Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (1792 – 1873), from the House of Wittelsbach, was the daughter of the Bavarian King, Maximilian I Joseph (1756 – 1825), and his first wife Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (1765 – 1796). In 1816, she married the widowed Austrian Emperor and Hungarian and Czech King, Francis I (II) of Habsburg-Lorraine (1768 – 1835) and became his fourth wife. Although her political role was rather insignificant, she exercised great influence, particularly due to her charity related activities, her support of social and Church institutions, and art within the Habsburg monarchy.
On 25th September 1825 she was crowned the Queen of Hungary in Bratislava, this followed the tradition for the coronation of Hungarian emperors and empresses between 1563 and 1830. The Hungarian royal crown, also known as the Crown of St. Stephen, was brought to Bratislava from Buda on 9th September 1825. It was to be held over the right shoulder of the Queen Consort during the ceremonial mass. The Empress and her retinue arrived several days later, on 17th September. During her journey, to cross the Danube, she used a recently built pontoon bridge, in the area of what is today Ľudovít Štúr Square. During the morning of the coronation day a magnificent procession, with the Emperor and Empress in Hungarian clothes, set off from the Primate’s Palace and moved through the town to, what is today, the Main Square, it continued on to Merciful Brothers Square and finally to St. Martin’s Cathedral, where the ceremony was held.
It was for this occasion that the previously mentioned pontoon bridge, also called Caroline’s Bridge, was constructed. It is the main motif of the FDC. The structure, made of thirty-two ships, had to be completely dismantled before the onset of winter. The centre of the bridge could be opened to allow ships to pass along the Danube. On the centre on the bridge was a small wooden chapel with a statute of St. John of Nepomuk. On one bank, there was a building for the so-called anchor patrol on the right-hand side, near the bridge entrance. The bridge was an important element of the infrastructure development of Bratislava in the 19th century. For a long time it was the only traffic connection with the southern bank of the Danube. Finally, it was replaced by permanent bridge, the Bridge of Francis Joseph (today the Old Bridge), which was constructed near Šafárik Square between 1890 and 1891.
Martina Vyskupová
