Elisabeth Bridge is the third newest bridge of Budapest, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. It is situated at the narrowest part of the river in the Budapest area, spanning only 290 m, and named after a popular queen and empress of Austria-Hungary, who was assassinated in 1898. Today, her large bronze statue sits by the bridge’s Buda side connection in the middle of a small garden.
The original permanent crossing, a decorative suspension bridge, was built between 1897 and 1903, amid a corruption scandal. The Buda end of the bridge runs directly into the massive foot of Gellért Hill, necessitating a complicated arrangement of roads to connect to the bridge. In recent decades, many motorists have been injured or killed in the sharp turn that immediately follows the bridgehead.
The bridge was designed in such a way because a wealthy nobleman, a member of the City Council owned the particular area of the riverbank. He wanted to make a fortune by selling the piece of land for bridge construction purposes, bribing the other councilmen and engineers on purpose. He managed to sell the land at greatly inflated prices.
The original Elisabeth Bridge, along with many other bridges all over the country, was blown up at the end of World War II by retreating Wehrmacht sappers. This is the only bridge in Budapest which could not be rebuilt in its original form. Pictures and some salvaged elements from the old bridge can be seen on the grass in front of the Museum of Transport in City Park.
The currently standing slender white cable bridge was built on the very same location between 1961–1964, because the government could not afford to construct entirely new foundations for the bridge. Tram traffic and its heavy tracks had to be removed from the bridge in 1973 after signs of cracks appeared in the structure.