc. A bakery operates at the western end of the bridge. The upper levels of the buildings are mainly inhabited homes. Except for the buildings numbered 15, 20, 24, and 33, all

2784-432: Is that this type of arch is not suitable for large spans. In some locations it is necessary to span a wide gap at a relatively high elevation, such as when a canal or water supply must span a valley. Rather than building extremely large arches, or very tall supporting columns (difficult using stone), a series of arched structures are built one atop another, with wider structures at the base. Roman civil engineers developed

2880-624: Is thin. However, it is known that the commissions reduced the 150 suspect articles down to 28; the document known as the Votum Avenionense gives, in scholastic fashion, the twenty-eight articles, Eckhart's defence of each, and the rebuttal of the commissioners. On 30 April 1328, the pope wrote to Archbishop Henry of Virneburg that the case against Eckhart was moving ahead, but added that Eckhart had already died (modern scholarship suggests he may have died on 28 January 1328). The papal commission eventually confirmed (albeit in modified form)

2976-402: Is used they are mortared together and the mortar is allowed to set before the falsework is removed. Traditional masonry arches are generally durable, and somewhat resistant to settlement or undermining. However, relative to modern alternatives, such bridges are very heavy, requiring extensive foundations . They are also expensive to build wherever labor costs are high. The corbel arch bridge

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3072-549: The East German government in 1985 and 1986. Since then, vehicles up to a weight of 11 tons have been allowed to use the bridge, although it remains essentially a pedestrian bridge, with only small delivery and maintenance vehicles accessing it at restricted times. Since 1990 the bridge has been under continual maintenance. Over 1 million Euro has been spent on it. The bridge is still an important thoroughfare for local residents, as well as being one of Erfurt's main tourist sites. It

3168-549: The Etruscans and ancient Greeks , the Romans were – as with the vault and the dome – the first to fully realize the potential of arches for bridge construction. A list of Roman bridges compiled by the engineer Colin O'Connor features 330 Roman stone bridges for traffic, 34 Roman timber bridges and 54 Roman aqueduct bridges , a substantial part still standing and even used to carry vehicles. A more complete survey by

3264-592: The Holy Roman Empire . Eckhart came into prominence during the Avignon Papacy at a time of increased tensions between monastic orders, diocesan clergy, the Franciscan Order, and Eckhart's Dominican Order . In later life, he was accused of heresy and brought up before the local Franciscan-led Inquisition , and tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII with the bull In Agro Dominico of March 27, 1329. In

3360-538: The neo-Platonist thinkers Plotinus , Porphyry and Proclus . Heribert Fischer argued in the 1960s that Eckhart was a mediaeval theologian. Most recently, Clint Johnson agreed with D. T. Suzuki and argued on the basis of Eckhart's appeals to experience that he is a mystic in the tradition of Augustine and Dionysius . Passages like the following, Johnson contends, point to experience beyond intellectual speculation and philosophizing: Those who have never been familiar with inward things do not know what God is. Like

3456-638: The Areopagite asserted a great influence on him, as reflected in his notions on the Gottheit beyond the God who can be named. Although he was an accomplished academic theologian, Eckhart's best-remembered works are his highly unusual sermons in the vernacular. Eckhart as a preaching friar attempted to guide his flock, as well as monks and nuns under his jurisdiction, with practical sermons on spiritual/psychological transformation and New Testament metaphorical content related to

3552-648: The Cologne Dominican convent after the promulgation of the bull condemning Eckhart's writings, as notations from the bull are inserted into the manuscript. The manuscript came into the possession of the Carthusians in Basel, demonstrating that some Dominicans and Carthusians had continued to read Eckhart's work. It is also clear that Nicholas of Cusa , Archbishop of Cologne in the 1430s and 1440s, engaged in extensive study of Eckhart. He assembled, and carefully annotated,

3648-520: The Dominican authorities already had concerns about Eckhart's teaching. The Dominican General Chapter held in Venice in the spring of 1325 had spoken out against "friars in Teutonia who say things in their sermons that can easily lead simple and uneducated people into error". This concern (or perhaps concerns held by the archbishop of Cologne, Henry of Virneburg ) may have been why Nicholas of Strasburg , to whom

3744-500: The Dominican house at Cologne. It is not clear exactly what he did there, though part of his time may have been spent teaching at the prestigious Studium in the city. Eckhart also continued to preach, addressing his sermons during a time of disarray among the clergy and monastic orders, rapid growth of numerous pious lay groups, and the Inquisition 's continuing concerns over heretical movements throughout Europe. It appears that some of

3840-452: The Dominicans and recipient of the letter, summarized the contents as follows: We tried to have the censure lifted on Eckhart ... and were told that there was really no need since he had never been condemned by name, just some propositions which he was supposed to have held, and so we are perfectly free to say that he is a good and orthodox theologian. Professor Winfried Trusen of Würzburg,

3936-627: The Easter Sermon (the Sermo Paschalis ) at the Dominican convent of St. Jacques in Paris. In late 1294, Eckhart was made Prior at Erfurt and Dominican Provincial of Thuringia in Germany. His earliest vernacular work, Reden der Unterweisung ( The Talks of Instructions / Counsels on Discernment ), a series of talks delivered to Dominican novices, dates from this time (c. 1295–1298). In 1302, he

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4032-517: The Italian scholar Vittorio Galliazzo found 931 Roman bridges, mostly of stone, in as many as 26 countries (including former Yugoslavia ). Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular , although a number were segmental arch bridges (such as Alconétar Bridge ), a bridge which has a curved arch that is less than a semicircle. The advantages of the segmental arch bridge were that it allowed great amounts of flood water to pass under it, which would prevent

4128-461: The Krämerbrücke on its south side. When the Rathausbrücke was being planned, the idea of completely demolishing the Krämerbrücke was discussed. In 1945, house numbers 11 to 14 were damaged in an allied air raid, with number 12 being completely destroyed. The buildings were reconstructed in 1954. An extensive restoration of the whole bridge structure, including the arched vaults, was carried out by

4224-578: The Middle Ages. It was a member of the Hanseatic League . A wooden bridge was built at sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries at the same river ford as the present day Krämerbrücke. The bridge was first mentioned in 1117 after its destruction by one of many fires. The first written evidence of a "pons rerum venalium", i.e. "a market bridge", on the site dates back to 1156. Merchants and trades people had already set up market stalls on both sides of

4320-414: The Oberland to be a pure fiction invented by Merswin to hide his authorship because of the intimidating tactics of the Inquisition at the time. It has been suspected that his practical communication of the mystical path is behind the influential 14th-century "anonymous" Theologia Germanica , which was disseminated after his disappearance. According to the medieval introduction of the document, its author

4416-637: The One that cannot hold back its abundance of Being. Eckhart had imagined the creation not as a "compulsory" overflowing (a metaphor based on a common hydrodynamic picture), but as the free act of will of the triune nature of Deity (refer Trinitarianism ). Another bold assertion is Eckhart's distinction between God and Godhead ( Gottheit in German, meaning Godhood or Godhead, state of being God). These notions had been present in Pseudo-Dionysius 's writings and John

4512-468: The Pope had given the temporary charge of the Dominican convents in Germany in 1325, conducted an investigation into Eckhart's orthodoxy. Nicholas presented a list of suspect passages from the Book of Consolation to Eckhart, who responded sometime between August 1325 and January 1326 with the treatise Requisitus , now lost, which convinced his immediate superiors of his orthodoxy. Despite this assurance, however,

4608-538: The Provincial superior of Teutonia and him at the Dominican general chapter held in Paris in 1306, concerning irregularities among the ternaries, must have been trivial, because the general, Aymeric of Piacenza , appointed him in the following year as his vicar-general for Bohemia with full power to set the demoralised monasteries there in order. Eckhart was Provincial for Saxony until 1311, during which time he founded three convents for women there. On 14 May 1311 Eckhart

4704-558: The Scot 's De divisione naturae , but Eckhart, with characteristic vigor and audacity, reshaped the germinal metaphors into profound images of polarity between the Unmanifest and Manifest Absolute. Eckhart taught that "it is not in God to destroy anything which has being, but he perfects all things" leading some scholars to conclude that he may have held to some form of universal salvation . John Orme Mills notes that Eckhart did not "leave us

4800-436: The abutments of an arch bridge. The deck is suspended from the arch. The arch is in compression, in contrast to a suspension bridge where the catenary is in tension. A tied-arch bridge can also be a through arch bridge. An arch bridge with hinges incorporated to allow movement between structural elements. A single-hinged bridge has a hinge at the crown of the arch , a two-hinged bridge has hinges at both springing points and

4896-761: The acclaimed Florentine segmental arch bridge Ponte Vecchio (1345) combined sound engineering (span-to-rise ratio of over 5.3 to 1) with aesthetical appeal. The three elegant arches of the Renaissance Ponte Santa Trinita (1569) constitute the oldest elliptic arch bridge worldwide. Such low rising structures required massive abutments , which at the Venetian Rialto bridge and the Fleischbrücke in Nuremberg (span-to-rise ratio 6.4:1) were founded on thousands of wooden piles, partly rammed obliquely into

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4992-416: The arch and the deck is known as the spandrel . If the spandrel is solid, usually the case in a masonry or stone arch bridge, the bridge is called a closed-spandrel deck arch bridge . If the deck is supported by a number of vertical columns rising from the arch, the bridge is known as an open-spandrel deck arch bridge . The Alexander Hamilton Bridge is an example of an open-spandrel arch bridge. Finally, if

5088-400: The arch is built in two halves which are then leaned against each other. Many modern bridges, made of steel or reinforced concrete, often bear some of their load by tension within their structure. This reduces or eliminates the horizontal thrust against the abutments and allows their construction on weaker ground. Structurally and analytically they are not true arches but rather a beam with

5184-422: The arch supports the deck only at the top of the arch, the bridge is called a cathedral arch bridge . This type of bridge has an arch whose base is at or below the deck, but whose top rises above it, so the deck passes through the arch. The central part of the deck is supported by the arch via suspension cables or tie bars, as with a tied-arch bridge . The ends of the bridge may be supported from below, as with

5280-535: The archbishop in 1326 ordered an inquisitorial trial. At this point Eckhart issued a Vindicatory Document , providing chapter and verse of what he had been taught. Throughout the difficult months of late 1326, Eckhart had the full support of the local Dominican authorities, as evident in Nicholas of Strasbourg's three official protests against the actions of the inquisitors in January 1327. On 13 February 1327, before

5376-421: The archbishop's inquisitors pronounced their sentence on Eckhart, Eckhart preached a sermon in the Dominican church at Cologne, and then had his secretary read out a public protestation of his innocence. He stated in his protest that he had always detested everything wrong, and should anything of the kind be found in his writings, he now retracts. Eckhart himself translated the text into German, so that his audience,

5472-615: The bridge an unusually flat profile unsurpassed for more than a millennium. Trajan's bridge over the Danube featured open- spandrel segmental arches made of wood (standing on 40 m-high (130 ft) concrete piers). This was to be the longest arch bridge for a thousand years both in terms of overall and individual span length, while the longest extant Roman bridge is the 790 m-long (2,590 ft) long Puente Romano at Mérida . The late Roman Karamagara Bridge in Cappadocia may represent

5568-418: The bridge by this date. The name Krämerbrücke , which means "merchants' bridge", has been in common usage since 1510. There were repeated fires on the wooden bridge in 1175, 1178, 1213, 1222, 1245, 1265, and 1293. The idea of building a stone bridge was discussed after the 1265 fire and in 1293 the municipal administration acquired all bridge rights from the monasteries, who traded goods on the bridge. However,

5664-447: The bridge from being swept away during floods and the bridge itself could be more lightweight. Generally, Roman bridges featured wedge-shaped primary arch stones ( voussoirs ) of the same in size and shape. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple arch aqueducts , such as the Pont du Gard and Segovia Aqueduct . Their bridges featured from an early time onwards flood openings in

5760-407: The bridge supported by the six arches is 79 m (259 ft 2 in; 86 yd 1 ft) long. Wooden stalls were built on top of the stone bridge for trading goods. The bridge originally had stone churches at both ends, where gated entrances were erected – St. Benedict's Church at the western end and St Giles' Church ( Ägidienkirche ) at the eastern end. St Giles', the only one of

5856-417: The bridge today; both traditional music and contemporary bands are an important part of the annual Krämerbrückenfest . St. Benedict's Church at the west end of the bridge was sold in 1807 and later demolished, apart from its tower, in 1810, in order to build a new house. In 1895 the tower was also demolished to enable the construction of the Rathausbrücke (town hall bridge), which crosses the river parallel to

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5952-404: The creative power inherent in disinterest (dispassion or detachment). The central theme of Eckhart's German sermons is the presence of God in the individual soul, and the dignity of the soul of the just man. Although he elaborated on this theme, he rarely departed from it. In one sermon, Eckhart gives the following summary of his message: When I preach, I usually speak of detachment and say that

6048-473: The decision of the Cologne commission against Eckhart. Pope John XXII issued a bull ( In agro dominico ), 27 March 1329, in which a series of statements from Eckhart is characterized as heretical, another as suspected of heresy. At the close, it is stated that Eckhart recanted before his death everything which he had falsely taught, by subjecting himself and his writing to the decision of the Apostolic see . It

6144-414: The design and constructed highly refined structures using only simple materials, equipment, and mathematics. This type is still used in canal viaducts and roadways as it has a pleasing shape, particularly when spanning water, as the reflections of the arches form a visual impression of circles or ellipses. This type of bridge comprises an arch where the deck is completely above the arch. The area between

6240-696: The desire above all to do some good. In this, he frequently used unusual language or seemed to stray from the path of orthodoxy, which made him suspect to the Church during the tense years of the Avignon Papacy. In Eckhart's vision, God is primarily fecund. Out of overabundance of love the fertile God gives birth to the Son , the Word in all of us. Clearly, this is rooted in the Neoplatonic notion of "ebullience; boiling over" of

6336-448: The divine essence and the divine persons. The very heart of Eckhart's speculative mysticism, according to Royce, is that if, through what is called in Christian terminology the procession of the Son, the divine omniscience gets a complete expression in eternal terms, still there is even at the centre of this omniscience the necessary mystery of the divine essence itself, which neither generates nor

6432-550: The earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch. In medieval Europe, bridge builders improved on the Roman structures by using narrower piers , thinner arch barrels and higher span-to-rise ratios on bridges. Gothic pointed arches were also introduced, reducing lateral thrust, and spans increased as with the eccentric Puente del Diablo (1282). The 14th century in particular saw bridge building reaching new heights. Span lengths of 40 m (130 ft), previously unheard of in

6528-492: The grounds to counteract more effectively the lateral thrust. In China, the oldest existing arch bridge is the Zhaozhou Bridge of 605 AD, which combined a very low span-to-rise ratio of 5.2:1, with the use of spandrel arches (buttressed with iron brackets). The Zhaozhou Bridge, with a length of 167 feet (51 m) and span of 123 feet (37 m), is the world's first wholly stone open-spandrel segmental arch bridge, allowing

6624-443: The history of masonry arch construction, were now reached in places as diverse as Spain ( Puente de San Martín ), Italy ( Castelvecchio Bridge ) and France ( Devil's bridge and Pont Grand ) and with arch types as different as semi-circular, pointed and segmental arches. The bridge at Trezzo sull'Adda , destroyed in the 15th century, even featured a span length of 72 m (236 ft), not matched until 1796. Constructions such as

6720-539: The last decade of the 20th century for his full rehabilitation and confirmation of his theological orthodoxy. Pope John Paul II voiced favorable opinion on this initiative, even going as far as quoting from Eckhart's writings, but the outcome was confined to the corridors of the Vatican . In the spring of 2010, it was revealed that there had been a response from the Vatican in a letter dated 1992. Timothy Radcliffe , then Master of

6816-521: The later nineteenth century for the recovery of Eckhart's works was Henry Denifle , who was the first to recover Eckhart's Latin works, from 1886 onwards. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, much Catholic interest in Eckhart was concerned with the consistency of his thought in relation to Neoscholastic thought – in other words, to see whether Eckhart's thought could be seen to be essentially in conformity with orthodoxy as represented by his fellow Dominican Thomas Aquinas . Since

6912-481: The mid-nineteenth century scholars have questioned which of the many pieces attributed to Eckhart should be considered genuine, and whether greater weight should be given to works written in the vernacular, or Latin. Although the vernacular works survive today in over 200 manuscripts, the Latin writings are found only in a handful of manuscripts. Denifle and others have proposed that the Latin treatises, which Eckhart prepared for publication very carefully, were essential to

7008-484: The organisations that ensure that the bridge is properly looked after; these are: The Krämerbrückenfest is an important festival in Erfurt, attracting about 130,000 visitors. The three-day festival has been held in the third week of June annually since 1975. It is a celebration of the bridge and the culture of the Middle Ages. The festival is officially opened by an actor playing the folkloric character Till Eulenspiegel , who according to legend visited Erfurt and fooled

7104-441: The other buildings on the bridge are municipal property. In medieval times buildings were not numbered and many people were illiterate, so house signs were sometimes hung on buildings or placed over doorways, so that the house and its occupants could be easily located. Examples of these can still be seen on the bridge, as well as original doors which may be hundreds of years old. The Stiftung Krämerbrücke (Krämerbrücke Foundation)

7200-821: The piers, e.g. in the Pons Fabricius in Rome (62 BC), one of the world's oldest major bridges still standing. Roman engineers were the first and until the Industrial Revolution the only ones to construct bridges with concrete , which they called Opus caementicium . The outside was usually covered with brick or ashlar , as in the Alcántara Bridge . The Romans also introduced segmental arch bridges into bridge construction. The 330 m-long (1,080 ft) Limyra Bridge in southwestern Turkey features 26 segmental arches with an average span-to-rise ratio of 5.3:1, giving

7296-592: The professors at the university that he had taught a donkey to read. Arch bridge Possibly the oldest existing arch bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko Bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is still used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has a triangular corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch. Although true arches were already known by

7392-402: The shape of an arch. See truss arch bridge for more on this type. A modern evolution of the arch bridge is the long-span through arch bridge . This has been made possible by the use of light materials that are strong in tension such as steel and prestressed concrete. "The Romans were the first builders in Europe, perhaps the first in the world, fully to appreciate the advantages of the arch,

7488-623: The stone bridge wasn't completed until 1325. For about the first hundred years following the stone bridge's construction, mainly local produce was sold in its stalls. There were a number of important monasteries in Erfurt, including St Augustine's , where Martin Luther was later a monk; the Dominican Prediger Monastery where the mystic Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–1328) was the prior; and the Benedictine monastery of St Peter and Paul, which

7584-506: The stone bridge. Sixty-two timber-framed buildings were built on each side of the stone bridge, creating a street between the two rows. Later, the small houses were gradually merged, so that there are now 32 houses on the bridge. They have shops on the ground floor and living accommodation above. They are the longest rows of inhabited buildings on any bridge in Europe. The three-storey houses are 13 m (42 ft 8 in) to 15 m (49 ft 3 in) in height. To make them habitable,

7680-521: The subsequent Protestant Reformation . The following quote from the Theologia Germanica depicts the conflict between worldly and ecclesiastical affairs: The two eyes of the soul of man cannot both perform their work at once: but if the soul shall see with the right eye into eternity, then the left eye must close itself and refrain from working, and be as though it were dead. For if the left eye be fulfilling its office toward outward things, that

7776-483: The time at Strasbourg . It is unclear what specific office he held there: he seems chiefly to have been concerned with spiritual direction and with preaching in convents of Dominicans. A passage in a chronicle of the year 1320, extant in manuscript (cf. Wilhelm Preger , i. 352–399), speaks of a prior Eckhart at Frankfurt who was suspected of heresy, and some historians have linked this to Meister Eckhart. In late 1323 or early 1324, Eckhart left Strasbourg for

7872-482: The trial, excerpts of his Book of Divine Consolation were used against Eckhart. He seems to have died before his verdict was received. He was well known for his work with pious lay groups such as the Friends of God and was succeeded by his more circumspect disciples Johannes Tauler and Henry Suso , the latter of whom was later beatified . Since the 19th century, he has received renewed attention. He has acquired

7968-413: The two that still exists, was previously a bridge chapel , first mentioned in 1110. The archway of the church, through which the Krämerbrücke can be entered, is 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in) wide and 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in) high. The construction of the houses on the Krämerbrücke was completed in 1486, following a fire in 1472 which destroyed nearly half of the city and the market stalls on

8064-461: The vault and the dome." Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim OP ( c.  1260 – c.  1328 ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart ( pronounced [ˈmaɪstɐ ʔˈɛkaʁt] ), Master Eckhart or Eckehart , claimed original name Johannes Eckhart , was a German Catholic priest , theologian , philosopher and mystic . He was born near Gotha in the Landgraviate of Thuringia (now Thuringia in central Germany) in

8160-413: The verge of pronounced heresy" but without original philosophical opinions. Royce attributes Eckhart's reputation for originality to the fact that he translated scholastic philosophy from Latin into German, and that Eckhart wrote about his speculations in German instead of Latin. Eckhart generally followed Thomas Aquinas 's doctrine of the Trinity, but Eckhart exaggerated the scholastic distinction between

8256-442: The vernacular public, could understand it. The verdict then seems to have gone against Eckhart. Eckhart denied competence and authority to the inquisitors and the archbishop, and appealed to the Pope against the verdict. He then, in the spring of 1327, set off for Avignon . In Avignon, Pope John XXII seems to have set up two tribunals to inquire into the case, one of theologians and the other of cardinals. Evidence of this process

8352-452: The width of the bridge was extended by using wooden Sprengwerke (trusses or bracing) next to the arched vaults, so that the buildings partially overhang the stone bridge structure. The total width of the bridge, as completed in 1486, is 26 m (85 ft 4 in). The road between the two rows of buildings is 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) wide. The bridge was part of the Via Regia ,

8448-490: The wisdom traditions of Christian scriptures and from the philosophies of such medieval Catholic visionaries as Hildegard of Bingen , Thomas Aquinas , Francis of Assisi , Julian of Norwich , Dante Alighieri , Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa , and others. Fox has written a number of articles on Eckhart and a book titled Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart's Creation Spirituality in New Translation . In "Conversation on

8544-402: Was Jean-Rodolphe Perronet , who used much narrower piers, revised calculation methods and exceptionally low span-to-rise ratios. Different materials, such as cast iron , steel and concrete have been increasingly used in the construction of arch bridges. Stone, brick and other such materials are strong in compression and somewhat so in shear , but cannot resist much force in tension . As

8640-610: Was an unnamed member of the Teutonic Order of Knights living in Frankfurt. The lack of imprimatur from the Church and anonymity of the author of the Theologia Germanica did not lessen its influence for the next two centuries – including Martin Luther at the peak of public and clerical resistance to Catholic indulgences  – and was viewed by some historians of the early 20th century as pivotal in provoking Luther's actions and

8736-421: Was appointed by the general chapter held at Naples as teacher at Paris. To be invited back to Paris for a second stint as magister was a rare privilege, previously granted only to Thomas Aquinas . Eckhart stayed in Paris for two academic years, until the summer of 1313, living in the same house as inquistor William of Paris . After that follows a long period of which it is known only that Eckhart spent part of

8832-424: Was founded in 1996 by the city council. It is responsible for maintaining the bridge and promoting its history. The foundation strictly controls what type of businesses can operate from the bridge to ensure that it remains in keeping with its historical roots. In the "Haus der Stiftung" (Krämerbrücke 31), there is a permanent exhibition about the history of the bridge. The information centre also provides information on

8928-430: Was on the hill where Petersberg Citadel now stands. These continued to have stalls on the bridge, selling "Apoteki", such as herbs for healing and culinary use, wine and vegetables. Later, goods such as paper, goldsmiths' work, silk, spices and oriental perfumes such as frankincense from places up to 7000 km away were sold on the bridge, and the locally produced woad , a valuable and important dye for which Erfurt

9024-418: Was one of the most influential 13th-century Christian Neoplatonists in his day, and remained widely read in the later Middle Ages. Some early twentieth-century writers believed that Eckhart's work was forgotten by his fellow Dominicans soon after his death. In 1960, however, a manuscript (" in agro dominico ") was discovered containing six hundred excerpts from Eckhart, clearly deriving from an original made in

9120-482: Was renowned, was sold to traders who took it across Europe. During the 16th and 17th centuries, after the current half-timbered houses had been built, trades people such as toymakers, furriers , passementerie makers and leather tanners began to operate from the workshops on the bridge. In 1624 the city council gave permission for street musicians to play on and around the bridge, with flutes, fiddles, trumpets, crumhorns and pommers . Street musicians still play on

9216-485: Was sent to Paris to take up the external Dominican chair of theology. He remained there until 1303. The short Parisian Questions date from this time. In late 1303, Eckhart returned to Erfurt and was given the position of Provincial superior for Saxony , a province which reached at that time from the Netherlands to Livonia . Thereby, he had responsibility for forty-seven convents in the region. Complaints made against

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