The Ludendorff Bridge, also known as the Bridge at Remagen, was a bridge across the river Rhine in Germany which was captured by United States Army forces in early March 1945 during the Battle of Remagen, in the closing weeks of World War II, when it was one of the few remaining bridges in the region and therefore a critical strategic point. Built at the end of World War I it was supposed to help deliver reinforcements and supplies to German troops on the Western Front, but the adjacent tunnel under the Erpeler Ley rocks and the railway spur line was only completed in 1919. The bridge connected Remagen on the west (south) bank and the village of Erpel on the east (north) bank between two hills flanking the river. Due to a lack of demolition charges, the bridge was only damaged when retreating German forces tried to destroy it while already being attacked by US forces.
Midway through Operation Lumberjack, on 7 March 1945, the troops of the 1st U.S. Army approached Remagen and were surprised to find that the bridge was still standing. Its capture, two weeks before Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's planned Operation Plunder, enabled the U.S. Army to establish a bridgehead on the eastern side of the Rhine. After the U.S. forces captured the bridge, German forces tried to destroy it many times.
